Text of AL SJR 23 (2014)

1 SJR23 2 156816-1 3 By Senators Taylor, Dial, Fielding and McGill 4 RFD: 5 First Read: 21-JAN-14 Page 0 1 156816-1:n:01/16/2014:DSM*/th LRS2014-263 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 URGING CONGRESS TO CALL A CONVENTION FOR THE PURPOSE 9 OF PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED 10 STATES. 11 12 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA, BOTH 13 HOUSES THEREOF CONCURRING, That pursuant to Article V of the 14 Constitution of the United States, we urge the Congress of the 15 United States to call a convention for the purpose of the 16 following amendment to the Constitution of the United States: 17 Section 1. This article may be cited as the 18 "Marriage Protection Amendment." 19 Section 2. Marriage in the United States shall 20 consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this 21 Constitution, nor the constitution of any state, shall be 22 construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents 23 thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a 24 man and a woman. 25 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this application by the 26 Legislature of the State of Alabama constitutes a continuing 27 application in accordance with Article V of the Constitution Page 1 1 of the United States until at least two-thirds of the 2 legislatures of the several states have made similar 3 applications pursuant to Article V. 4 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That since this method of 5 proposing amendments to the Constitution has never been 6 completed to the point of calling a convention and no 7 interpretation of the power of the states in the exercise of 8 this right has ever been made by any court or any qualified 9 tribunal, if there be such, and since the exercise of the 10 power is a matter of basic sovereign rights and the 11 interpretation thereof is primarily in the sovereign 12 government making such exercise and since the power to use 13 such right in full also carries the power to use such right in 14 part the Legislature of the State of Alabama interprets 15 Article V to mean that if two-thirds of the states make 16 application for a convention to propose an identical amendment 17 to the Constitution for ratification with a limitation that 18 such amendment be the only matter before it, that such 19 convention would have power only to propose the specified 20 amendment and would be limited to such proposal and would not 21 have power to vary the text thereof nor would it have power to 22 propose other amendments on the same or different 23 propositions. 24 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a duly attested copy of 25 this resolution be immediately transmitted to the Secretary of 26 the Senate of the United States, the Clerk of the House of 27 Representatives of the United States, to each member of the Page 2 1 Congress from this state, and to each House of each state 2 legislature in the United States. Page 3