U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement after Senate Republicans voted against S.J.Res.4, a bipartisan, joint resolution removing the deadline for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which would enshrine gender equality into the Constitution:

“Today, Senate Republicans failed to secure the rights of every American by voting against the Equal Rights Amendment.  Right now, women all across America are living with the reality that their fundamental freedoms are under attack.  And without the ERA’s protections, even more rights could be on the chopping block.  But Senate Democrats will not stop.  We will continue to work to protect women’s rights in all facets of public life.”

In February, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the ERA, the first Senate hearing on the topic since 1984.  Durbin spoke on the Senate floor ahead of the vote, urging his colleagues to support the joint resolution.

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