MARVIN MANDEL, Governor                                 1849

Funding for the office should be the responsibility of the County; and be it further

RESOLVED, That this request would create a charter amendment which should
be presented to the voters of Baltimore County at the 1974 general election.

Approved May 7, 1973.

No. 17
(Senate Joint Resolution 56)

Senate Joint Resolution effecting ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment to the
Constitution of the United States.

WHEREAS, The Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United
States was proposed to the Legislatures of the several states on the twenty-sixth
day of February, 1869; and

WHEREAS, The Fifteenth Amendment was declared to have been ratified in a
proclamation by the Secretary of State on the thirtieth day of March, 1870, and
thus became a constitutional provision; and

WHEREAS, The General Assembly of Maryland has not previously ratified the
Fifteenth Amendment; and

WHEREAS, The Fifteenth Amendment has long been a vital part of the
Constitution of the United States; and

WHEREAS, The General Assembly agrees with the intent of the Fifteenth
Amendment and the principles therein enunciated; and

WHEREAS, The Fifteenth Amendment provides as follows:

Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or
abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or
previous condition of servitude.

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, That the
General Assembly hereby effects ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment to the
Constitution of the United States; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State of this State shall forward copies of
this Resolution under the Great Seal of Maryland to the Honorable William P.
Rogers, Secretary of State of the United States, 2201 C Street, N. W.,
Washington, D. C. 20520, and the Honorable Arthur F. Sampson, Acting
Administrator of the General Services Administration, 18th and F Streets, N. W.,
Washington, D. C. 20405.

Approved May 7, 1973.