State of Illinois
91st General Assembly
Legislation

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91_HC0003

 
                                               LRB9100278DHpk

 1                       HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
 2                      CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

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

 8                          "JOINT RESOLUTION
 9        RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES  AND  SENATE  OF
10    THE   UNITED   STATES   OF   AMERICA  IN  CONGRESS  ASSEMBLED
11    (TWO-THIRDS OF  EACH  HOUSE  CONCURRING  THEREIN),  That  the
12    following   article  is  proposed  as  an  amendment  to  the
13    Constitution of the United States, which shall  be  valid  to
14    all  intents  and purposes as a part of the Constitution when
15    ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the  several
16    States  within seven years from the date of its submission by
17    the Congress:
18                           "ARTICLE ______
19        Section 1. Equality of rights  under  law  shall  not  be
20    denied  or  abridged  by  the  United  States or any State on
21    account of sex.
22        Section 2. The Congress shall have the power  to  enforce
23    by appropriate legislation the provisions of this article.
24        Section  3.  This  Amendment  shall take effect two years
25    after the date of ratification.""; and

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

31        WHEREAS, The United States Congress has recently  adopted
32    the  27th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States,
 
                            -2-                LRB9100278DHpk
 1    the so-called Madison Amendment, relating to Compensation  of
 2    Members  of  Congress;  this amendment was proposed 203 years
 3    earlier by our First Congress and only recently  ratified  by
 4    three-fourths  of  the  States;  the  United States Archivist
 5    certified the 27th Amendment on May 18, 1992; and

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

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

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

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

26        WHEREAS, If an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the
27    United  States has been proposed by two-thirds of both houses
28    of Congress  and  ratified  by  three-fourths  of  the  state
29    legislatures,  it  is  for  Congress  under the principles of
30    Coleman v. Miller to determine  the  validity  of  the  state
31    ratifications  occurring  after a time limit in the resolving
32    clause, but not in the amendment itself; and
 
                            -3-                LRB9100278DHpk
 1        WHEREAS,  Constitutional  equality  for  women  and   men
 2    continues  to  be  timely in the United States and worldwide,
 3    and a number of other nations  have  achieved  constitutional
 4    equality for their women and men; therefore, be it

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

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

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