April 2, 2022

Dear Fellow Marylander:

In the last few days, we have seen a female nominee for the nation’s highest court, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, navigate her confirmation hearings with a rare combination of expertise, wisdom and grace. We also paused to mark the life of the first female Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, who also served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. We could ask for no better examples of just how profoundly women shape the arc of American history. 

We shouldn’t need a reminder. I have often said that there is no better barometer for a country’s success than the way it treats its women. While we like to think of the United States as a global leader in all things, the truth is that our basic legal protections for women’s rights are in some ways badly lacking.

I’m trying to fix that. For the details about how, I would like to take our time together this week to share with you a new op-ed I co-wrote with Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski. It focuses on the importance of passing the Equal Rights Amendment and forever searing into our nation’s legal underpinnings a clear and lasting prohibition of gender-based discrimination. 

Thank you for taking the time to read our bipartisan commentary and adding your voice to the push for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment.

Stay Safe.

Ben Cardin

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