Bill Text: TX HCR145 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Congratulating Gregory D. Watson on having the overall course grade for his 1982 University of Texas American government class elevated from a C to an A after a wait of 35 years.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2017-06-15 - Signed by the Governor [HCR145 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HCR145-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Congratulating Gregory D. Watson on having the overall course grade for his 1982 University of Texas American government class elevated from a C to an A after a wait of 35 years.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2017-06-15 - Signed by the Governor [HCR145 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HCR145-Introduced.html
85R31203 KSM-D | ||
By: Klick | H.C.R. No. 145 |
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WHEREAS, Through a persistent decade-long crusade that | ||
culminated in changing the U.S. Constitution, Gregory D. Watson of | ||
Austin has earned the unique distinction of completing what | ||
Founding Father James Madison left unfinished as well as | ||
successfully getting the overall course grade for his 1982 | ||
University of Texas at Austin government class elevated from a C to | ||
an A after the intervention of 35 years; and | ||
WHEREAS, In the spring of 1982, Mr. Watson, then a UT | ||
student, was enrolled in a Government 310 course on American | ||
government; while researching a term paper on the proposed Equal | ||
Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, he happened upon some | ||
old constitutional amendments that had been proposed by Congress | ||
but not ratified by enough state legislatures to officially become | ||
part of the federal Constitution; and | ||
WHEREAS, One such amendment, dated 1789, mandated that any | ||
approved congressional pay raise not take effect until after the | ||
next biennial election; the measure specifically reads 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"; only nine states had | ||
ratified that measure by 1978, and ratification by three-fourths of | ||
the states is required before an amendment to the Constitution can | ||
be certified; at the same time, the compensation amendment included | ||
no ratification deadline, in contrast to amendments proposed since | ||
the year 1917, when Congress began the practice of including a | ||
provision requiring that proposed federal constitutional | ||
amendments be ratified by the states within seven years; and | ||
WHEREAS, Inspired to change the focus of his research, | ||
Mr. Watson submitted a paper suggesting that unratified | ||
constitutional amendments from before 1917, which did not contain | ||
the built-in time limit, could still be ratified, even 200 years | ||
later, if they received the support of enough states; he further | ||
noted in the paper that there continued to be concerns among the | ||
American people relative to the methods used by members of Congress | ||
to increase congressional salaries; the course instructor and her | ||
teaching assistant were not convinced, however, and Mr. Watson | ||
received a grade of C for the paper and a final grade of C for the | ||
course overall; and | ||
WHEREAS, Shortly afterward, in April 1982, Mr. Watson | ||
embarked upon a labor-intensive campaign to prove the thesis of his | ||
paper; he began the 10-year process of writing letters to | ||
legislators in states across the nation, urging them to consider | ||
ratifying the measure, and by May 5, 1992, Alabama lawmakers | ||
furnished the pivotal 38th ratification, thus making it the 27th | ||
Amendment to the Constitution; since then, eight more states have | ||
ratified the amendment--most recently Nebraska in 2016--bringing | ||
the total to 46 of the 50 states; and | ||
WHEREAS, Impressed by what she publicly described as | ||
Mr. Watson's "heroic effort" to prove the validity of his thesis, | ||
his former professor has officially requested that his grade for | ||
Government 310 be raised from a C to an A; Mr. Watson was informed | ||
of her decision in March 2017, when he was invited to attend what he | ||
thought would be a mere Q and A about his work on the 27th Amendment | ||
and unexpectedly found his campaign being recounted in Pop-Up | ||
Magazine, a live news program performed onstage and resembling a | ||
stand-up comedy routine; and | ||
WHEREAS, Mr. Watson has continued to be engaged in federal | ||
constitutional amendment issues: in 1995, at his prompting, the | ||
Mississippi Legislature symbolically post-ratified the | ||
Constitution's 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery; at his urging, | ||
the Tennessee General Assembly ceremonially post-ratified the 15th | ||
Amendment in 1997, extending the right to vote to former male | ||
slaves; and, at his behest, the Texas Legislature, in 2009, | ||
formally endorsed the end of poll taxes by post-ratifying the 24th | ||
Amendment; furthermore, references to Mr. Watson's constitutional | ||
amendment-related activities are chronicled in countless books, | ||
newspapers, magazines, law reviews, video and audio recordings, | ||
resolutions, and entries in the Congressional Record; and | ||
WHEREAS, Gregory Watson's dogged determination resulted in a | ||
significant change in this nation's founding document, and he may | ||
indeed take great pride in his achievement and in his demonstration | ||
of what committed civic engagement can accomplish; now, therefore, | ||
be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
hereby congratulate Gregory D. Watson on receiving a revised grade | ||
of A in his 1982 Government 310 class at The University of Texas at | ||
Austin--albeit after the intervention of 35 years--and extend to | ||
him sincere best wishes for continued success and happiness; and, | ||
be it further | ||
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be | ||
prepared for Mr. Watson as an expression of high regard by the Texas | ||
House of Representatives and Senate. |