// BEGIN editorial data
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var ConstitutionalAmendments = new Array();
ConstitutionalAmendments.sName = "ConstitutionalAmendments";
ConstitutionalAmendments.ID = "ConstitutionalAmendments";
ConstitutionalAmendments.ID_WB = 4362744;
ConstitutionalAmendments.sPubDate = "2/25/2004 6:05:16 PM GMT";
ConstitutionalAmendments.mainsectionID = "NEWS"
ConstitutionalAmendments.navsectionID = "POLITICS"
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ConstitutionalAmendments.appWidth = 460;
ConstitutionalAmendments.appHeader = "Fact File|Amending the U.S. Constitution";
ConstitutionalAmendments.appFooter = "Source: NBC’s Pete Williams";
ConstitutionalAmendments.appNavStyle = 3;
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ConstitutionalAmendments.copyHeight = 225;
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ConstitutionalAmendments[i++] = new Array("","How is it done?","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
ConstitutionalAmendments[i-1].body = "<headline/>  <br>Article V of the Constitution spells out the procedure. Proposed amendments must be approved by a two-thirds vote of both the House and the Senate, then by three-fourths of the states.  There's also a way to propose amendments by constitutional convention, but no amendment has ever been adopted that way.   <p>To read the United States Constitution click <a href=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/const/const.html target=new>here</a>.";

ConstitutionalAmendments[i++] = new Array("","How long does it take?","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
ConstitutionalAmendments[i-1].body = "<headline/><br>Most of the 27 amendments have been approved within an average of a year and a half -- that's from the time they were proposed in Congress until approved by the states.<p>The notable exception is the 27th Amendment, which allows a session of Congress to vote for a pay raise provided it doesn't go into effect until the next Congress.  That was proposed by James Madison, approved by Congress in 1789, but not ratified by the states until 1992.  <p>However, since the early 1900's, Congress has required that states ratify amendments within seven years, and the US Supreme Court has upheld that time limit.";

ConstitutionalAmendments[i++] = new Array("","How often?","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
ConstitutionalAmendments[i-1].body = "<headline/><br>The first 10 amendments, The Bill of Rights, were ratified almost immediately. One other, the 11th, was added during the 18th century.  Four were added during the 19th century, and the other 12 came during the 20th Century.  ";

ConstitutionalAmendments[i++] = new Array("","Can it be undone?","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
ConstitutionalAmendments[i-1].body = "<headline/><br>Just as an amendment can be added, it can also be taken away.  The 18th Amendment, ratified in 1917, which imposed prohibition, was repealed by the 21st Amendment 16 years later.";

ConstitutionalAmendments[i++] = new Array("","How often does it fail?","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
ConstitutionalAmendments[i-1].body = "<headline/><br>Six amendments have been presented to the states but died for lack of the three-fourths ratification. Among them, the proposed Equal Rights Amendment (3 states short of ratification, even after Congress extended the deadline), voting rights for residents of the District of Columbia, and giving Congress explicit power to regulate child labor.<p>Several ideas for amendment have been proposed but never even got past the first gate:  approval by Congress.  <p>They have included requiring a balanced budget, allowing prayer in public schools, banning abortion, prohibiting bussing to desegregate public schools, banning flag burning, and limiting terms for members of Congress.";

	// END editorial data