[Constitution of the United States of America:  Analysis, and Interpretation - 1992 Edition ]
[Proposed Amendments not Ratified by the States ]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]


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                    PROPOSED AMENDMENTS NOT RATIFIED
                              BY THE STATES

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             PROPOSED AMENDMENTS NOT RATIFIED BY THE STATES

        During the course of our history, in addition to the 27 
amendments which have been ratified by the required three-fourths of the 
States, six other amendments have been submitted to the States but have 
not been ratified by them.
        Beginning with the proposed Eighteenth Amendment, Congress has 
customarily included a provision requiring ratification within seven 
years from the time of the submission to the States. The Supreme Court 
in Coleman v. Miller, 307 U.S. 433 (1939), declared that the question of 
the reasonableness of the time within which a sufficient number of 
States must act is a political question to be determined by the 
Congress.
        In 1789, at the time of the submission of the Bill of Rights, 
twelve proposed amendments were submitted to the States. Of these, 
Articles III-XII were ratified and became the first ten amendments to 
the Constitution. Proposed Articles I and II were not ratified with 
these ten, but, in 1992, Article II was proclaimed as ratified, 203 
years later. The following is the text of proposed Article I:

                Article I. After the first enumeration required by the 
        first article of the Constitution, there shall be one 
        Representative for every thirty thousand, until the number shall 
        amount to one hundred, after which the proportion shall be so 
        regulated by Congress, that there shall be not less than one 
        hundred Representatives, nor less than one Representative for 
        every forty thousand persons, until the number of 
        Representatives shall amount to two hundred; after which the 
        proportion shall be so regulated by Congress, that there shall 
        not be less than two hundred Representatives, nor more than one 
        Representative for every fifty thousand persons.
                                 ______

        Thereafter, in the 2d session of the 11th Congress, the Congress 
proposed the following amendment to the Constitution relating to 
acceptance by citizens of the United States of titles of nobility from 
any foreign government.
        The proposed amendment which was not ratified by three-fourths 
of the States reads as follows:

                Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
        the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds 
        of both Houses concurring), That the following section be 
        submitted to the legislatures of the several states, which, when 
        ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the states, 
        shall be valid and binding, as a part of the constitution of the 
        United States.
                If any citizen of the United States shall accept, claim, 
        receive or retain any title of nobility or honour, or shall, 
        without the consent of Congress, accept and retain any present, 
        pension, office or emolument of any kind whatever, from any 
        emperor, king, prince or foreign power, such person shall cease 
        to be a citizen of the United States, and shall be incapable of 
        holding any office of trust or profit under them, or either of 
        them.
        
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        During the second session of the 36th Congress on March 2, 1861, 
the following proposed amendment to the Constitution relating to slavery 
was signed by the President. It is interesting to note in this 
connection that this is the only proposed amendment to the Constitution 
ever signed by the President. The President's signature is considered 
unnecessary because of the constitutional provision that upon the 
concurrence of two-thirds of both Houses of Congress the proposal shall 
be submitted to the States and shall be ratified by three-fourths of the 
States.

                Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
        the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the 
        following article be proposed to the Legislatures of the several 
        States as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, 
        which, when ratified by three-fourths of said Legislatures, 
        shall be valid, to all intents and purposes, as part of the said 
        Constitution, viz:

                           ``Article Thirteen

                ``No amendment shall be made to the Constitution which 
        will authorize or give to Congress the power to abolish or 
        interfere, within any State, with the domestic institutions 
        thereof, including that of persons held to labor or service by 
        the laws of said State.''
                                 ______

        In more recent times, only three proposed amendments have not 
been ratified by three-fourths of the States. The first is the proposed 
child-labor amendment, which was submitted to the States during the 1st 
session of the 68th Congress in June 1924, as follows:

   Joint Resolution Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution 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 when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths 
        of the several States, shall be valid to all intents and 
        purposes as a part of the Constitution:

                              Article------

                Section 1. The Congress shall have power to limit, 
        regulate, and prohibit the labor of persons under 18 years of 
        age.
                Section 2. The power of the several States is unimpaired 
        by this article except that the operation of State laws shall be 
        suspended to the extent necessary to give effect to legislation 
        enacted by the Congress.
                                 ______

        The second proposed amendment to have failed of ratification is 
the equal rights amendment, which formally died on June 30, 1982, after 
a disputed congressional extension of the original seven-year period for 
ratification.


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                       House Joint Resolution 208

                Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United 
        States relative to equal rights for men and women.
                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 from the date of its submission by the 
        Congress:
                ``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.''
                                 ______

        The third proposed amendment relating to representation in 
Congress for the District of Columbia failed of ratification, 16 States 
having ratified as of the 1985 expiration date for the ratification 
period.

                       House Joint Resolution 554

                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 from the date 
        of its submission by the Congress:

                                ``Article

                ``Section 1. For purposes of representation in the 
        Congress, election of the President and Vice President, and 
        article V of this Constitution, the District constituting the 
        seat of government of the United States shall be treated as 
        though it were a State.
                ``Sec. 2. The exercise of the rights and powers 
        conferred under this article shall be by the people of the 
        District constituting the seat of government, and as shall be 
        provided by the Congress.
                ``Sec. 3. The twenty-third article of amendment to the 
        Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.
                ``Sec. 4. This article shall be inoperative, unless it 
        shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by 
        the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within 
        seven years from the date of its submission.''