This bill (House Joint Resolution 79) would retroactively remove the already-expired ratification deadline from the original 1972 Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) legislation (H. J. Res. 208 of the 92nd Congress). H.J. Res. 79 is a desperate attempt by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats to circumvent the legislative process and rule of law in order to provide yet another opportunity to ratify the pro-abortion and already-failed ERA.
The House passed H. J. Res. 79 on February 13, 2020 by a vote of 232 to 183 (Roll Call 70). We have assigned pluses to the nays because the time to ratify the ERA as part of the Constitution has come and gone, and any further attempt to resurrect it in order to continue the ratification process is unconstitutional, being inconsistent with the amendment ratification process as laid out in Article V of the Constitution.
