[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.J. Res. 21 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. J. RES. 21

 Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States with 
 respect to the proposal and the enactment of laws by popular vote of 
                    the people of the United States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 7, 1997

   Mr. Solomon introduced the following joint resolution; which was 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                            JOINT RESOLUTION


 
 Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States with 
 respect to the proposal and the enactment of laws by popular vote of 
                    the people of the United States.

    Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives 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 part of the Constitution when 
ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States 
within seven years after the date of its submission for ratification:

                              ``Article --

    ``Section 1. The people of the United States shall have the power 
to propose and enact laws in accordance with this article, except with 
respect to carrying out the powers granted to Congress in the 11th and 
15th clauses of article I, section 8, of this Constitution. This 
article does not grant the people of the United States the power to 
propose amendments to this Constitution.
    ``Section 2. A law may be proposed by presenting to the President a 
petition that sets forth the text of the proposed law and contains 
signatures, collected within the eighteen months prior to such 
presentation, of registered voters equal in number to 3 percent of the 
ballots cast in the last general election for President, and which 
includes the signatures of registered voters in each of one-fourth of 
the States equal in number to 3 percent of the ballots cast in the last 
general election for President in each such State. Within ninety days 
after such presentation, the President shall determine the validity of 
the signatures contained in such petition through consultation with the 
appropriate States. Upon a determination that such petition contains 
the required number of valid signatures, he shall certify such 
petition. He shall then direct that the proposed law be placed on the 
ballot at the next general election held for choosing Members of the 
House of Representatives occurring at least one hundred and twenty days 
after such certification. The Congress shall provide by law reasonable 
procedures for the preparation and transmittal of such petitions, and 
for the certification of signatures on such petitions. For the purposes 
of this section, the term `State' shall include the District of 
Columbia.
    ``Section 3. A proposed law shall be enacted upon receiving a 
majority of the number of electoral votes. For purposes of this 
section, each State shall have a number of electoral votes equal to the 
number of Senators and Representatives to which such State is entitled 
in the Congress. The District of Columbia shall have a number of 
electoral votes equal to the number of Senators and Representatives to 
which it would be entitled in the Congress if it were a State, but in 
no event more than the number of electoral votes of the least populous 
State. A proposed law shall receive a proportion of the number of 
electoral votes of each State equal to the proportion of the ballots 
cast in such State with respect to such proposed law that were cast for 
approval of such proposed law. In making the computation, fractional 
numbers less than one-one-thousandth shall be disregarded.
    ``Section 4. Any law enacted pursuant to this article shall be a 
law the same as any other law of the United States, except that any law 
to repeal or amend a law enacted pursuant to this article during the 2 
years immediately following its effective date must receive an 
affirmative rollcall vote of two-thirds of the Members of each House 
duly elected and sworn. No law, the enactment of which is forbidden the 
Congress by this Constitution or any amendment thereof, may be enacted 
by the people under this article.
    ``Section 5. The Congress and the people shall have the power to 
enforce this article by appropriate legislation.''.
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