On July 20, 1923, the National Woman's Party (NWP) met in Seneca Falls, New York, to commemorate the 75 th anniversary of the historic Seneca Falls Convention and celebrate the 1920 ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, by which women won the right to vote. At the meeting, NWP leader Alice Paul announced her next project would be to develop and promote a new constitutional amendment, guaranteeing equal rights and equality under the law in the United States to women and men. Paul, a prominent suffragist, noted the recent ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, which established the right of women to vote. She characterized an "equal rights" amendment as the next logical step for the women's movement. The proposed amendment was first introduced six months later, in December 1923, in the 68 th Congress. Originally named "the Lucretia Mott Amendment," in honor of the prominent 19 th century abolitionist, women's rights activist, and social reformer, the draft amendment stated that, "men and women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction." Nearly half a century passed before the Mott Amendment, as amended and ultimately renamed the Alice Paul Amendment, was approved by Congress and proposed to the states for ratification in 1972. In common with the Eighteenth and Twentieth through Twenty-Sixth Amendments, the proposed ERA included a seven-year deadline for ratification; in this case the deadline was included in the proposing clause, or preamble, that preceded the text of the amendment. After considerable early progress in the states, ratifications slowed, and the process ultimately stalled at 35 states in 1977, 3 short of the 38 approvals (three-fourths of the states) required by the Constitution. As the 1979 deadline approached, however, ERA supporters capitalized on the fact that the seven-year time limit was incorporated in the amendment's proposing clause, rather than in the body of the amendment. Concluding that the amendment itself was, therefore, not time-limited, Congress extended the ratification period by 38 months, through 1982. No further states added their approval during the extension, however, and the proposed ERA appeared to expire in 1982. Since the proposed ERA's extended ratification period expired in 1982, Senators and Representatives have continued to introduce new versions of the amendment, beginning in the 97 th Congress. More recently, new analyses emerged that led ERA supporters to assert that the amendment remains viable, and that the period for its ratification could be extended indefinitely by congressional action. Resolutions embracing this thesis have been introduced beginning in the 112 th Congress. Their stated purpose is that of "[r]emoving the deadline for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment." If enacted, these measures would eliminate the 1979 and 1982 deadlines; reopen the proposed ERA for state ratification at the present count of 37 states; and extend the period for state ratification indefinitely. This report examines the legislative history of the various proposals that ultimately emerged as the proposed Equal Rights Amendment. It identifies and provides an analysis of current legislative proposals and reviews contemporary factors that may bear on its present and future viability. As the 115 th Congress convened, resolutions were introduced in both the House and Senate that embraced two approaches to the Equal Rights Amendment. These include "fresh start" proposals that proposed a new constitutional amendment, separate from the amendment proposed by Congress in 1972 (H.J. Res. 208, 92 nd Congress), and proposals designed to reopen the ratification process by removing the deadline included in the resolution proposing the original ERA. Perhaps the most basic means of restarting an equal rights amendment would be by introduction of a new joint resolution, a "fresh start." In 1982, even as the extended ratification deadline for the proposed ERA approached, resolutions proposing a new equal rights amendment were introduced in the 97 th Congress. New versions of the ERA have continued to be introduced in the House and Senate in each succeeding Congress. All have shared language identical or similar to the original proposed by Congress in 1982. Two fresh start amendments have been introduced to date in the 115 th Congress, as detailed below. The first fresh start ERA proposal to be offered in the 115 th Congress was S.J.Res. 6, introduced by Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey on January 20, 2017. To date, Senator Menendez has been joined by 15 cosponsors. Senator Menendez's proposal incorporates the language of the original ERA, as proposed in the 92 nd Congress: Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. Section 3. This article shall take effect 2 years after the date of ratification. S.J.Res. 6 has been referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. H.J.Res. 33 was introduced in the House of Representatives by Representative Carolyn Maloney of New York on January 24, 2017. To date, Representative Maloney has been joined by 169 cosponsors. This measure is also a fresh start resolution, proposing a new ERA: Section 1. Women shall have equal rights in the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Section 2. Congress and the several States shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification. This version of the amendment includes Section 1 language that differs from the version of the ERA proposed by Congress in 1972. The new wording appeared initially in H.J.Res. 56 in the 113 th Congress. Specifically, Section 1 was amended by the addition of the following clause at its beginning: "Women shall have equal rights in the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction." In a press release issued at the time, Representative Maloney described this as a ... new and improved Equal Rights Amendment.... Today's ERA would prohibit gender discrimination and for the first time, would explicitly mandate equal rights for women.... This ERA is different ... it's designed for the 21 st Century. This ERA expressly puts women in the Constitution for the first time. It may also be noted that this language recalls the wording of the first version of the E R A, as drafted by suffragist Alice Paul in 1923 and introduced in the 68 th Congress in 1923: Men and women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. Further, the resolution expands enforcement authority for the amendment "by appropriate legislation," extending it from Congress to include "the several States." H.J.Res. 33 has been referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice of the House Committee on the Judiciary. As joint resolutions proposing an amendment to the Constitution, S.J.Res. 6 and H.J.Res. 33 would require approval in identical form by two-thirds of the Members present and voting in both chambers of Congress. Unlike a standard joint resolution that has the force of law, the President's approval is not necessary for joint resolutions that propose amendments. Both resolutions prescribe that the proposed amendment would be submitted to the legislatures of the states for ratification. Neither S.J.Res. 6 nor H.J.Res. 33 includes a time limit for ratification, either in their preambles, or in the body of the amendment. While a ratification deadline has been included in either the preamble or the text of the 18 th and 20 th through 26 th Amendments, it is a tradition dating to the early 20 th century, rather than a constitutional requirement. If Congress were to propose either of these resolutions to the states as a constitutional amendment, they would arguably be eligible for ratification indefinitely. In not setting a ratification deadline, these measures thus avoid the expiration issues associated with the original proposed Equal Rights Amendment. They also arguably embrace the assumption under which the 27 th Amendment was ratified in 1992, some 203 years after Congress sent it to the states for approval: proposed amendments remain constitutionally valid and eligible for ratification unless a deadline is specifically prescribed when the amendment is proposed. Opponents, however, might argue that the seven-year ratification deadline first included in the 18 th Amendment should not be lightly discarded. The inclusion of a "sunset" provision on proposed amendments, they might argue, is necessary to ensure that a contemporaneous majority of the people, and through them the state legislatures, favors the measure. This issue is examined at greater length later in this report. Two resolutions introduced in the 115 th Congress, one each in the House and Senate, are designed to reopen the ratification process for H.J. Res. 208, the Equal Rights Amendment proposed by the 92 nd Congress in 1972, and extend it indefinitely by removing the deadline set in the preamble to the proposed ERA. Both these measures are based on the "three-state" argument that (1) Congress has the constitutional authority to propose, alter, or terminate any limits on the ratification of amendments pending before the states; (2) all existing ratifications remain in effect and viable; and (3) rescissions of ratification passed by some states are invalid. The three-state argument is examined in detail later in this report. This resolution, designed to reopen the ERA ratification process, was introduced by Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland on January 17, 2017. To date, Senator Cardin has been joined by 36 cosponsors. The purpose of the resolution, as stated in its title is "[r]emoving the deadline for ratification of the equal rights amendment."