Excerpt of The Minnesota state senate debate on whether or not to ratify the highly controversial Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the United States Constitution.
Featured are State Senator Winston Borden, who is for the ratifcation; and State Senator George Pilsbury, who feels the amendment is unnecessary and relevant issues should be handled by state legislatures.
SPEAKER 1: When Senator Borden yield to a question, am I not right in thinking that all the discriminatory statutes that you've alluded to in the state of Minnesota could be dealt with without the passage of the Federal Amendment to our federal constitution.
SPEAKER 2: Senator Borden.
WIN BORDEN: Mr. Chairman and Senator, you're absolutely right. That's why I hope you would join me in authoring those bills, which would cure the evils that exist in the Minnesota statutes. I think before this session is over, we will have made more progress than that issue than we have in any other session. And I ask your help in doing that.
But doing that is not enough, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, if we're going to give women across this country equal rights, if they're going to understand from the day that they're born that they've got an equal opportunity to develop their intellectual capacities, if as a child in school they're going to know male or female that they can become a doctor, that they can get into our medical schools, that they can go through law school and find a law firm that will accept them, if we can begin to develop in every child, regardless of sex in this country that they have an opportunity to develop their skills and make a contribution to society, that's what's important. And that's what this amendment really seeks to get at.
SPEAKER 1: Am I not right that if we delay even three more days the timetable on this bill will not in any way be affected, timetable on the ratification of the amendment to the United States constitution?
WIN BORDEN: Mr. Chairman and Senator Pillsbury, delay would be the worst thing that we could do. We've had 50 years to study the issue, and there can be those who say perhaps maybe later, but not now. I happen to think the time is now. I happen to think if there are issues we should talk about, then let's proceed to talk about them today. But let's not put off for some weeks, or years from now what we ought to do today.
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