Equal Rights Amendment and Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment Legislation Statement on Senate Action on the ERA Extension Resolution and a White House Task Force on the Employment Legislation.

I am delighted by today's passage of the Senate resolution extending the time for the States to ratify the equal rights amendment to the Constitution.

Our concern for human rights must begin at home, and the rights of citizenship must be protected, regardless of sex. I believe it is past time for that protection to be written into the Constitution of the United States. That is why I have been so strongly committed to ERA, and why I urged the Senate to take the action it took today.

I want to again commend the many citizens organizations that have worked so closely with us to obtain passage of the extension and to thank Senator Birch Bayh and Majority Leader Robert Byrd for their outstanding leadership on this issue.

I hope that States which have not yet ratified the amendment will now take speedy advantage of this additional opportunity to do so.

Human rights also includes economic opportunity. With the passage of the ERA extension, we can devote full attention to passage of the Humphrey-Hawkins full employment bill before the end of this session. I have asked Louis Martin and Anne Wexler of my staff to chair a White House task force to coordinate administration activities in support of this legislation. Hamilton Jordan will meet with this task force and representatives of citizens groups supporting the legislation at noon on Monday.