Bill Text: TX HCR137 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Comm Sub
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Bill Title: Commemorating the 25th anniversary of the unconventional ratification of the 27th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2017-06-12 - Signed by the Governor [HCR137 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HCR137-Comm_Sub.html
Bill Title: Commemorating the 25th anniversary of the unconventional ratification of the 27th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2017-06-12 - Signed by the Governor [HCR137 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HCR137-Comm_Sub.html
By: Klick (Senate Sponsor - Burton) | H.C.R. No. 137 | |
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 8, 2017; | ||
May 11, 2017, read first time and referred to Committee on | ||
Administration; May 23, 2017, reported favorably by the following | ||
vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 23, 2017, sent to printer.) | ||
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WHEREAS, May 5, 2017, marks the 25th anniversary of the | ||
unconventional ratification of the 27th Amendment to the United | ||
States Constitution; and | ||
WHEREAS, One of the original 12 amendments submitted, | ||
pursuant to Article V, to the state legislatures for ratification | ||
by the First U.S. Congress, in 1789, the 27th Amendment was crafted | ||
by James Madison of Virginia while he served as a member of the U.S. | ||
House of Representatives; by the end of 1791, 10 of the 12 | ||
amendments, known collectively as the Bill of Rights, had been | ||
approved by the requisite three-fourths of the states; the other | ||
two amendments, one of which pertained to congressional | ||
compensation, fell by the wayside; and | ||
WHEREAS, The congressional compensation measure stipulated | ||
that "No law, varying the compensation for the services of the | ||
Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election | ||
of Representatives shall have intervened"; the amendment would thus | ||
prevent federal lawmakers from immediately benefiting from any pay | ||
raise they might give themselves, as every representative--and a | ||
third of the senators--would have to win reelection before they | ||
could realize a gain; and | ||
WHEREAS, In 1982, a student at The University of Texas at | ||
Austin, Gregory Watson, learned about this unratified | ||
still-pending amendment and concluded that it was eminently | ||
relevant, Congress having granted itself a substantial pay raise in | ||
1978 and a special tax break in 1981; he determined that the | ||
amendment remained viable, and he committed himself to the | ||
laborious mission of securing its approval; the amendment gradually | ||
garnered wide public support, and with his dedicated efforts, it | ||
worked its way through a succession of state legislatures for a | ||
decade; on May 5, 1992, Alabama became the 38th state to ratify the | ||
centuries-old measure, thus securing its incorporation as the 27th | ||
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution some 202 years after it was | ||
proposed by a Congress that was conducting its business in New York | ||
City; and | ||
WHEREAS, A quarter century after its ratification, the 27th | ||
Amendment remains the most recent amendment to our nation's | ||
constitution, and it is indeed fitting that its unusual history and | ||
its significance be recognized; now, therefore, be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
hereby commemorate the 25th anniversary of the ratification of the | ||
27th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. | ||
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