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1
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
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CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT 4
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(As Amended by Senate Amendment No. 1)

 
4    WHEREAS, The Ninety-second Congress of the United States of
5America, at its Second Session, in both houses, by a
6constitutional majority of two-thirds, adopted the following
7proposition to amend the Constitution of the United States of
8America:
 
9
"JOINT RESOLUTION
10    RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND SENATE OF THE
11UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED (TWO-THIRDS OF
12EACH HOUSE CONCURRING THEREIN), That the following article is
13proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United
14States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as a
15part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of
16three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the
17date of its submission by the Congress:
 
18
"ARTICLE ______
19    Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be
20denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on
21account of sex.
22    Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by
23appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
24    Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after

 

 

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1the date of ratification.""; and
 
2    WHEREAS, A Joint Resolution is a resolution adopted by both
3houses of the General Assembly and does not require the
4signature of the Governor; a Joint Resolution is sufficient for
5Illinois' ratification of an amendment to the United States
6Constitution; and
 
7    WHEREAS, The United States Congress has recently adopted
8the 27th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States,
9the so-called Madison Amendment, relating to Compensation of
10Members of Congress; this amendment was proposed 203 years
11earlier by our First Congress and only recently ratified by
12three-fourths of the States; the United States Archivist
13certified the 27th Amendment on May 18, 1992; and
 
14    WHEREAS, The founders of our nation, James Madison
15included, did not favor further restrictions to Article V of
16the Constitution of the United States, the amending procedure;
17the United States Constitution is harder to amend than any
18other constitution in history; and
 
19    WHEREAS, The restricting time limit for the Equal Rights
20Amendment ratification is in the resolving clause and is not a
21part of the amendment proposed by Congress and already ratified
22by 35 states; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Having passed a time extension for the Equal
2Rights Amendment on October 20, 1978, Congress has demonstrated
3that a time limit in a resolving clause can be disregarded if
4it is not a part of the proposed amendment; and
 
5    WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court in Coleman v.
6Miller, 307 U.S. 433, at 456 (1939), recognized that Congress
7is in a unique position to judge the tenor of the nation, to be
8aware of the political, social, and economic factors affecting
9the nation, and to be aware of the importance to the nation of
10the proposed amendment; and
 
11    WHEREAS, If an amendment to the Constitution of the United
12States has been proposed by two-thirds of both houses of
13Congress and ratified by three-fourths of the state
14legislatures, it is for Congress under the principles of
15Coleman v. Miller to determine the validity of the state
16ratifications occurring after a time limit in the resolving
17clause, but not in the amendment itself; and
 
18    WHEREAS, Constitutional equality for women and men
19continues to be timely in the United States and worldwide, and
20a number of other nations have achieved constitutional equality
21for their women and men; therefore, be it
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL
2ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
3CONCURRING HEREIN, that the proposed amendment to the
4Constitution of the United States of America set forth in this
5resolution is ratified; and be it further
 
6    RESOLVED, That a certified copy of this resolution be
7forwarded to the Archivist of the United States, the President
8pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
9Representatives of the Congress of the United States, and each
10member of the Illinois congressional delegation.