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A JOINT RESOLUTION
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post-ratifying Amendment XXIV to the Constitution of the United |
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States prohibiting the denial or abridgment of the right to vote for |
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failure to pay any poll tax or other tax. |
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BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. The 87th Congress of the United States on August |
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27, 1962, in the form of Senate Joint Resolution No. 29, proposed to |
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the legislatures of the several states an amendment to the |
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Constitution of the United States, and by a proclamation dated |
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February 4, 1964, published at 29 Federal Register 1715-16 and at 78 |
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Statutes at Large 1117-18, the Administrator of General Services, |
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Bernard L. Boutin--in the presence of native Texan, President |
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Lyndon Baines Johnson--declared the amendment to have been ratified |
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by the legislatures of 38 of the 50 states, thereby becoming |
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Amendment XXIV to the United States Constitution pursuant to |
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Article V thereof, as follows: |
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"AMENDMENT XXIV. |
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"SECTION 1. The right of citizens of the United |
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States to vote in any primary or other election for |
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President or Vice President, for electors for |
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President or Vice President, or for Senator or |
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Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or |
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abridged by the United States or any State by reason of |
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failure to pay any poll tax or other tax. |
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"SECTION 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce |
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this article by appropriate legislation." |
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SECTION 2. While the congress was still deliberating on the |
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poll tax amendment in August of 1962, President John Fitzgerald |
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Kennedy urged the United States House of Representatives to propose |
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the amendment for the consideration of the state legislatures |
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". . . to finally eliminate this outmoded and arbitrary bar to |
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voting. American citizens should not have to pay to vote." And in |
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witnessing the issuance of Amendment XXIV's certificate of validity |
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17 months later, President Johnson noted that abolishing the tax |
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requirement ". . . reaffirmed the simple but unbreakable theme of |
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this Republic. Nothing is so valuable as liberty, and nothing is so |
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necessary to liberty as the freedom to vote without bans or |
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barriers. ****A change in our Constitution is a serious event.**** |
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There can now be no one too poor to vote." |
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SECTION 3. Although Amendment XXIV has been the law of the |
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land since 1964, some 13 years following its effective date, it |
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received symbolic post-ratification in 1977 from the General |
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Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia, as reflected in the |
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Congressional Record of March 28, 1977, which printed the full text |
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of Virginia's post-ratification; 12 years after that, the amendment |
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received ceremonial post-ratification in 1989 from the General |
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Assembly of the State of North Carolina, as reflected in the |
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Congressional Record of June 6, 1989, which printed the full text of |
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North Carolina's post-ratification; and nearly 13 years after that, |
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the amendment received its most recent post-ratification in 2002 |
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from the Legislature of the State of Alabama, as reflected in the |
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Congressional Record of September 26, 2002, which printed the full |
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text of Alabama's post-ratification. |
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SECTION 4. The Legislature of the State of Texas--one of |
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only five states still levying a poll tax by 1964--has never |
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approved Amendment XXIV to the Constitution of the United States, |
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but precedent makes clear the opportunity of this state to |
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post-ratify the amendment in a manner similar to the actions of |
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lawmakers in Alabama, North Carolina, and Virginia. |
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SECTION 5. The Legislature of the State of Texas hereby |
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post-ratifies Amendment XXIV to the Constitution of the United |
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States. |
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SECTION 6. The Texas secretary of state shall notify the |
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archivist of the United States of the action of the 80th Legislature |
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of the State of Texas, Regular Session, 2007, by forwarding to the |
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archivist an official copy of this resolution. |
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SECTION 7. The Texas secretary of state shall also forward |
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official copies of this resolution to both United States senators |
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from Texas, to all United States representatives from Texas, to the |
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vice president of the United States in his capacity as presiding |
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officer of the United States Senate, and to the speaker of the |
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United States House of Representatives with the request that it be |
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printed in full in the Congressional Record. |