Amending the Constitution

[W. Gray]

This subject was brought up in another thread and I started a new thread since it is such an interesting subject.


There is a method for amending the Constitution that bypasses Congress. 

That is a national convention requested by two-thirds of the state legislatures, but it has never been used.


Once Congress approves a proposed amendment, it must be approved by three-fourths of the states.

That means three-fourths of the states at any time it is still out there for approval.

For instance, the proposed amendment that became amendment 27 hung around so long the states increased from 14 to 50.

What became amendment 27, took 200 years for three-fourths of the states to approve. This amendment has to do with the salary of Congress. Alabama was the 38th state to approve in 1992.

There are six proposed amendments to the Constitution approved by Congress that have never been approved by the states.

Four of these are still out there awaiting approval:

Proposed: Regulates the size of the House of Representatives, approved by Congress in 1791.

Proposed: Accepting a title of nobility from a foreign land revokes one's citizenship, approved by Congress in 1810.

Proposed: Prohibits Congressional power interfering in internal state affairs. Approved by Congress in 1861 and intended to protect slavery from federal interference.

Proposed: Child labor. Gives Congress authority to legislate child labor. Approved by Congress in 1924.


Two proposed amendments were not approved by the states after Congress inserted a seven year deadline. Neither made the deadline so they are dead:

Proposed: Equal Rights Amendment for women, approved by Congress in 1972. Died in 1979.

Proposed: District of Columbia, approved by Congress in 1978 and would have repealed amendment 23 (gave DC approval to have electors for president and vice president) and provided DC with two senators and proportional representatives (which would have given them electors). Died in 1986.

[Roma Jean Turner]

Thanks Frank, what an interesting run down on the subject.

[sixdogsmom]

I appreciate this also. The constitution is not something to mess with lightly.

[Teresa]

The constitution is not something to mess with at all.   

[W. Gray]

I have been called a lot of things but this is the first time anyone ever called me Frank.

I thought sure there would be some comments about the Congressionally approved Equal Rights for Women amendment not  being ratified.

[Roma Jean Turner]

Sorry Wm, I must have been multitasking again.

[W. Gray]

Uh, never been called Wm either.


Just as a side comment, I noticed the temperature above in Howard is 80.

It was 49 when we got up this morning and has now warmed to 54.

[pam]

Waldo, My Creator made me equal to any man and my Dad taught me I was equal to any man and I have been equal to any man on any job I ever had and got paid MORE than some of them. I don't need the government to give me what I already have

[sixdogsmom]

Trust me Pam, you would not have had the opportunity to work a good job had it not been for the women before you who worked for equal rights for women. Women only got the vote in recent history, and it has not been too long since they were the chattels of their fathers or husbands. I too worked in an industry where the norm was male, and was looked at with great suspicion when first hired. I put up with a lot of guff for awhile, but it wasn't too long till they were so pleased with the production of my shift, that they hired another female supervisor for another shift. That was as positive comment on my work as anything else. Of course the pay raise didn't hurt either. ERA was not ratified, but it made it much easier for women everywhere in this country. It also brought to light treatment of women across the world and some of their injustices.

By the way Wilner,  thanks again for the post on the constitution. I have read more on it in the last few weeks than ever before. Last night I read about separation of church and state. You are right, the bill of rights does not say exactly that, however Jefferson, Adams, and several others have said it in several documents. I also read a portion of the Treaty Of Tripoli, and the Muslims, very interesting.

[pam]

SDM, the ERA movement was goin on when I was a teenager. I've worked in a few factories but most of my work life has been spent on various construction crews. I worked with the guys from the time I was little bitty and it never occured to me that I couldn't get a job just cause I was a girl. It literally never occured to me. I earned the respect of the guys I worked with not by bein a female doin a good job but by bein a top hand period. i'm glad the women who started the ERA made it easier for women in general but my point was it didn't have anything to do with the way my Dad and Mom raised me.