Right now, the most important thing you can do is to call your senators and representative in Congress and urge them to cosponsor legislation to eliminate the deadline for ratification of the ERA. Once passed, this legislation means that only three more states must ratify the ERA. (The alternative is the start-over measure, which would require 38 states to ratify and could take decades more.)
The legislation is Senate Joint Resolution 15 in the Senate and House Joint Resolution 43 in the House of Representatives.
We are asking you to make three phone calls. Here are the specifics:
Call this toll free number at the U.S. Capitol: 1-877-762-8762. Ask for the office of Senator Kay Hagan. Ask for Brian Nagle, her legislative director. If he is not available, leave a message on his voice mail, urging her to cosponsor SJR 15. Explain why it’s important to you. (Check our website if you need to refresh your memory)
Now call the toll free number again, and ask for Senator Richard Burr’s office. Ask for Natasha Hickmar, his legislative director. If she’s not available, leave a message on her voice mail, urging him to cosponsor SJR 15. Emphasize that this is bipartisan legislation.
Finally, call the number again and ask for the office of your U.S. representative. Urge him/her to cosponsor HJR 43. Here are their names and corresponding legislative directors:
David Price – Asher Hildebrand
Melvin Watt – Laura Hooper
G.K. Butterfield – Saul Hernandez
Howard Coble – John Mautz
Renee Ellmers – Elaine Acevedo
Virginia Foxx – Leslie Goodman
George Holding (vacant; ask for legislative director)
Richard Hudson – Michael Thornberry
Walter Jones – Joshua Bowlen
Patrick McHenry – Jennifer Titton
Mike McIntyre – Blair Milligan
Mark Meadows – Kevin Klein
Robert Pittenger – Austen Jensen
Now, please report back to us on the outcome of your conversations. If these members of Congress get enough calls, they will pay attention and add their names as cosponsors. At this point, we have no cosponsors from North Carolina.
Thank you very much for taking a few minutes to advance the rights of women.
