Press Releases

U.S. Representative Don Beyer (VA-08) today released the following statement after Republicans on the subcommittee of the Privileges and Elections Committee in the Virginia General Assembly voted to block the Equal Rights Amendment ratification resolution:

“Today, in the oldest legislative body in America, where many of our Founding Fathers served, in a Commonwealth that brought us the Bill of Rights, and elected the first African American Governor, the promise of equality for half the population died in Committee. In the history of the United States, Virginia has played a role in the arc that bends toward justice. This vote, this year: 2019, will be but a footnote in a defining fight for our authentic values as Americans and as citizens of a true democracy. It is not a question of if this Amendment becomes law, only when.

“We in Congress stand ready to champion the ERA once it is ratified by a 38th state. We will seize the privilege and responsibility to make equal rights for women and men a fundamental right in our US Constitution.”