Proposed Constitutional Amendments Not Approved by Congress

Approximately 11,372 measures have been proposed to amend the Constitution from 1789 through December 31, 2008. Most have died in committee, or did not receive the 2/3 vote of both Houses needed to send the amendment to the states for ratification.

20th century

• Anti-Miscegenation Amendment
  Proposed by Representative Seaborn Roddenbery in 1912 to forbid interracial marriages nationwide. Similar amendments were proposed by Congressman Andrew King in 1871 and by Senator Coleman Blease in 1928. None were passed by Congress.
• Bricker Amendment
  Proposed in 1951 by Ohio Senator John W. Bricker, would have limited the federal government’s treaty-making power. It was passed 60-31 in the Senate, a single vote short of the two-thirds necessary.
• Common Property Amendment
  Proposed by various ecological activists in the 1990s, would protect common property for future generations.
• Death Penalty Abolition Amendment
  Proposed in 1990, 1992, 1993, and 1995 by Representative Henry González to prohibit the imposition of capital punishment “by any State, Territory, or other jurisdiction within the United States”. The amendment was referred to the House Subcommittee on the Constitution, but never made it out of committee.
• Flag Desecration Amendment
  First proposed in 1968 to give Congress the power to make acts such as flag burning illegal. During each term of Congress from 1995 to 2005, the proposed amendment was passed by the House of Representatives, however, never the Senate; coming closest during voting on June 27, 2006, with 66 in support and 34 opposed (one vote short).
• Human Life Amendment
  First proposed in 1973, would overturn the Roe v. Wade court ruling. A total of 330 proposals using varying texts have been proposed with almost all dying in committee. The only version that reached a formal floor vote, the Hatch-Eagleton Amendment, was rejected by 18 votes in the Senate on June 28, 1983.
• Ludlow Amendment
  Proposed by Representative Louis Ludlow in 1937. This amendment would heavily reduce America’s ability to be involved in war.

21st century

• Citizenship
  Removal of citizenship from children of illegal immigrants, proposed by Florida Representative Mark Foley on March 31, 2003.
• Balanced Budget
  A Balanced Budget Amendment, in which Congress and the President are forced to balance the budget every year, has been introduced many times.
• School Prayer Amendment
  Proposed on April 9, 2003, to establish that “The people retain the right to pray and to recognize their religious beliefs, heritage, and traditions on public property, including schools.”
• References to God
  Protecting the reference to God in the Pledge of Allegiance and National Motto, proposed on February 27, 2003, by Oklahoma Representative Frank Lucas.
• Every Vote Counts Amendment
  Proposed by Congressman Gene Green on September 14, 2004. It would abolish the electoral college. Partly a response to the controversy surrounding Al Gore’s defeat in the 2000 election.
• Continuity of Government Amendment
  Proposed in 2004 by Utah Senator Orrin Hatch. It would ensure the continuity of operations of the United States Congress in the case of emergencies in which a large number of senators or representatives are incapacitated. Such an amendment would allow Congress itself to make emergency appointments to fill vacancies, rather than going through the usual special election process.
• Equal Opportunity to Govern Amendment
  Proposed also by Senator Orrin Hatch. It would allow naturalized citizens with at least twenty years’ citizenship to become president.
• Seventeenth Amendment repeal
  Proposed in 2004 by Georgia Senator Zell Miller. It would reinstate the appointment of Senators by state legislatures as originally required by Article One, Section Three, Clauses One and Three.
• The Federal Marriage Amendment
  Introduced in the United States Congress four times: in 2003, 2004, 2005/2006 and 2008 by multiple members of Congress (with support from then-President George W. Bush). It would define marriage and prohibit same-sex marriage, even at the state level.
• Twenty-second Amendment repeal
  Proposed as early as 1989 by various congressmen including Rep. Barney Frank, Rep. Steny Hoyer, Rep. José Serrano, Rep. Howard Berman, and Sen. Harry Reid, have introduced legislation, but each resolution died before making it out of its respective committee. The current amendment limits the president to two elected terms in office, and up to two years succeeding a President in office. Last action was in February 2009.
• DC Voting Rights
  On February 25, 2009, Senator Lisa Murkowski, because she believed the District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act of 2009 would be unconstitutional if adopted, proposed a Constitutional amendment that would provide a Representative to the District of Columbia.
• Term Limits
  On November 11, 2009, Republican Senator Jim DeMint proposed term limits for the U.S. Congress, where the limit for senators will be two terms for a total of 12 years and for representatives, three terms for a total of six years.