Murkowski testifies in support of Equal Rights Amendment

WASHINGTON — Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski testified in support of the Equal Rights Amendment at a Senate hearing this week, opposite a fellow GOP senator who opposes it.

The Equal Rights Amendment, which was proposed in Congress in 1972, would codify equal rights for women in the U.S. Constitution and ban discrimination based on sex. Along with Sen. Ben Cardin, a Maryland Democrat, Murkowski sponsored legislation in the Senate in January that would remove the deadline to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment and recognizes that three-quarters of states have ratified the amendment — getting rid of barriers preventing it from being adopted as a constitutional amendment.

“We know that things have improved over the years, but we still have a long ways to go when it comes to achieving equality for women, and I think we need the Equal Rights Amendment to get there,” Murkowski said in her testimony Tuesday.

Three-quarters, or 38, of the 50 states must ratify constitutional amendments in order for them to take effect. Alaska ratified the Equal Rights Amendment in 1972. Virginia became the 38th state to back the ERA in 2020. However, five states have rescinded their original ratification. Congress’ ratification deadline lapsed in 1982, and Murkowski’s resolution would revoke that time limit.

The hearing came the same day a federal appellate court denied an effort to force the certification of the Equal Rights Amendment.

Murkowski — one of 25 female senators currently serving in Congress — delivered her remarks next to Cardin and fellow GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, who opposes the amendment. Hyde-Smith called Murkowski and Cardin’s resolution “unconstitutional” and “deeply misguided.”