Word: matijevich
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Dates: during 1980-1980
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...over ten hours they waited. And waited. And waited some more, while behind the scenes the number of representatives backing the ERA slowly climbed from 98 to 105. Then at 4:30 p.m. came the ultimate letdown: one of the amendment's sponsors, North Chicago Democrat John Matijevich, announced that the vote would be postponed indefinitely. The reason: the ERA forces were still two votes short of the three-fifths majority required for passage. Some lawmakers had decided that a vote for ERA was too risky. Said one of them: "If there were a secret vote, it would pass...
After the postponement came a round of partisan name calling on the house floor that raised doubts about whether ERA supporters could ever get the crucial two votes. Matijevich angrily accused Thompson of having "provided virtually nothing." Republican representatives booed noisily. The next day, Thomas Hanahan, a Democrat from rural McHenry, who once described feminists as "braless, brainless broads," accused ERA supporters of attempting to bribe waffling legislators with offers of big campaign contributions; he provided no evidence. Proponents accused him, in turn, of trying to frighten fence sitters into opposing the amendment...
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