HJ0020 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HJ0020 LRB103 30912 LNS 57460 r

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, In 1972, 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 the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by 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, Article V of the Constitution of the United States sets forth a two-step amending procedure; and

WHEREAS, The first step of the Article V amending procedure is proposal of an amendment either by two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress or by a convention called by application of two-thirds of the States; and

WHEREAS, The second and final step of the Article V amending procedure is ratification of an amendment by three-fourths of the States; and

WHEREAS, The Constitution of the United States does not limit the time for States to ratify an amendment; and

WHEREAS, The time limit within the internal resolution used by Congress in 1972 to propose the Equal Rights Amendment is, thus, without force or effect; and

WHEREAS, The so-called Madison Amendment, relating to Compensation of Members of Congress, is the Twenty-Seventh Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and

WHEREAS, In 1789, by two-thirds vote of each house of the First Congress, the Madison Amendment completed the proposal step of Article V; and

WHEREAS, Approximately 203 years later, the Madison Amendment completed the ratification step of Article V through ratification by three-fourths of the States; and

WHEREAS, In 1992, having met the requirements of Article V, the Madison Amendment was published and certified by the Administration of President George H.W. Bush as the Twenty-Seventh Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and

WHEREAS, Following publication of the Madison Amendment, Congress affirmed the Madison Amendment as the Twenty-Seventh Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and

WHEREAS, As of January 27, 2020, three-fourths of the States have ratified the Equal Rights Amendment; and

WHEREAS, In contrast to the Madison Amendment which took 203 years to ratify, the Equal Rights Amendment took a mere 48 years to ratify; and

WHEREAS, The Equal Rights Amendment now meets the requirements of Article V of the Constitution of the United States to be added as the Twenty-Eighth Amendment; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that the General Assembly urges the Administration of President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. to publish and certify without delay the Equal Rights Amendment as the Twenty-Eighth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the General Assembly urges the Congress of the United States to pass a joint resolution, affirming the Equal Rights Amendment as the Twenty-Eighth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the General Assembly calls on other States to join in this action by passing the same or similar resolutions; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be transmitted to the President and Vice President of the United States, to Members of the United States Congress, and to the Archivist of the United States.