NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Women in Congress are celebrating what could be a landmark week for women’s rights.
The House is expected to vote this week on an Equal Rights Amendment bill and on the Smithsonian Women’s History Museum Act.
Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney, who has pushed both bills for years, describes this as a culmination of decades of advocacy for women.
Maloney, a lead sponsor on the Equal Rights Amendment, has reintroduced it to Congress every year since 1997.
The ERA passed Congress in 1972, but was up to the states to ratify and when the deadline passed 10 years later, it was three states shy of the 38 needed to amend the Constitution.
Now, with the right amount of states behind it, the House will vote on removing any deadline to ratify the amendment to prohibit discrimination based on sex and will confirm Congress' support of it.
The Smithsonian Women’s History Museum Act, also sponsored by Maloney, will be voted on this week to create the country's first museum fully dedicated to women's history.
The museum would be located on the National Mall.
Maloney has been pushing for the museum bill since 2016.