ACTUAL 3 MIN SPEECH TO THE BREVARD County, etc., Leg. Delegation (n=7), Dec 14, 2010, Viera Comm. Chambers,FL. Similar to the one I gave before the ORANGE COUNTY Legislative Delegation (n=15) the day prior.
Offering Kudos to the audience and you legislators for your patience and your courtesy over this long day (3pm-9:30)!
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) requires No Funding, does not increase lawsuits, 88% of constituents want and need it. We URGE ONLY JUST A HEARING, vote up or down!
ERA says “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the US or by any State on account of sex, gender.”
ERA benefits males as well as females, with Strict Scrutiny before the courts, and MORE.
I am Sandy Oestreich, president of 2 national nonprofits to Pass the Federal ERA by ratifying Florida + 2 other states.
Our Alliance is single-issue, nonpartisan, nonprofit, beholden to no one else.
ERA bills have been before our legislators for NINE YEARS. Sometimes, 49 cosponsors.
In the 2011 Session, we 300 000 urge you to break with Business as Usual and HOLD ERA HEARINGS!
If you won’t do it as a legacy for your children,
Or for the women in your Family,
Or for Men seeking fair child support,
Or Just because it’s the moral thing,
Then ratify it for the ECONOMY—give it a chance.
A hobbled female gender, half the population, seems unwise. Females could be our Engines of Economic Growth—HUMAN CAPITAL-- say the
IMF , the EU, the UN:
Wherever GENDER EQUALITY IS THE STANDARD, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) CLIMBS! Scandinavian countries capitalize on that. The USA should , too!
And: higher business profits, economic stability, fewer on Public Assistance & Food Stamps, less red-tape, fewer lawsuits and court costs, unslashed budgets!
In this climate of austerity, please Pass ONE thing your constituents WANT AND NEED—that DOESN’T COST A DIME!
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE…Just hold ERA hearings in 2011—UP or DOWN!
President Haridopolos, Speaker Cannon
If we may, we urge you to hold ERA hearings…
Or
Tell us now why you would object. (Some have already been to see him and heard him say that “ERA would hurt ‘business’”and thus has poor prospects in the Florida legislature. We can only assume he meant that mega-suits like Wal-Mart’s would become the norm as corporations would bear mega-high fines for their mega-discrimination activities so common today. That, and the fact that they would have to pay equal wages for equal work.)
[Senate President appeared to come alive/awake, and said he wasn't aware that he objected. I reminded that we are asking only why he would IF he does.
Then the Chair, Sen. Altman, remonstrated that protocol required that the public communicate through the Chairman.
I apologized for the gaffe, unknowing, and said I was directing the question of ERA hearings to the President (Haridopolos) because he had the power to decide which bills get hearings and chooses the committee members. The audience gasped that I had dared expose the sly underbelly of Republican politics.
Then came the familiar public lie. Chair, Sen. Altman briefly explained that the CHAIR OF THE COMMITTEES DECIDE ABOUT BILL HEARINGS! (Reinforcing A CONTINUING AND UNACCOUNTABLE LIE).
Then Altman commented that we did have the Florida Constitution. I asked if I might interject. He nodded. I then said I would try to disabuse him of the idea that our State constitution did protect sex discrimination. I went on to tell him that the ERA part of the Florida constitution that we fought hard to get in place in 1998, was overturned in 2001 and rubberstamped in 2004, both in that same county, Brevard.
Iwent on: Thus the Florida constitution that we worked so hard to amend to include a Florida State ERA, the "mini-ERA" did not act against sex discrimination (was made "moot" in 2001, not overturned), nor does the 14th Amendment (a men-only protection), nor do laws. For example, the Pay Equity Act of 1964 is ignored. That's why women in Florida are paid on average only 72% of the salaries of men For The Same Job!
The audience broke out in applause, a break in protocol, the first that long day! Thanks to supporters of ERA, legislators' constituents. It made a difference. MANY THANKS TO THOSE WHO CAME OUT TO STAND WITH ME AT THIS IMPORTANT TIME: Susan Clary, Lorraine Tuliano and Holly Luisi in Orlando; Sandy Michelson in Brevard County.
We WILL do this! We WILL ratify Florida and two other states. That will put the Equal Rights Amendment in the US Constitution. Your Equal Rights Alliance is helping to mentor six other states--we just need THREE to ratify!
We wonder, ARE WOMEN STICKING THEIR HEADS IN THE SAND, or are they really aware and in denial over the multiple ways they are discriminated against? Why are they not marching in the streets as we did in the 1970s? It was potent then. It would be potent now.
What's at least AS effective is calling these legislators and URGING A HEARING ON THE ERA BILL in 2011. Here are the numbers:
Florida House Speaker Dean Cannon, 407 623-5740 (remember, his influence will bring it to a vote in the House--that's all we need). You are his VIP if you are a Constituent of his--tell them in your call.
Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos, 321 752-3131 (again, he holds the highest influence over bill selections for a Senate hearing and over Committees who vote on ERA)
Pitch in by emailing me at SandyO@PassERA.org, and get up to speed on the ERA work being done by touring www.2PassERA.org! We need MORE OF YOUR SMILING FACES alongside OURS. We cannot do this without you any longer! If you want an ERA, then...EMAIL ME THAT YOU ARE "WITH" US. IT'S THE MAGIC THAT WORKS FOR WOMEN: SOLIDARITY.
My express thanks for this IMPORTANT WORK for the Country's survival, and YOURS.
Sandy Oestreich, Founder/President, and Chief Agitator for the ERA
Prof. Emerita; nurse practitioner, former elected official: SandyO@PassERA.org. CALL THOSE LEGISLATORS ABOVE...NOW! WE CANNOT THANK YOU ENOUGH.
Warm wishes for a Holiday Season filled with Love!
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