[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).