September 21, 2020 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks E865 Fairness Act. I had intended to vote ‘‘no’’ on ner at his family home and asked the female every respect, that they could have successful roll call vote 194, against the Motion to law students, including Ginsburg, ‘‘Why are careers and also could, if they chose, be de- Recommit. you at Harvard Law School, taking the place voted wives or mothers, thereby breaking bar- f of a man?’’ riers for generations of women to follow in her When her husband took a job in New York footsteps. IN REMEMBRANCE OF THE HONOR- City, Ruth Bader Ginsburg transferred to Co- In fact, many of Ginsburg’s opinions helped ABLE RUTH BADER GINSBURG, lumbia Law School and became the first solidify the constitutional protections she had THE ‘NOTORIOUS RBG,’ ASSO- woman to be on two major law reviews: Har- fought so hard to establish decades earlier. CIATE JUSTICE OF THE SU- vard Law Review and Columbia Law Review. While we commemorate Justice Ginsburg’s PREME COURT, FEMINIST ICON In 1959, she earned her law degree at Co- work for advancing the women’s movement AND TRAILBLAZER, INSPIRATION lumbia and tied for first in her class but de- both as a Justice and as a lawyer, all are in TO MILLIONS, TIRELESS CHAM- spite these enviable credentials and distin- her debt who cherish the progress made in PION FOR JUSTICE AND FIERCE guished record of excellence, no law firm in the areas of LGBTQ+ equality, immigration re- DEFENDER OF THE CONSTITU- New York City would hire as a lawyer because form, environmental justice, voting rights, pro- TION she was a woman. tections for people with disabilities, and so Ruth Bader Ginsburg became a crusader for much more. HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE women’s rights and an unstoppable force who Throughout her life, Ruth Bader Ginsburg OF TEXAS transformed the law and defied social conven- worked to make the law work so that America IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES tion. would be more just, equitable, fairer, and bet- Ruth Bader Ginsburg, later affectionately Monday, September 21, 2020 ter for all. known as the ‘Notorious RBG,’ was as instru- Whether it be in her legendary dissenting Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, as a mental and historically significant to the cause opinions or as leader when in the majority, senior member of the House of Representa- of women’s rights as was Thurgood Marshall Justice Ginsburg continued to advocate for the tives and the Committee on the Judiciary, as to the cause of civil rights for African Ameri- marginalized and most vulnerable. a direct beneficiary of her advancement of cans. In recent years, she may not have been women’s rights, and as a longtime admirer of As a young lawyer and Director of the able to control the outcome of the rulings, but her vigorous defense of the constitution, I am Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil she grew bolder in her dissents, often stating honored but heartbroken to pay tribute to an Liberties Union, Ruth Bader Ginsburg litigated what should have been the outcome. American hero, a feminist icon, and role model six landmark cases before the Supreme Court, Throughout her tenure on the bench, Ruth to millions, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader winning five out of the six cases. Bader Ginsburg displayed her rigorous and in- Like Justice Marshall, Ruth Bader Gins- Ginsburg, who died last Friday, September 18, cisive legal mind and employed her formidable burg’s uncanny strategic instincts and careful 2020 at the age of 87 years old. skills as a consensus builder, but she could be Today, tomorrow, and forever, the American selection of cases were vital in her persuasion tough and forceful when the moment de- people mourn the loss of a true titan, an of the all-male Supreme Court to start disman- manded. American legend, and an inspiration. tling the legal institution of sex discrimination Nothing illustrates this better than her fa- Our thoughts and prayers are with Ruth’s one case at a time. mous dissent in Shelby County v. Holder, in family, friends, and loved ones. In 1975, Ruth Bader Ginsburg litigated and Ruth Bader Ginsburg dedicated her life to won Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld, which would which the 5–to–4 majority negated the Voting defending the Constitution and protecting the become a landmark case in antidiscrimination Rights Act of 1965 by invalidating section 4 of sanctity of America’s democratic ideals, and jurisprudence. the law, which neutralized section 5, the provi- we will forever be indebted to her service to In this case, the widower had been denied sion of the act that required jurisdictions with this country. survivor benefits, which would allow him to a history of racial and ethnic discrimination in Joan Ruth Bader, fondly nicknamed Kiki, stay at home and raise his son, based on a voting to obtain preclearance from the federal was born on March 15, 1933 to an immigrant Social Security provision that assumed only government before any changes in voting pro- family and grew up in Brooklyn’s Flatbush women were secondary providers with unim- cedures, from polling stations to voter photo neighborhood. portant incomes. IDs could go into effect. Ruth Bader Ginsburg often spoke of her While some questioned Ginsburg’s choice to It was in her scathing dissent Justice Gins- mother’s large ambitions for her, and how the challenge instances of sex discrimination by burg stated, ‘‘Hubris is a fit word for today’s devastating loss of her mother’s death at an representing a male plaintiff, Ruth Bader Gins- demolition of the VRA’’ and that the majority’s early age instilled in her the determination to burg saw it as an opportunity to show the logic was akin to ‘‘throwing away your um- live a life that her mother would have been court that childcare was not a sex-determined brella in a rainstorm because you are not get- proud of. role to be performed only by women. ting wet.’’ And so, she did. As with many of her cases, her goal was to Unlike the others, Justice Ginsburg was Ruth Bader attended Cornell University free both sexes, men as well as women, from able to see the ramifications of the ruling and where she met Martin D. Ginsburg, her future the roles that society had assigned them and its allowances for reinvigorated efforts of voter husband and love of her life to whom she was to harness the Constitution to break down the suppression. married for 54 years. structures by which the state maintained and Today, I join millions of individuals who are In 1954, at the age of 21, Ruth Bader grad- enforced those separate spheres. mourning the loss of this legal giant, feminist, uated Phi Beta Kappa from Cornell with a As Ruth Bader Ginsburg continued to chal- and trailblazer. Bachelor of Arts degree in Government on lenge the stereotypical assumptions of what Justice Ginsburg loved this country, so June 23, 1954 and was the highest-ranking fe- was considered to be women’s work and much so that she served the nation while en- male student in her graduating class. men’s work, she was able to persuade the during illnesses and undergoing treatments A month after graduating from Cornell, Ruth Court and the nation that discriminating on the that would have incapacitated lesser mortals. and Martin were married and moved to Fort basis of sex was not only wrong but violative She inspired generations of women then Sill, Oklahoma, where Martin was stationed as of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, and now to shatter glass ceilings, and her leg- a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps officer in which guarantees equal protection to all citi- acy will inspire new generations of women in the U.S. Army Reserve after his call-up to ac- zens under the law. the years to come. tive duty. As the courts began to recognize the chang- As the news of her passing continues to re- To help support the family, Ruth Bader ing roles of men and women, Ruth Bader verberate across the country and around the Ginsburg worked for the Social Security Ad- Ginsburg was able to advance gender equality world, it is important that we remember and ministration office in Oklahoma, where she with the understanding that women are capa- honor what she stood for and continue fighting was demoted after becoming pregnant with ble of being heads of households or sole pro- to realize the goal of equal justice under law. her first child, Jane, who was born in 1955. viders for their family. I ask the House to observe a moment of si- In the fall of 1956, Ruth Bader Ginsburg en- In 1993, President Bill Clinton appointed lence to honor the memory of Supreme Court rolled at Harvard Law School, where she was Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the Supreme Court, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the ‘Notorious one of only 9 women in a class of about 500 making her the second woman to fill this posi- RBG,’ one the greatest jurists in our nation’s men. tion. history, a tireless and unyielding champion for Harvard Law Dean Erwin Griswold report- This historic appointment further symbolized equal justice, and a fierce defender of the edly invited all the female law students to din- the principle that women were equal to men in Constitution. VerDate Sep 11 2014 08:32 Sep 22, 2020 Jkt 099060 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 0626 Sfmt 9920 E:\CR\FM\A21SE8.009 E21SEPT1 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with REMARKS E866 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks September 21, 2020 SENATE COMMITTEE MEETINGS Committee on the Judiciary 10 a.m.