To date, Congress has submitted 33 amendment proposals to the states, 27 of which were ratified. The 27 th Amendment, which prevents members of Congress from granting themselves pay raises during a current session, was ratified in — years after it was first submitted to the states. The following steps must be completed for an amendment proposed by Congress to be added to the United States Constitution.
Step 1. Passage by Congress. Proposed amendment language must be approved by a two-thirds vote of both houses. Step 2. Notification of the states. The national archivist sends notification and materials to the governor of each state. Step 3. Ratification by three-fourths of the states. Ratification of the amendment language adopted by Congress is an up-or-down vote in each legislative chamber.
A state legislature cannot change the language. If it does, its ratification is invalid. Step 4. Six amendments have been approved by Congress but never fully ratified by the states, with the District of Columbia Voting Rights amendment that last one that failed to get approval in On June 13, , the House approved a Senate-proposed version of the 14th Amendment, sending it to the states for approval.
Blog March 28, by Scott Bomboy. Scott Bomboy is the editor in chief of the National Constitution Center.
Check Out the Text Article V. Authors discuss. The OFR adds legislative history notes to the joint resolution and publishes it in slip law format. The OFR also assembles an information package for the States which includes formal "red-line" copies of the joint resolution, copies of the joint resolution in slip law format, and the statutory procedure for ratification under 1 U.
The Archivist submits the proposed amendment to the States for their consideration by sending a letter of notification to each Governor along with the informational material prepared by the OFR. The Governors then formally submit the amendment to their State legislatures or the state calls for a convention, depending on what Congress has specified. In the past, some State legislatures have not waited to receive official notice before taking action on a proposed amendment. When a State ratifies a proposed amendment, it sends the Archivist an original or certified copy of the State action, which is immediately conveyed to the Director of the Federal Register.
The OFR examines ratification documents for facial legal sufficiency and an authenticating signature. If the documents are found to be in good order, the Director acknowledges receipt and maintains custody of them.
The OFR retains these documents until an amendment is adopted or fails, and then transfers the records to the National Archives for preservation.
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