[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]
[[Page 45]]
________________________________________________________________________
PROPOSED AMENDMENTS NOT RATIFIED
BY THE STATES
________________________________________________________________________
[[Page 47]]
________________________________________________________________________
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.
[[Page 48]]
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.
[[Page 49]]
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.''