Mr. Speaker, 议长先生：
House Joint Resolution 264, before us today, which provides for equality under the law for both men and women, represents one of the most clear-cut opportunities we are likely to have to declare our faith in the principles that shaped our Constitution. It provides a legal basis for attack on the most subtle, most pervasive, and most institutionalized form of prejudice that exists. Discrimination against women, solely on the basis of their sex, is so widespread that it seems to many persons normal, natural and right. 今天摆在我们面前的众议院联合决议第264号，规定男女在法律面前平等，代表了我们可能拥有的最明确的机会之一，来宣示我们对塑造宪法的原则的信念。它为攻击现存最微妙、最普遍、最制度化的偏见形式提供了法律基础。仅仅基于性别对妇女的歧视如此普遍，以至于在许多人看来是正常、自然和正确的。
Legal expression of prejudice on the grounds of religious or political belief has become a minor problem in our society. Prejudice on the basis of race is, at least, under systematic attack. There is reason for optimism that it will start to die with the present, older generation. 基于宗教或政治信仰的偏见在法律上的表达在我们社会中已成为次要问题。基于种族的偏见至少正在受到系统性的攻击。有理由乐观地认为，它将随着现在这一代老年人的逝去而开始消亡。
It is time we act to assure full equality of opportunity to those citizens who, although in a majority, suffer the restrictions that are commonly imposed on minorities, to women. 现在是我们采取行动的时候了，确保那些虽然占多数但却遭受通常施加于少数群体的限制的公民——妇女——享有充分的机会平等。
The argument that this amendment will not solve the problem of sex discrimination is not relevant. If the argument were used against a civil rights bill -- as it has been used in the past -- the prejudice that lies behind it would be embarrassing. Of course laws will not eliminate prejudice from the hearts of human beings. 有人认为这项修正案不会解决性别歧视问题，这种论点是不相关的。如果这种论点被用来反对民权法案——就像过去那样——其背后的偏见将令人尴尬。当然，法律无法消除人们心中的偏见。
But that is no reason to allow prejudice to continue to be enshrined in our laws -- to perpetuate injustice through inaction. 但这并不是允许偏见继续被载入我们法律的理由——通过不作为来延续不公正。
The amendment is necessary to clarify countless ambiguities and inconsistencies in our legal system. For instance, the Constitution guarantees due process of law, in the 5th and 14th amendments. But the applicability of due process to sex distinctions is not clear: Women are excluded from some State colleges and universities. In some States, restrictions are placed on a married woman who engages in an independent business. Women may not be chosen for some juries. Women even receive heavier criminal penalties than men who commit the same crime. 这项修正案对于澄清我们法律体系中无数的模糊之处和不一致之处是必要的。例如，宪法在第五和第十四修正案中保障正当程序。但正当程序对性别区分的适用性并不明确：妇女被排除在一些州立学院和大学之外。在一些州，对从事独立商业活动的已婚妇女施加限制。妇女可能不被选入某些陪审团。妇女甚至比犯同样罪行的男子受到更重的刑事处罚。
What would the legal effects of the equal rights amendment really be? 平等权利修正案的法律效果究竟会是什么？
The equal rights amendment would govern only the relationship between the State and its citizens -- not relationships between private citizens. The amendment would be largely self-executing, that is, any Federal or State laws in conflict would be ineffective one year after date of ratification without further action by the Congress or State legislatures. 平等权利修正案将只管辖国家与其公民之间的关系——而不是私人公民之间的关系。该修正案在很大程度上是自动执行的，也就是说，任何与之冲突的联邦或州法律将在批准之日起一年后失效，无需国会或州立法机构采取进一步行动。
Opponents of the amendment claim its ratification would throw the law into a state of confusion and would result in much litigation to establish its meaning. This objection overlooks the influence of legislative history in determining intent and the recent activities of many groups preparing for legislative changes in this direction. 修正案的反对者声称其批准将使法律陷入混乱状态，并将导致大量诉讼以确定其含义。这种反对意见忽视了立法历史在确定意图方面的影响，以及许多团体最近为朝着这个方向进行立法变革所做的准备活动。
State labor laws applying only to women, such as those limiting hours of work and weights to be lifted would become inoperative unless the legislature amended them to apply to men. As of early 1970, most States would have some laws that would be affected. However, changes are being made so rapidly as a result of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it is likely that by the time the Equal Rights Amendment would become effective, no conflicting State laws would remain. 仅适用于妇女的州劳动法，如限制工作时间和举重的法律，将失效，除非立法机构修改它们以适用于男子。截至1970年初，大多数州都有一些会受到影响的法律。然而，由于1964年《民权法案》第七条的实施，变化正在迅速发生，很可能到平等权利修正案生效时，将不再有冲突的州法律。
In any event, there has for years been great controversy as to the usefulness to women of these State labor laws. There has never been any doubt that they worked a hardship on women who need or want to work overtime and on women who need or want better paying jobs; and there has been no persuasive evidence as to how many women benefit from the archaic policy of the laws. After the Delaware hours law was repealed in 1966, there were no complaints from women to any of the State agencies that might have been approached. 无论如何，多年来人们对这些州劳动法对妇女的有用性一直存在很大争议。毫无疑问，这些法律给需要或想要加班的妇女以及需要或想要更高薪水工作的妇女带来了困难；而且没有令人信服的证据表明有多少妇女从这些法律的过时政策中受益。1966年特拉华州工时法被废除后，没有妇女向任何可能被联系的州机构提出投诉。
Jury service laws not making women equally liable for jury service would have been revised. 没有规定妇女同等承担陪审团服务义务的陪审团服务法律将被修订。
The selective service law would have to include women, but women would not be required to serve in the Armed Forces where they are not fitted any more than men are required to serve. Military service, while a great responsibility, is not without benefits, particularly for young men with limited education or training. Since October 1966, 246,000 young men who did not meet the normal mental or physical requirements have been given opportunities for training and correcting physical problems. 征兵法将必须包括妇女，但妇女不会被要求在她们不适合的武装部队服役，就像男子也不会被要求在不适合的岗位服役一样。兵役虽然是一项重大责任，但并非没有好处，特别是对受教育程度或培训有限的年轻男子而言。自1966年10月以来，246,000名不符合正常心理或生理要求的年轻男子获得了接受培训和纠正生理问题的机会。
This opportunity is not open to their sisters. Only girls who have completed high school and meet high standards on the educational test can volunteer. Ratification of the amendment would not permit application of higher standards to women. 这个机会对他们的姐妹是开放的。只有完成高中学业并在教育测试中达到高标准的女孩才能自愿报名。修正案的批准不允许对妇女适用更高的标准。
Survivorship benefits would be available to husbands of female workers on the same basis as to wives of male workers. The Social Security Act and the civil service and military service retirement acts are in conflict. Public schools and universities could not be limited to one sex and could not apply different admission standards to men and women. Laws requiring longer prison sentences for women than men would be invalid, and equal opportunities for rehabilitation and vocational training would have to be provided in public correctional institutions. 女性工人的丈夫将与男性工人的妻子享有同等的遗属福利。《社会保障法》与公务员和军人退休法案存在冲突。公立学校和大学不能仅限于单一性别，也不能对男女适用不同的录取标准。要求妇女比男子服刑更长的法律将无效，公共惩教机构必须提供平等的康复和职业培训机会。
Different ages of majority based on sex would have to be harmonized. Federal, State, and other governmental bodies would be obligated to follow nondiscriminatory practices in all aspects of employment, including public school teachers and State university and college faculties. 基于性别的不同成年年龄必须统一。联邦、州和其他政府机构有义务在就业的所有方面遵循非歧视做法，包括公立学校教师和州立大学学院教员。
What would be the economic effects of the Equal Rights Amendment? 平等权利修正案的经济影响会是什么？
Direct economic effects would be minor. If any labor laws applying only to women still remained, their amendment or repeal would provide opportunity for women in better-paying jobs in manufacturing. More opportunities in public vocational and graduate schools for women would also tend to open up opportunities in better jobs for women. 直接的经济影响将是轻微的。如果仍然存在仅适用于妇女的劳动法，对其进行修改或废除将为妇女在制造业获得更高薪工作提供机会。为妇女提供更多公共职业学校和研究生院的机会也将有助于为妇女打开更好工作的大门。
Indirect effects could be much greater. The focusing of public attention on the gross legal, economic, and social discrimination against women by hearings and debates in the Federal and State legislatures would result in changes in attitude of parents, educators, and employers that would bring about substantial economic changes in the long run. Sex prejudice cuts both ways. Men are oppressed by the requirements of the Selective Service Act, by enforced legal guardianship of minors, and by alimony laws. Each sex, I believe, should be liable when necessary to serve and defend this country. Each has a responsibility for the support of children. 间接影响可能会大得多。通过联邦和州立法机构的听证会和辩论，将公众注意力集中在对妇女的严重法律、经济和社会歧视上，这将导致父母、教育者和雇主态度的改变，从长远来看将带来实质性的经济变化。性别偏见是双向的。男子受到《征兵法》要求、强制法定监护未成年人和赡养费法律的压迫。我认为，在必要时，每个性别都应有义务为这个国家服务和保卫它。每个人都有抚养子女的责任。
There are objections raised to wiping out laws protecting women workers. No one would condone exploitation. But what does sex have to do with it? Working conditions and hours that are harmful to women are harmful to men; wages that are unfair for women are unfair for men. Laws setting employment limitations on the basis of sex are irrational, and the proof of this is their inconsistency from State to State. 有人反对废除保护女工的法律。没有人会宽恕剥削。但性别与此有什么关系呢？对妇女有害的工作条件和工时对男子也有害；对妇女不公平的工资对男子也不公平。基于性别设定就业限制的法律是不合理的，这一点的证明是它们在各州之间的不一致性。
The physical characteristics of men and women are not fixed, but cover two wide spans that have a great deal of overlap. It is obvious, I think, that a robust woman could be more fit for physical labor than a weak man. The choice of occupation would be determined by individual capabilities, and the rewards for equal work should be equal. 男女的生理特征不是固定的，而是涵盖两个广泛的范围，有大量重叠。我认为，一个健壮的女性可能比一个虚弱的男性更适合体力劳动，这是显而易见的。职业选择将由个人能力决定，同等工作应获得同等报酬。
This is what it comes down to: artificial distinctions between persons must be wiped out of the law. Legal discrimination between the sexes is, in almost every instance, founded on outmoded views of society and the pre-scientific beliefs about psychology and physiology. It is time to sweep away these relics of the past and set future generations free of them. 归根结底：人与人之间的人为区别必须从法律中消除。法律中的性别歧视几乎在每个案例中都建立在过时的社会观念和前科学时代的心理学和生理学信念之上。是时候扫除这些过去的遗物，让后代摆脱它们的束缚。
Federal agencies and institutions responsible for the enforcement of equal opportunity laws need the authority of a Constitutional amendment. The 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1963 Equal Pay Act are not enough; they are limited in their coverage -- for instance, one excludes teachers, and the other leaves out administrative and professional women. 负责执行平等机会法律的联邦机构和机构需要宪法修正案的授权。1964年《民权法案》和1963年《同工同酬法案》是不够的；它们的覆盖面有限——例如，一个排除了教师，另一个排除了行政和专业女性。
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has not proven to be an adequate device, with its power limited to investigation, conciliation, and recommendation to the Justice Department. In its cases involving sexual discrimination, it has failed in more than one-half. 平等就业机会委员会尚未被证明是一个充分的工具，其权力仅限于调查、调解和向司法部提出建议。在涉及性别歧视的案件中，它失败了一半以上。
The Justice Department has been even less effective. It has intervened in only one case involving discrimination on the basis of sex, and this was on a procedural point. In a second case, in which both sexual and racial discrimination were alleged, the racial bias charge was given far greater weight. 司法部的效率更低。它只干预了一起涉及性别歧视的案件，而且是在程序问题上。在第二起案件中，据称同时存在性别和种族歧视，种族偏见指控被赋予了更大的权重。
Evidence of discrimination on the basis of sex should hardly have to be cited here. It is in the Labor Department's employment and salary figures for anyone who is still in doubt. Its elimination will involve so many changes in our State and Federal laws that, without the authority and impetus of this proposed amendment, it will perhaps take another 194 years. We cannot be parties to continuing a delay. 基于性别的歧视证据几乎不需要在这里引用。劳工部的就业和工资数据对任何仍有疑问的人来说都是明证。消除性别歧视将涉及我们州和联邦法律的许多变化，如果没有这项拟议修正案的授权和推动，这可能还需要194年。我们不能成为继续拖延的一方。
The time is clearly now to put this House on record for the fullest expression of that equality of opportunity which our Founding Fathers professed. They professed it, but they did not assure it to their daughters, as they tried to do for their sons. The Constitution they wrote was designed to protect the rights of white, male citizens. As there were no black Founding Fathers, there were no founding mothers -- a great pity, on both counts. It is not too late to complete the work they left undone. Today, here, we should start to do so. 显然，现在是时候让众议院正式记录下我们开国元勋所宣称的最充分的机会平等了。他们宣称了这一点，但他们没有像为儿子们努力做的那样确保女儿们享有这一权利。他们撰写的宪法旨在保护白人男性公民的权利。既然没有黑人开国元勋，也就没有开国元母——这在两方面都是极大的遗憾。完成他们未完成的工作还为时不晚。今天，在这里，我们应该开始这样做。
In closing, I would like to make one point: Social and psychological effects will be initially more important than legal or economic results. As Leo Kanowitz has pointed out: 最后，我想提出一点：社会和心理影响最初将比法律或经济结果更重要。正如利奥·卡诺维茨所指出的：
Rules of law that treat of the sexes per se inevitably produce far-reaching effects upon social, psychological and economic aspects of male-female relations beyond the limited confines of legislative chambers and courtrooms. 对性别本身进行区分的法律规则不可避免地会对立法会议厅和法庭有限范围之外的男女关系的社会、心理和经济方面产生深远影响。
As long as organized legal systems, at once the most respected and most feared of social institutions, continue to differentiate sharply, in treatment or in words, between men and women on the basis of irrelevant and artificially created distinctions, the likelihood of men and women coming to regard one another primarily as fellow human beings and only secondarily as representatives of another sex will continue to be remote. 只要有组织的法律制度——既是最受尊重也是最令人畏惧的社会机构——继续在待遇或言辞上基于无关和人为制造的区别对男女进行急剧区分，男女开始主要将彼此视为同胞人类，其次才视为另一性别的代表的可能性将继续渺茫。
When men and women are prevented from recognizing one another's essential humanity by sexual prejudices, nourished by legal as well as social institutions, society as a whole remains less than it could otherwise become. 当男女由于法律和社会制度所助长的性别偏见而无法认识到彼此的基本人性时，整个社会就无法达到它本可以达到的状态。