By Thompson, Conley, Dukes, Ehrhardt H.J.R. No. 101 74R1138 CCK-D A JOINT RESOLUTION 1-1 applying to the Congress of the United States to call a convention 1-2 for the specific and exclusive purpose of proposing an amendment to 1-3 the Constitution of the United States to provide for equal legal 1-4 rights for men and women. 1-5 WHEREAS, Since December of 1923, when joint resolutions on 1-6 the subject were first introduced during the 68th Congress--in the 1-7 House of Representatives by Representative Daniel R. Anthony, Jr., 1-8 a Republican from Kansas, and in the Senate by Senator Charles 1-9 Curtis, also a Republican from Kansas, who later became 1-10 Vice-President of the United States under Herbert 1-11 Hoover--supporters of gender equity have sought an amendment to the 1-12 United States Constitution to provide for equal legal rights for 1-13 men and women; and 1-14 WHEREAS, Because of the tireless efforts made by 1-15 Representative Martha W. Griffiths, a Democrat from Michigan, the 1-16 92nd Congress on March 22, 1972, adopted House Joint Resolution No. 1-17 208 and, in doing so, submitted a proposed Equal Rights Amendment 1-18 to the state legislatures; during the decade before the expiration 1-19 of the allotted time period for its ratification, the amendment 1-20 garnered the support of 35 states, including Texas during the 2nd 1-21 Called Session of the 62nd Legislature; at various times, it was 1-22 also approved by one chamber of the legislatures of the states of 1-23 Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, 1-24 Oklahoma, and South Carolina but, ultimately, it fell short of the 2-1 38 full state ratifications necessary to become part of the United 2-2 States Constitution; and 2-3 WHEREAS, The adoption of such an amendment remains 2-4 nevertheless a commendable route to equal legal rights for both 2-5 genders, as it would institute a strict-scrutiny test for judicial 2-6 evaluation of actions distinguishing between the legal treatment of 2-7 men and the legal treatment of women; and 2-8 WHEREAS, Article V of the United States Constitution offers 2-9 two methods for the proposal of a constitutional amendment, one by 2-10 initiation of the United States Congress and the other by 2-11 initiation of the legislatures of two-thirds of the states; now, 2-12 therefore, be it 2-13 RESOLVED, That the 74th Legislature of the State of Texas, 2-14 Regular Session, 1995, hereby make application to the United States 2-15 Congress to propose and submit to the states an amendment to the 2-16 United States Constitution to provide for equal legal rights for 2-17 men and women or, alternatively, to call a convention under Article 2-18 V of the United States Constitution for the sole, specific, and 2-19 exclusive purpose of proposing such an amendment; and, be it 2-20 further 2-21 RESOLVED, That the congress, or delegates to the convention, 2-22 if called, be respectfully requested to entertain the following 2-23 text for an amendment: 2-24 "ARTICLE ________ 2-25 "SECTION 1. Equality of rights under the law 2-26 shall not be denied or abridged by the United States, 2-27 or by any State, on account of gender. 3-1 "SECTION 2. The Congress shall have authority to 3-2 enforce this article by appropriate legislation. 3-3 "SECTION 3. This article shall take effect two 3-4 years after the date of its ratification. 3-5 "SECTION 4. This article shall be inoperative 3-6 unless ratified, in accordance with Article V of this 3-7 Constitution, within ten years of its submission for 3-8 ratification."; and, be it further 3-9 RESOLVED, That, except as otherwise provided in this 3-10 resolution, this application by the Texas Legislature constitute a 3-11 continuing application in accordance with Article V of the United 3-12 States Constitution until at least two-thirds of the legislatures 3-13 of the several states have made application for a convention to 3-14 propose a gender equity amendment; and, be it further 3-15 RESOLVED, That this application for a constitutional 3-16 convention on the subject of equal legal rights for men and women 3-17 be automatically rescinded if: 3-18 (1) the United States Congress adopts, before 90 days after 3-19 the legislatures of two-thirds of the states have made application 3-20 for a convention, an amendment to the United States Constitution 3-21 containing provisions similar in subject matter to this request; 3-22 (2) the United States Supreme Court holds that the United 3-23 States Congress cannot call a constitutional convention limited 3-24 solely and exclusively to that subject matter; or 3-25 (3) a convention called pursuant to this resolution 3-26 otherwise transcends that limited subject matter; and, be it 3-27 further 4-1 RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official 4-2 copies of this resolution to the vice-president of the United 4-3 States, to the speaker of the United States House of 4-4 Representatives, and to all members of the Texas delegation to the 4-5 congress, with the request that this resolution be entered 4-6 officially in the Congressional Record as an application to the 4-7 Congress of the United States of America for a convention to 4-8 propose a federal constitutional amendment to provide for equal 4-9 legal rights for men and women; and, be it further 4-10 RESOLVED, That official copies of this resolution be prepared 4-11 for the presiding officers of the legislatures of the other states 4-12 for their consideration.