In part for the ring name for my mother and rebeccas grandmother and with the speaker of the house and all of you idealists powerful women and leader mccarthy. It really is an occasion worth celebratingand celebrating well into next year. Let me review the New York Times headline or may 22 1919. Suffrage was easily inhouse, boat 349. 19 republicans and 17 democrats largely from the south. The surprise boat was nicholas longwood who had voted the year before in the amendment had come to the house and then it had been terrifying for the supporters, he had voted against them but he said things have changed in his day since then. He didnt mention his wife alice probably wouldnt let him come home but after that are breaking vote in the house or heart stopping vote in the house, it was a heartbreaking one in the senate, a rare lost by one vote but the women fighting for their rights persisted and chance part, House Speaker in 1980 that democratic leader in 1919, he said when i first came to congress the voice of the suffragists was like that of john the baptist crying inthe wilderness. It was more a joke than anything else. What he didnt say is what happened to change him. His own wife had carded him down to the workhouse to see what horrible conditions prevailed their and the suffragists were imprisoned increasingly for the crime of blocking the sidewalk. Because they had the temerity to the white house. So they were locked up, some for days, some forweeks, some four months. Locked up and they were essentially tortured and then forcefed when they went on hungerstrikes. It had the effect of making the men in congress at least somewhat uncomfortable. That plus active organization at the grassroots and relentless lobbying through Public Relations all corresponded to bring the voices out of the wilderness. None of that was in the newspaper story. The cheering of the women in the gallery is and the satisfaction by the women running rival suffragist organizations. This time after may 21, 1919, passage in the senate seemed secure as it was the year before so part of the argument of mister little of candor kindness, it went on in the war effort. And he said they were forced to earn their own likelihood due to complex mans of the complex civilization. And he said women already have the votes in kansas and no home should be disrupted as a result of political disagreement. Probably not true today. The amendment was passed, of course with a vote to men only. The year before Jeanette Reich in and on the floor devote and someone had put flowers in her place. She lost in her bid for senate in the next election. As i look around today and see these powerful women, and i think how things would have been different had they been here. Speaker pelosi would have rounded up the votes no problem. Senator mccluskey probably would have found a way to put some federal moneyin the suffragist organizations. And congresswoman lawrence must go continuing the tradition of the women who wanted to vote, they didnt just want to vote for themselves. I wanted to vote for an agenda. I want to devote because they wanted to stop child rape, they wanted to Institute Maternity clinics, wanted to do a whole host of social welfare things that they had been working on, women have been working on since the beginning of the republic. But they needed the vote and have the clout to be able to do those things and thats why what womens issues continues to do. Please keep convincing women to run and win. So its important to be celebrating the stories. Because its important to know them and for the next generation to know them. My own nextgeneration has taken on the task of telling them in a book she has written about suffragists in washington so i probably present rebecca. [applause] as Speaker Pelosi mentioned, were standing here by the lindy bathroom, the only room in the capital named after awoman. My grandmother was born in 1916 for women won the right to vote and yet became a member of congress after a Formidable Force in american politics. This history is recent. And its important to know, people keep saying learn womens history for role models, thats fine the main reason to know it is because if you dont learn about womens history, youre getting the storywrong. [applause] and the reason to know about this movement in womens history is that they won. They were incredibly successfulactivists. A change the world. And they get it entirely by women and for women. So if you all want to change the world, and i really hope you all do, then there are worse role models than the suffragists. They were incredibly successful so learn the history, vote and then go out and change the world. Thank you. [applause]. [music] the house will be in order for 40 years cspan has been providing america coverage of white house, the Supreme Court and public alice events from washington dc and around the countr y