    [Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 104th Congress]
    [104th Congress]
    [House Document 103-342]
    [The United States Constitution]
    [Pages 76-78]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 76]]

                                   ARTICLE V.

    Sec. 190. Amendments to the Constitution.

      The  Congress,
    whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall
    propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the
    Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a
    Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be
    valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when
    ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or
    by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of
    Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment
    which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight
    shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth
    Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent,
    shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.

    [[Page 77]]

    Sec. 191. Form of and action on amendments to the
    Constitution.

      Amendments  to the Constitution are proposed in the form of joint
    resolutions, which have their several readings and are enrolled and
    signed by the presiding officers of the two Houses (V, 7029, footnote),
    but are not presented to the President for his approval (V, 7040; see
    discussion under Sec. 115, supra; Hollingsworth v. Virginia, 3 U.S. [3
    Dall.] 378 (1798)). They are filed with the Archivist who, under the law
    (1 U.S.C. 106b; 1 U.S.C. 112), has the responsibility for the
    certification and publication of such amendments, once they are ratified
    by the States. Under the earlier procedure, the two houses sometimes
    requested the President to transmit to the States certain proposed
    amendments (V, 7041, 7043), but a concurrent resolution to that end was
    without privilege (VIII, 3508). The President notified Congress by
    message of the promulgation of the ratification of a constitutional
    amendment (V, 7044).-

    Sec. 192. The twothirds vote on proposed amendments.

      The  vote required on a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the
    Constitution is two-thirds of those voting, a quorum being present, and
    not two-thirds of the entire membership (V, 7027, 7028; VIII, 3503). The
    majority required to pass a constitutional amendment, like the majority
    required to pass a bill over the President's veto (VII, 1111) and the
    majority required to adopt a motion to suspend the rules (Dec. 16, 1981,
    pp. 31850, 31851, 31855, 31856), is two-thirds of those Members voting
    either in the affirmative or negative, a quorum being present, and
    Members who only indicate that they are ``present'' are not counted in
    this computation (Speaker pro tempore Wright, Nov. 15, 1983, p. 32685).
    The requirement of the two-thirds vote applies to the vote on the final
    passage and not to amendments (V, 7031, 7032; VIII, 3504), or prior
    stages (V, 7029, 7030), but is required where the House votes on
    agreeing to Senate amendments (V, 7033, 7034; VIII, 3505), or on
    agreeing to a conference report (V, 7036). One House having, by a two-
    thirds vote, passed in amended form a proposed constitutional amendment
    from the other House, and then having by a majority vote receded from
    its amendment, the constitutional amendment was held not to be passed
    (V, 7035).

      In the 95th Congress, both the House and Senate agreed by a majority
    vote to House Joint Resolution 638, extending the time period for
    ratification by the States of the Equal Rights Amendment, where House
    Joint Resolution 208 of the 92d Congress, proposing the amendment, had
    provided for a seven-year ratification period. The House determined in
    the 95th Congress, by laying on the table by a rollcall vote a
    privileged resolution asserting that a vote of two-thirds of the Members
    present and voting was required to pass a joint resolution extending the
    ratification period for a constitutional amendment already submitted to
    the States, that only a majority vote was required on H.J. Res. 638
    (Speaker O'Neill, Aug. 15, 1978, pp. 26203-04).

      The joint resolution extending the ratification period for the Equal
    Rights Amendment was delivered to the President, who signed it although
    expressing doubt as to the necessity for his doing so (Presidential
    Documents, Oct. 19, 1978). When sent to the Archivist, the joint
    resolution was not assigned a public law number, but the Archivist
    notified the States of the action of the Congress in extending the
    ratification period. For a judicial decision voiding this extension as
    well as declaring that a State does have the power to rescind a prior
    ratification of a proposed constitutional amendment, see Idaho v.
    Freeman, 529 F.Supp. 1107 (D.C.D. Idaho, 1981), judgment stayed sub nom.
    National Organization of Women v. Idaho, 455 U.S. 918 (1982), vacated
    and remanded to dismiss, 459 U.S. 809 (1982).

      The yeas and nays are not required to pass a joint resolution
    proposing to amend the Constitution (V, 7038-7039; VIII, 3506).

    [[Page 78]]

      Question has arisen as to the power of a State to recall its assent to
    a constitutional amendment (V, 7042; footnotes to Secs. 225, 234,
    infra) but has not been the subject of a final judicial determination.

    Sec. 193. Decisions of the court.

      Decisions  of the Supreme
    Court of the United States: National Prohibition Cases, 253 U.S. 350
    (1920); Leser v. Garnett, 258 U.S. 130 (1922); Hawke v. Smith, 253 U.S.
    221 (1920); Dillon v. Gloss, 256 U.S. 368 (1921); Chandler v. Wise, 307
    U.S. 474 (1939); Coleman v. Miller, 307 U.S. 433 (1939).