This resolution recognizes that Congress may not modify a resolution to amend the Constitution once it is submitted to the states for ratification or after its ratification deadline expires. The resolution further recognizes that the deadline for the Equal Rights Amendment expired, and so that amendment may not become part of the Constitution unless Congress reinitiates the entire amendment process outlined in Article V of the Constitution. The Equal Rights Amendment guarantees equal rights and equality under the law regardless of sex. Congress approved it for ratification by the states in 1972, but only 35 states ratified it (out of the 38 needed) before the statutory deadline expired in 1982. However, an additional three states ratified it after the deadline.