The 27th Amendment was originally proposed on September 25, 1789, as an article in the original Bill of Rights. It did not pass the required number of states with the articles we now know as the first ten amendments. It sat, unratified and with no expiration date, in constitutional limbo, for more than 80 years when Ohio ratified it to protest a congressional pay hike; no other states followed Ohio's lead, however. Again it languished, for more than 100 years. In 1978, Wyoming ratified the amendment, but there was again, no follow-up by the remaining states. Then, in the early 1980's, Gregory Watson, an aide to a Texas legislator, took up the proposed amendment's cause. From 1983 to 1992, the requisite number of states ratified the amendment, and it was declared ratified on May 7, 1992 (74,003 days). The amendment reads: 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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- Twenty-Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution - Wikipedia No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened. Gives text, ratification dates and states, history and links.
- FindLaw - The Telling Tale of Twenty-Seventh Amendment History and court challenges are discussed by John Dean, former counsel to the President.
- Schaeffer v. Clinton Decision in the court case to appeal the twenty-seventh amendment.
- Gregory Watson - Wikipedia Article on the person who pushed ratification of the twenty-seventh amendment.
- Twenty-Seventh Amendment Sources on the Amendment at the Library of Congress.