Story of Amendment XXVII
The founding fathers proposed the amendment in 1791. It was approved only by a few states and then kind of disappeared.
Then, in 1982, Gregory Watson, an undergraduate student at the University of Texas-Austin needed to come up with a good topic for a paper in his government class. He decided to propose in the paper, that the Congressional-raise amendment could still be ratified almost 200 years after the process started.
Watson’s professor gave him a “C” for the paper, which riled him up. He decided to start a campaign to have the amendment ratified! He wrote letters to state officials. In response, Maine and Colorado both ratified the amendment by 1984. We the People heard about Watson’s campaign and loved the idea of Congress having to wait for raises until after the next election cycle.
By 1992, Alabama became the 38th state to approve the amendment, with New Jersey quick on its heels. Amendment XXVII was ratify and is now the law of the land. It wins the award for the amendment that took the longest to ratify (over 200 years)!
Gregory Watson proved that We the People truly are the fourth branch of the government- and that ONE person can make a difference!
Transcript from National Archives (archives.gov).
AMENDMENT XXVII
Originally proposed Sept. 25, 1789. Ratified May 7, 1992.
No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.
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