List of proposed amendments to the United States Constitution

This is an incomplete list of proposed amendments to the United States Constitution, in reverse chronological order.

Many amendments are proposed every year. Most never get out of Congressional committees. Few of the amendments below passed even the first constitutional hurdle: approval by two-thirds majorities in both Houses of Congress. For a more information on amendments that have been approved by Congress, but not by the state legislatures, see Unsuccessful attempts to amend the U.S. Constitution.

The following are largely amendments that have gained national attention and / or debate, presumably by concerning an issue of contemporary political relevance to Americans in general.

[edit] 2005

• Several constitutional amendments simultaneously proposed by Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. on March 2, 2005, including amendments concerning:

1. The right of citizens of the United States to health care of equal high quality.
2. The right of all citizens of the United States to a public education of equal high quality.
3. The right to vote.
4. The right to a clean, safe, and sustainable environment.
5. The right to decent, safe, sanitary, and affordable housing.
6. Equality of rights and reproductive rights. This amendment is essentially a modified version of the Equal Rights Amendment which would bolster Roe v. Wade.
7. The right to full employment and balanced growth.
8. Taxing the people of the United States progressively.

• Twenty-second Amendment: Repeal proposed February 2005 by Maryland congressman Steny Hoyer. The current amendment limits the president to two elected terms in office, and up to two years succeeding a President in office.
• Abolishment of personal income, estate, and gift taxes and prohibition of the United States Government from engaging in business in competition with its citizens, proposed by Ron Paul on January 26, 2005.

[edit] 2004

• Every Vote Counts Amendment — proposed by Congressman Gene Green on September 14, 2004. It would abolish the electoral college.^[1]
• Continuity of Government Amendment — proposed in 2004 by Utah Senator Orrin Hatch. It would ensure the continuity of operations of the United States Congress in the case of emergencies in which a large number of senators or representatives are incapacitated. Such an amendment would allow Congress itself to make emergency appointments to fill vacancies, rather than going through the usual by-election process.^[2]
• Equal Opportunity to Govern Amendment — proposed also by Senator Hatch. It would allow naturalized citizens with at least twenty years' citizenship to become president. Many people believe he wants this amendment so that Austrian-born California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has endorsed this amendment, can make a run for the presidency in the near future.
• Seventeenth Amendment repeal — proposed in 2004 by Georgia Senator Zell Miller. It would reinstate the appointment of Senators by state legislatures as originally required by Article One, Section Three, Clauses One and Three.
• Federal Marriage Amendment — proposed in the spring of 2004 by multiple members of Congress (with support from President George W. Bush). It would define marriage and prohibit same-sex marriage, even at the state level.

[edit] 2003 and earlier

• Removal of citizenship from children of illegal immigrants, proposed by Mark Foley on March 31, 2003.
• Balanced Budget Amendment, in which Congress and the President are forced to balance the budget every year.
• School Prayer Amendment proposed on 9 April 2003, to establish that "The people retain the right to pray and to recognize their religious beliefs, heritage, and traditions on public property, including schools."^[3]
• Protecting the reference to God in the Pledge of Allegiance and National Motto, proposed on 27 February 2003 by Oklahoma Congressman Lucas.^[4]

[edit] 20th century

• Common Property Amendment, proposed by various ecological activists in the 1990s, would protect common property for future generations.
• District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment, approved by Congress in 1978, would have given the residents of the District of Columbia full voting rights.
• Flag Desecration Amendment first proposed in 1968 to give Congress the power to make acts such as flag burning illegal.
• 10-year terms for all federal judges proposed. S.J. Res. 26.
• Equal Rights Amendment, approved by Congress in 1972, which would make government discrimination based on a citizen's sex illegal.
• Human Life Amendment, first proposed in 1973, which would overturn Roe v. Wade.
• Bricker Amendment, proposed in 1951 by Ohio Senator John W. Bricker, which would limit the Federal Government's treaty making power.
• Christian Amendment, proposed in the mid-twentieth century.
• Ludlow Amendment, proposed by Congressman Louis Ludlow in 1937. This amendment would heavily reduce America's ability to be involved in war.
• Child Labor Amendment, approved by Congress in 1924, would have given Congress authority to enact child labor laws.
• Anti-Miscegenation Amendment, proposed by Congressman Seaborn Roddenbery in 1912 to forbid interracial marriages nation-wide. Similar amendments were proposed by Congressman Andrew King in 1871 and by Senator Coleman Blease in 1928.

[edit] 19th century

• Blaine Amendment, proposed in 1875, would have banned public funds from going to religious purposes, in order to prevent Catholics from taking advantage of such funds; although it failed to pass, many states adopted such provisions.
• Corwin Amendment, approved by Congress in 1861, which would have forbidden any constitutional amendment that would interfere with slavery within a state (but not within a territory).
• The Crittenden Compromise, a joint resolution that included six constitutional amendments that would protect slavery.
• Titles of Nobility Amendment, approved by Congress in 1810, would have revoked the citizenship of anyone accepting a foreign title of nobility.

[edit] 18th century

• Congressional Apportionment Amendment, approved by Congress in 1789 as part of the proposed Bill of Rights. This is the only one of the original twelve amendments in the Bill of Rights never to have been ratified by the states. Its purpose was to further specify how the seats in the House of Representatives should be apportioned.

[edit] References

1. ^ "GovTrack: H. J. Res. 103 [108th]: Text of Legislation, Introduced in House". Govtrack.us. Retrieved on 2008-09-06.
2. ^ "US Senator Orrin Hatch". Hatch.senate.gov. Retrieved on 2008-09-06.
3. ^ http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c108:h.j.r.00046:
4. ^ http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c108:h.j.r.00026:

[edit] External links

• Some proposed amendments to the United States Constitution
• Unamendments, by Jason Mazzone, Iowa Law Review, Vol. 90, p. 1747-1855, 2005.
• GovTrack: Bills by Subject: Constitutional Amendments