The Article V Convention for Proposing Constitutional Amendments: Historical Perspectives for Congress Page: 7 of 25
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The Article V Convention: Historical Perspectives for Congress
Proposal of Amendments by Congress
Congress has used this first, or "congressional," amendment process to propose 33 amendments
to the states since 1789, 27 of which have been successfully ratified to date.
Constitutional Provisions
Key constitutional elements include the following:
" Amendments proposed by Congress must be approved by two-thirds vote in both
the House of Representatives and the Senate.
" The proposed amendment must be subsequently ratified by three-fourths of the
legislatures of the states, 38 at present.
" Alternatively, Congress may direct that ratifications shall be by ad hoc
conventions called by the states for the specific purpose of considering the
ratification.9
" The same three-fourths requirement for adoption would also apply if Congress
voted to require ratification by ad hoc state conventions.
Supplementary Provisions
Over the years, Congress has added four additional elements in the amendment process that were
not included in the text of Article V
" First, the congressional vote to propose an amendment must be approved by a
two-thirds vote of the Members present and voting, a quorum being present, in
both the House and Senate. The Supreme Court ruled in National Prohibition
Cases of 1920 that Congress had the authority to set these thresholds.'0
" Second, amendments are not incorporated into the existing text of the
Constitution as adopted in 1788, but rather, are included as supplementary
articles."
" Third, beginning in the 20"' century, Congress has required that ratifications must
be roughly contemporaneous, and has set a seven-year deadline for the 18"' and
20th Amendments'2 and all subsequent proposed amendments. '3 This practice was
9 To date, Congress has specified ratification by ad hoc state convention for only one amendment, the 21lt, which
repealed the 18th (Prohibition) Amendment.
10 This was one of two questions decided by the Supreme Court in the National Prohibition Cases (253 U.S. 350
(1920)).
11 James Madison, sponsor in the House of Representatives of the amendments now known as the Bill of Rights,
suggested they should be incorporated in the body of the Constitution. The House decided instead to add them to the
end of the Constitution as additional articles, a precedent followed for all subsequent amendments.
12 After setting a deadline for the 18th Amendment, Congress did not include a ratification deadline for the 19th, but
resumed the practice with the 20th through 26th Amendments (and the proposed Equal Rights and District of Columbia
Congressional Representation Amendments, which were not ratified). The seven-year requirement was incorporated in
the body of the amendment in the 18th and 20th through 22nd Amendments. For subsequent amendments, Congress
concluded that incorporating the time limit in the amendment itself "cluttered up" the amendment. Consequently, the
(continued... )Congressional Research Service4
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Neale, Thomas H. The Article V Convention for Proposing Constitutional Amendments: Historical Perspectives for Congress, report, October 22, 2012; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc821587/m1/7/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.