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1
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, In 1972, the Ninety-second Congress of the United
3States of America, at its Second Session, in both houses, by a
4constitutional majority of two-thirds, adopted the following
5proposition to amend the Constitution of the United States of
6America:
7        "JOINT RESOLUTION RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF
8    REPRESENTATIVES AND SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
9    IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED (TWO-THIRDS OF EACH HOUSE CONCURRING
10    THEREIN), That the following article is proposed as an
11    amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which
12    shall be valid to all intents and purposes as a part of the
13    Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of
14    three-fourths of the several States within seven years
15    from the date of its submission by the Congress:
16            "ARTICLE ______
17            Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall
18        not be denied or abridged by the United States or by
19        any State on account of sex.
20            Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to
21        enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of
22        this article.
23            Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two
24        years after the date of ratification.""; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Article V of the Constitution of the United
2States sets forth a two-step amending procedure; and
 
3    WHEREAS, The first step of the Article V amending
4procedure is proposal of an amendment either by two-thirds
5vote of both houses of Congress or by a convention called by
6application of two-thirds of the States; and
 
7    WHEREAS, The second and final step of the Article V
8amending procedure is ratification of an amendment by
9three-fourths of the States; and
 
10    WHEREAS, The Constitution of the United States does not
11limit the time for States to ratify an amendment; and
 
12    WHEREAS, The Constitution of the United States does not
13grant Congress the authority to limit the time for States to
14ratify amendments; and
 
15    WHEREAS, A time limit on State ratifications of amendments
16is a substantive change to the Constitution of the United
17States; and
 
18    WHEREAS, To have full force and effect, any substantive
19change to the Constitution of the United States must be within
20the text of an amendment, where it can be approved as part of

 

 

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1each of the two steps of the Article V amending procedure; and
 
2    WHEREAS, The time limit on State ratifications of the
3Equal Rights Amendment is within only the internal resolution
4used by Congress in the proposal step and not within the text
5of the amendment; and
 
6    WHEREAS, In the ratification step, the States ratified
7only the text of the Equal Rights Amendment; and
 
8    WHEREAS, The time limit within the internal resolution
9used by Congress in 1972 to propose the Equal Rights Amendment
10is, thus, without force or effect; and
 
11    WHEREAS, The most recent constitutional amendment to be
12proposed by two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress was the
13District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment in 1978; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Congress included a time limit within the text of
15the District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment, in order for
16that time limit to have full force and effect; and
 
17    WHEREAS, The time limit for the District of Columbia
18Voting Rights Amendment ended before completion of the second
19and final step of ratification of the amendment by
20three-fourths of the States; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Because the time limit was within the text of the
2District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment, that time limit
3had full force and effect and that amendment did expire in
41985; and
 
5    WHEREAS, The so-called Madison Amendment, relating to
6Compensation of Members of Congress, is the Twenty-Seventh
7Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and
 
8    WHEREAS, In 1789, by two-thirds vote of each house of the
9First Congress, the Madison Amendment completed the proposal
10step of Article V; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Approximately 203 years later, the Madison
12Amendment completed the ratification step of Article V through
13ratification by three-fourths of the States; and
 
14    WHEREAS, In 1992, having met the strict two-step
15requirements of Article V, the Madison Amendment was published
16by the Administration of President George H.W. Bush as the
17Twenty-Seventh Amendment to the Constitution of the United
18States; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Following publication of the Madison Amendment,
20Congress affirmed the Madison Amendment as the Twenty-Seventh

 

 

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1Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and
 
2    WHEREAS, As of January 27, 2020, three-fourths of the
3States have ratified the Equal Rights Amendment; and
 
4    WHEREAS, Unlike the District of Columbia Voting Rights
5Amendment, the Equal Rights Amendment does not have a time
6limit in its text where it would be of full force and effect;
7and
 
8    WHEREAS, In contrast to the Madison Amendment which took
9203 years to ratify, the Equal Rights Amendment took a mere 48
10years to ratify; and
 
11    WHEREAS, The text of Article V of the Constitution
12references only ratification, not rescission; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Samuel Johnson's dictionary of 1755 defines
14"ratify" as "to confirm; to settle"; and
 
15    WHEREAS, Bouvier's Law Dictionary of 1856, considered to
16be the first American legal dictionary, states that a
17ratification once done, "cannot be revoked or recalled"; and
 
18    WHEREAS, James Madison wrote in a July 20, 1788 letter to
19Alexander Hamilton that ratification is "in toto and for

 

 

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1ever"; and
 
2    WHEREAS, The various attempts throughout history to
3rescind the ratifications of the Constitution of the United
4States or its amendments, including the Fourteenth, Fifteenth,
5and Nineteenth Amendments, have never been honored; and
 
6    WHEREAS, The Equal Rights Amendment now meets the strict
7requirements of Article V of the Constitution of the United
8States to be added as the Twenty-Eighth Amendment; therefore,
9be it
 
10    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL
11ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF
12REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING HEREIN, that the General Assembly
13urges the Administration of President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. to
14publish without delay the Equal Rights Amendment as the
15Twenty-Eighth Amendment to the Constitution of the United
16States; and be it further
 
17    RESOLVED, That the General Assembly urges the Congress of
18the United States to pass a joint resolution, affirming the
19Equal Rights Amendment as the Twenty-Eighth Amendment to the
20Constitution of the United States; and be it further
 
21    RESOLVED, That the General Assembly calls on other States

 

 

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1to join in this action by passing the same or similar
2resolutions; and be it further
 
3    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
4transmitted to the President and Vice President of the United
5States, to Members of the United States Congress, and to the
6Archivist of the United States.