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Senate Concurrent Resolution

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A concurrent resolution ratifying the proposed amendment

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to the Constitution of the United States relating to equal

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rights for men and women.

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     WHEREAS, the Equal Rights Amendment was first introduced in

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Congress in 1923 and was filed every session thereafter from 1923

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to 1972, and

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     WHEREAS, the Equal Rights Amendment was finally approved by

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Congress in 1972 and sent to the states for ratification with a

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7-year deadline, and

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     WHEREAS, in 1978 Congress extended the original ratification

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deadline for 3 more years, and

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     WHEREAS, Congress placed a deadline of June 30, 1982, on the

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ratification process for the Equal Rights Amendment for men and

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women and 35 states ratified the proposed amendment before the

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deadline, and

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     WHEREAS, Congress submitted the Madison Amendment to the

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states as part of the proposed Bill of Rights on September 25,

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1789, which relates to the timing of Congressional pay raises,

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but it was not ratified until 203 years later in 1992, making it

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the Twenty-seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution

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and establishing a precedent such that the Equal Rights Amendment

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is sufficiently contemporaneous and therefore remains viable, and

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     WHEREAS, in 1998 Florida voters, by a margin of 65 percent

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to 35 percent, approved a similar amendment to the Florida

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Constitution when they approved Revision 9, which added and

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clarified that "all natural persons, female and male alike, are

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equal before the law," therefore clearly indicating that

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ratification of the federal Equal Rights Amendment would be fully

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consistent with the will of the majority of voters in this state,

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and

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     WHEREAS, Article V of the United States Constitution allows

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the Legislature of the State of Florida to ratify this proposed

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amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and

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     WHEREAS, the Legislature of the State of Florida finds that

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the Equal Rights Amendment for men and women is reasonable and

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sufficiently contemporaneous and needed in the United States

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Constitution because while women enjoy more rights today than

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they did when the Equal Rights Amendment was first introduced in

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1923 or when it passed out of Congress in 1972, hard-won laws

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against gender discrimination do not rest on any unequivocal

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constitutional foundation and the laws can be inconsistently

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enforced or even repealed, and

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     WHEREAS, elements of gender discrimination remain in

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statutory and case law, and courts have had difficulty applying a

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consistent standard to gender classifications which are not

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inherently suspect or comparable to racial or ethnic

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classifications under equal-protection analysis, and

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     WHEREAS, the Equal Rights Amendment for men and women is

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necessary in order to have a clear constitutional guarantee that

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gender is considered a suspect classification and entitled to the

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same strict scrutiny that courts reserve for race, religion, and

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national origin, NOW, THEREFORE,

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Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida, the House

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of Representatives Concurring:

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     That the proposed amendment to the Constitution of the

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United States set forth below is ratified by the Legislature of

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the State of Florida.

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"Article ____

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     "SECTION 1.  Equality of rights under the law shall not be

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denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on

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account of sex.

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     "SECTION 2.  The Congress shall have the power to enforce,

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by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

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     "SECTION 3.  This amendment shall take effect two years

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after the date of ratification."

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     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that certified copies of the

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foregoing preamble and resolution be immediately forwarded by the

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Secretary of State of the State of Florida, under the great seal,

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to the President of the United States, the Secretary of State of

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the United States, the President of the Senate of the United

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States, the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United

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States, and the Administrator of General Services of the United

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States.