washington journal continues. host: joining us from new york city is coalition co. president

and ceo, carol jenkins, joining us to talk with us about the e.r.a. and efforts to revive the e.r.a. and past the e.r.a. carol jenkins, give our viewers a brief history of its passage and why it is current, now. for havingks so much me, again. i love being on your program to talk with you and your viewers. about this extremely essential amendment that we need to place on the constitution. the constitution needs to be fixed one more time. it has been amended, 20 seven times. the e.r.a. would be the 28th amendment. it will effectively say that you in factibit -- it would put into the constitution prohibiting discrimination by sex. that is a major advancement in our constitution. prohibit this

termination. that is why we need it. it would be to put women into the constitution. , it did notitten include women. women were deliberately left out. yesterday, we had a huge day in the house of representatives. delegates and representatives passed a bill by jackie speier, from california, that would dissolve the time limit that was imposed on the e.r.a. bill, when it was passed by congress in 1972. so, where we are now with the equal rights amendment, originally proposed by ellis paul in 1923. we have been working on this for almost 100 years. 50 years since congress passed it by two thirds of the representatives there. now, ratified by 38 states across the country.

what has happened is that after a long period of what people considered stalling or no visible action, we have tremendous action. we have met the requirements outlined in the constitution on article five for amending the constitution. we have the two thirds vote. we have the 38 states. it next step is to certify by the archivists and make it happen. that will give millions of girls rightsen in this country and privileges that they do not have now. host: you pointed out the passage in the u.s. house, extending the timeline. this is a headline in usa today. the house breeds life into the equal rights a minute. it faces a challenge in the u.s. senate. it has to pass the senate, correct? guest: it does, indeed. i want to say it is not a matter of extending the deadline. it is a matter of dissolving,

removing completely, the time limit that was imposed. we don't use the word deadline. it was not in the amendment itself that the states voted on. it was in the joint resolution or the introduction, what some call the preamble. it was nothing that the states voted on. votedething the states on. we believe it can and should be removed. it has to go to the center and we have a bill there. senators ben cardin and lisa murkowski have a bipartisan bill that already has 44 cosponsors and we hope it will be moving forward in the u.s. senate. host: tell us about the state level. the state of virginia has passed the e.r.a.. statesber

-- guest: our legal task force does not believe that will work, that they have the right to. you cannot have excessive legislative bodies undoing what earlier bodies have done. it would just breathe chaos into everything that we try to do in the country, legally. so, there is obviously a lot to be determined as we move forward in trying to get the amendment totally accepted and placed as the 28th amendment to the constitution. host: carol jenkins is our guest, joining us in new york, talking about the equal rights a minute. the effort to pass it is certainly successful. the measure was passed in the house, yesterday. and the challenge ahead in the u.s. senate, as she mentioned him to go. we welcome your calls and comments. four republicans. (202) 748-8000 for democrats.

for independents, (202) 748-8002 . i wanted to play the comments of justice ruth bader ginsburg. she dealt a fatal blow to the equal rights a mimic. her comments were used in the floor debate in the house, yesterday. here is what the justice said. >> there is a distinction between equal protection clause and having an actual amendment that lays it out. years ago, i was involved in some litigation involving extension of the deadline on the equal rights a minute. we recently had virginia passing equal rights amendment. leaving aside whether any deadline will be extended, what is your prognosis on when we will get an equal rights amendment on the federal level? >> i would like to see a new

over.ing, to start there is too much controversy about latecomers in virginia, long after the deadline passed. plus, a number of states have withdrawn their ratification. count a latecomer on the plus side, how can you disregard states that have changed outlines? host: what did you think when ginsburg justice repai say she would like to see a new beginning? guest: the timing could have been better. it does not come as a complete surprise to us because she has said that before. what we know is she is a fervent supporter of the equal rights amendment. what we believe is that we can start over. session, every represented of carolyn maloney's bill, we do exactly that. -- representative, carolyn

maloney's bill, we do exactly that. while we have this other activity that we have been working on, this amendment that we have been working on for almost 100 years, we do not want to dishonor the work of 100 years at 50 years, or, for some ,eople who are still with us 1923. we are prepared to complete this movement to its finish. we believe we can get this amendment ratified and placed on the constitution. if we do not succeed, we are willing to start all over again. easily. scare that we understand, we get it. yesterday, for instance, at the house of representatives, i took my 10-year-old granddaughter with me. she has been working on the e.r.a. since she was seven years old. i wanted her to see the good results of the work that she did in accompanying me to a

representatives office and offices, trying to get them to support and be cosponsors for the amendment. i have a photograph of her --ting next to at least the conversation they were having was that if we succeed 50 in this effort, ellie's years would surpass avery's three years. if we don't and we have to start all over again, it is possible that avery's legacy will be 50 or 60 years in the future of trying to do that. remember, it is getting a two thirds agreement in congress and getting 38 states. that is a tough order. we can do it if we have to start all over again. i would rather honor ellie's 50

years of work that she has put toit, rather than task avery get these kinds of rights for girls in our country. do we really have to wait another two or three or four generations before girls have the same rights as men or boys in this country? host: we have a number of calls to gretchenwill go in montauk, new york, first. good morning. caller: good morning. i was so happy i watched it on to gretchen inc-span, yesterday. i met ellie in the 70's. i have been working as long as her. aboutthat movie on hbo ruth bader ginsburg and she made a brilliant comment that the word woman is not used one time in the constitution. are doing it and thank you so much.

you make my day! guest: thank you for calling in. we will do it. hopefully now, we are determined to get this done. thank you for your work. host: in california, democrats line, go ahead. caller: hello. guest: hi, good morning. we didn't catch your comment. caller: have you read the brilliant matilda, josh and engage? lyn gage? guest: i have heard of her work. is that a favorite source of yours? i no of her work but i am not read her work. i know people who are working on her legacy which is extremely important. host: what is your comment? caller: she was a brilliant writer. like ruth bader ginsburg, she -- sometimes you have to change the words of what you are trying to get to.

if you can't say what you mean, you can't mean what you say and you can't get what you want. i think women don't want a quality they want equivalent rights as wind. they see men or other women working in a different category, doing the same work they do, and they are getting paid significantly less because they are not in the same category. the people right next to them, the men next to them are getting equal pay as they do. they are not getting the equal pay as the people in a different category. work, youquivalent should get equivalent pay. host: we will get a response. guest: we agree. i think that so much of the research demonstrates that women , we say are the chief of labor in our country. magnificentulted in profit lines for so many corporations and even small companies.

they are consistently underpaid for the same equivalent as he would say, for the same work. even some of the good guys who think and say great things about equal pay and of how supportive they are of women, when they look at their books, they discover that they are paying the women than -- less than they pay the men. these are the good guys. we had press conferences and releases saying yes what? we can say -- guess what? we can now say that we pay the women but we pay our men. we have had to make adjustments to do that. it may have costed millions of dollars to do that. is one of the things that will change america. america, we think of it as this great democracy. it is one of the great ones. it does not treat its women well. are in not until women the constitution. we have tried everything else.

we have tried the pipeline. we have spent trillions of dollars, trying to equal things up and it has not worked. people are still the floor of our country. the underpaid, the underemployed. the only thing that is going to change that is e.r.a.. host: let's go to michael in alabama. first times is my calling c-span in several months. please forgive me if i sound nervous. this jenkins, before i ask my aestion, let me, as born-again saved christian, let me apologize thoroughly for all of those white males out there, some black ministers who say they love women so much but, in opposing not only the e.r.a. but some of the radical ones, such things as female governors, they constantly quote saying they love women, they quote first

corinthians chapter 11 and first timothy chapter two and first peter, chapter three. all of which -- they interpret these literally for the 21st century and i want to apologize about that. my concern, however, is even though i am a political liberal when it comes to washington's fiscal policy, gunowners responsibilities and foreign policy based on human rights, i am a little concerned about and wonder about whether or not conservatives -- religious conservatives are correct about possible side effects if the e.r.a. were passed. filing who as people want unisex bathrooms, same-sex or,rooms, filing lawsuits one incident i think in the state of oregon, flaming male

cross-dressers leading children in storytime at a public library, would you address those concerns for undecided american voters, thank you so much. thank you so much for your call today. you have raised some important issues. we want to say that we totally .espect personal beliefs those of us working for the equal rights amendment, none of us want that to interfere with anyone's private, personal beliefs. the equal rights amendment is about giving girls and women equality. that is what we are working for. i know about all of the side that are brought up. this is not the form to the side or debate those personal beliefs .

this is a question about constitutional equality. do you believe that women should have equal rights in this country? that is a straightforward question that can be answered yes or no. peopledo, then that rights amendment is a way forward for you. if you don't, object. we disagree with people on all kinds of things. and we respect the disagreement. the ability to. if you believe in equality for do,n and, most americans our research demonstrates that 94% of all americans want constitutional equality for women. 99% of the millennials, the young people want equality for women. whoe are people out there say no we don't. in 2020, we consider that to be mystifying to us. but, you are right to believe that is absolutely yours.

-- but you're right to believe that is absolutely yours. extending the deadline ratification, removing that, going onto the senate, say it passes congress, a number of legal experts have cast doubt on whether the removal of that deadline can be applied retroactively. what could be ahead for the e.r.a. and the courts? could this wind up being a supreme court decision? guest: it could. many say it most likely will. for all of the legal activity that we have had surrounding the sure helately, i'm dreamed it would never be his faith that he would be sued by alabama and two other states and three ratifying states. my people in massachusetts.

they are demanding that he not certify virginia, and therefore orplete the requirements make the e.r.a. the 20 of women or that he do it, we have definitely entered the legal phase of this. the courtroom phase of it. fortunately for us, the executive branch has no authority in amending the u.s. constitution so it is an opinion. not anything that is valid, in terms of determining the outcome. he said he will not do anything. the archivist says he will not do anything until there is a final court order. we assume that he means the supreme court.

int: we will hear from anne louisville, kentucky. caller: i would like to talk about what i was reading about this morning that is happening in connecticut, about two young andwho identify as women are competing against women in a track and field event. if we are wanting equal rights on yourn, the lady panel nose in your heart -- her heart and anybody would know in their heart that women would not be able to compete against a biological male in a sport. my daughter is us women. all you would have to do is look at the competition times of the men against the women and you can see that there is no way that women can compete. sportsare looking at

across the board, how in the world could anyone say that women are being treated equally when they are allowing dialogical males to compete against them in the exact same sport? host: we will get a response from carol jenkins. guest: we think that is a matter that is best decided in the courts. having much to do with so equal rights amendment, that we have to separate the things that people may object to . i think those things are handled best in the courts. i believe the supreme court is taking up cases that will resolve so much of the gender problems, controversy for us. how many states have made an equal whites -- equal rights amendment part of their state constitution? guest: we think there are about 25 states.

which is, you know, a hefty number. the equal rights amendment movement continues, there will be more. states,with on ratified working on the federal level. we have a call, every other week, we talk about strategy. things that have worked and have not. virginia is our star because they did such a magnificent job on the federal level. an york state is considering equal rights a minute that we have been working on as well. and is an expanded inclusive e.r.a. -- amendment that we have been working on as well. that is an expanded and inclusive e.r.a. it deals with race and gender. i think that, moving along, new york state would be the first to do that kind of inclusive

e.r.a.. the governor is now supporting that. 62-0 inte passed it, the last session. the assembly is about to take it up, now. as we move forward in this country, we will be looking at all kinds of constitutional createdn that has persistent problems for us. even though we have some laws that have worked very well for us, we can look around at our country and no that there is know discrimination -- there is still discrimination and huge gaps in terms of wealth gaps in our country. one of the ways of fixing that is by amendments. host: we will hear from bill on our democrats line. caller: good morning, c-span and thank you very much, miss jenkins. happy valentine's day. guest: thank you.

watching yesterday and what is it with the conservative white republicans? why do they hate women? why are they afraid of women? i happen to be gay. ago, past.5 months transgender remembrance day. palm springs, one of the gayest places on earth is where i live, and it is like why can't we just get along? the other night downtown, there was a lady on the street, in a wheelchair. she must have been 70 years old and homeless. of theto work with one food banks in palm springs. the senior center here, 300 people a week go through there, for food. over 140od bank, people are hurting. it is a mess. it is not benefiting anybody but the rich. host: that was a little off the

topic but thanks for calling in. let me ask you about some pushback from the conservative eagle form and a statement about the e.r.a. -- forum and a statement about the e.r.a. that says it will not give women any more current rights in the what they have -- than what they have. the supreme court, they say, has already applied the 14th amendment to women's issues. that is from the eagle forum. and there has been a great deal of progress. clearly, if you look at america and you look at its women, it has not been able to fix the , --s of deep-seated eded systemic problems in our country.

i have great appreciation for those who are trying to use the 14th a moment to get records for women. so many things are not covered by the 14th amendment. i think that, you know, we just have to take a look. the previous caller was talking about food insecurity and food banks and hunger in our country. i respect