HC0003 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB094 02606 RCE 32607 e

94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2005 and 2006
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
HC0003

Introduced 1/12/2005, by Rep. Lou Lang

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

Provides for the ratification of the proposed equal rights amendment to the United States Constitution.

A BILL FOR

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

WHEREAS, The Ninety-second Congress of the United States of America, at its Second Session, in both houses, by a constitutional majority of two-thirds, adopted the following proposition to amend the Constitution of the United States of America:

"JOINT RESOLUTION

RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED (TWO-THIRDS OF EACH HOUSE CONCURRING THEREIN), That the following article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as a part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission by the Congress:

"ARTICLE ______

Section 1. Equality of rights under law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of sex.

Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce by appropriate legislation the provisions of this article.

Section 3. This Amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.""; and

WHEREAS, A Joint Resolution is a resolution adopted by both houses of the General Assembly and does not require the signature of the Governor; a Joint Resolution is sufficient for Illinois' ratification of an amendment to the United States Constitution; and

WHEREAS, The United States Congress has recently adopted the 27th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, the so-called Madison Amendment, relating to Compensation of Members of Congress; this amendment was proposed 203 years earlier by our First Congress and only recently ratified by three-fourths of the States; the United States Archivist certified the 27th Amendment on May 18, 1992; and

WHEREAS, The founders of our nation, James Madison included, did not favor further restrictions to Article V of the Constitution of the United States, the amending procedure; the United States Constitution is harder to amend than any other constitution in history; and

WHEREAS, The restricting time limit for the Equal Rights Amendment ratification is in the resolving clause and is not a part of the amendment proposed by Congress and already ratified by 35 states; and

WHEREAS, Having passed a time extension for the Equal Rights Amendment on October 20, 1978, Congress has demonstrated that a time limit in a resolving clause can be disregarded if it is not a part of the proposed amendment; and

WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court in Coleman v. Miller, 307 U.S. 433, at 456 (1939), recognized that Congress is in a unique position to judge the tenor of the nation, to be aware of the political, social, and economic factors affecting the nation, and to be aware of the importance to the nation of the proposed amendment; and

WHEREAS, If an amendment to the Constitution of the United States has been proposed by two-thirds of both houses of Congress and ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures, it is for Congress under the principles of Coleman v. Miller to determine the validity of the state ratifications occurring after a time limit in the resolving clause, but not in the amendment itself; and

WHEREAS, Constitutional equality for women and men continues to be timely in the United States and worldwide, and a number of other nations have achieved constitutional equality for their women and men; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that the proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America set forth in this resolution is ratified; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a certified copy of this resolution be forwarded to the Archivist of the United States, the Administrator of General Services of the United States, the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States, and each member of the Illinois congressional delegation.