Letters

This isn’t a statement for or against, only for information not given. This is to question the latest “27Speaks” podcast with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. I can’t say I have heard her speak often.

I wish she elaborated on the history of the 1972 Equal Rights Amendment. It had seven years to be ratified after it was passed by Congress. Thirty-eight states needed to sign on. Thirty-five did. Jimmy Carter extended the deadline for an additional three years, until June 30, 1982.

No other state signed on until Nevada in 2017, Illinois in 2018, and, as she mentioned in the podcast, Virginia in 2020. That was the year, allegedly, a resolution was brought up to bypass the deadline. 2017 was already 35 years after the deadline.

She blamed Trump for this not being an official amendment in 2020. I get it — politics is a team sport now. Every side: We are good, they are bad. Devil’s advocate: Perhaps Trump had merit to ask the archives not to put it down as an official amendment.

According to congress.gov, a resolution was put in by Representative Ayanna Pressley [D-Massachusetts] to remove the ratification deadline on January 31, 2023. The senator said there will be future litigation, but, again, according to congress.gov, it is allegedly in litigation already.

Why not call a revote? We know 27 states already have it passed on a state level. It’s an election year, and everyone in D.C. is done by December 12 to be home for the holidays. Make a new push. Let the votes fall where they may.

Still here.

Joe Karpinski

Amagansett