[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 152 (Wednesday, September 12, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S6141]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petitions and memorials were laid before the Senate and 
were referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

       POM-299. A joint resolution adopted by the Legislature of 
     the State of Illinois memorializing its ratification of the 
     proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution of the 
     United States of America; to the Committee on the Judiciary.

         Senate Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment No. 4

       Whereas, 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, A Joint Resolution is a resolution adopted by both 
     houses of the General Assembly and does not require the 
     signature of the Governor; a Joint Resolution is sufficient 
     for Illinois' ratification of an amendment to the United 
     States Constitution; and
       Whereas, The United States Congress has recently adopted 
     the 27th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, 
     the so-called Madison Amendment, relating to Compensation of 
     Members of Congress; this amendment was proposed 203 years 
     earlier by our First Congress and only recently ratified by 
     three-fourths of the States; the United States Archivist 
     certified the 27th Amendment on May 18, 1992; and
       Whereas, The founders of our nation, James Madison 
     included, did not favor further restrictions to Article V of 
     the Constitution of the United States, the amending 
     procedure; the United States Constitution is harder to amend 
     than any other constitution in history; and
       Whereas, The restricting time limit for the Equal Rights 
     Amendment ratification is in the resolving clause and is not 
     a part of the amendment proposed by Congress and already 
     ratified by 35 states; and
       Whereas, Having passed a time extension for the Equal 
     Rights Amendment on October 20, 1978, Congress has 
     demonstrated that a time limit in a resolving clause can be 
     disregarded if it is not a part of the proposed amendment; 
     and
       Whereas, The United States Supreme Court in Coleman v. 
     Miller, 307 U.S. 433, at 456 (1939), recognized that Congress 
     is in a unique position to judge the tenor of the nation, to 
     be aware of the political, social, and economic factors 
     affecting the nation, and to be aware of the importance to 
     the nation of the proposed amendment; and
       Whereas, If an amendment to the Constitution of the United 
     States has been proposed by two-thirds of both houses of 
     Congress and ratified by three-fourths of the state 
     legislatures, it is for Congress under the principles of 
     Coleman v. Miller to determine the validity of the state 
     ratifications occurring after a time limit in the resolving 
     clause, but not in the amendment itself; and
       Whereas, Constitutional equality for women and men 
     continues to be timely in the United States and worldwide, 
     and a number of other nations have achieved constitutional 
     equality for their women and men; therefore, be it
       Resolved, by the Senate of the One Hundredth General 
     Assembly of the State of Illinois, the House of 
     Representatives concurring herein, that the proposed 
     amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America 
     set forth in this resolution is ratified; and be it further
       Resolved, That a certified copy of this resolution be 
     forwarded to the Archivist of the United States, the 
     President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the 
     House of Representatives of the Congress of the United 
     States, and each member of the Illinois congressional 
     delegation.
                                  ____

       POM-300. A petition from a citizen of the State of Texas 
     relative to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission June 
     2018 report submitted to the United States Congress; to the 
     Committee on Finance.
       POM-301. A petition from a citizen of the State of Texas 
     relative to national security clearances; to the Select 
     Committee on Intelligence.
       POM-302. A petition from a citizen of the District of 
     Columbia relative to voting representatives in the United 
     States Congress; to the Committee on the Judiciary.

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