SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 16
(By Senators Lucht, Yoder, Walker, Wehrle, Blatnik,
Macnaughtan, Bailey, Humphreys, Sharpe, Withers,
Dalton, Grubb, Schoonover, Tomblin, Chernenko,
Holliday, Jones, Dittmar, Claypole, Minard,
Burdette, Mr. President, Miller, Ross, Wiedebusch,
Wooton, Plymale and Craigo)
Requesting the President and Congress of the United States to
propose the adoption of the Equal Rights Amendment to the
United States Constitution.
Whereas, Legal injustice and discrimination on the basis of
gender have long existed; and
Whereas, Efforts to defeat final ratification of the Equal
Rights Amendment were aided in great measure by an insensitivity
to the essential injustice long suffered by the women of this
country because of established discrimination on the basis of
gender; and
Whereas, The citizens of West Virginia clearly support an
end to discrimination on the basis of gender through an amendment
to the Constitution of this nation, as the United States has
previously renounced slavery, racial discrimination and denial of
the right to vote on the basis of race or gender; and
Whereas, In 1972, Congress proposed a federal Equal RightsAmendment to the United States Constitution to provide for
equality of the law regardless of gender, which was narrowly
defeated in 1982; and
Whereas, The West Virginia Senate prefers that each state
ratify the federal Equal Rights Amendment to achieve a uniform
national policy; and
Whereas, The Equal Rights Amendment provides that gender
should not be a factor in determining the legal rights of men and
women and thereby recognizes the fundamental dignity,
individuality and worth of each human being; and
Whereas, The West Virginia Senate again stands ready to
ratify a federal Equal Rights Amendment when approved by Congress
for state ratification; therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate:
That the Senate of the state of West Virginia respectfully
requests the President and the Congress of the United States to
propose to the several states an amendment to the Constitution of
the United States stating that all men and women are equal under
the law; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Clerk is hereby directed to
forward a copy to the President and Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and to
each Senator and Representative from West Virginia in the
Congress of the United States.