We the people of the
United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure
domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general
welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do
ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Section 1. All
legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United
States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.
Section 2. The House of
Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the
people of the several states, and the electors in each state shall have the
qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the state
legislature.
No person shall be a
Representative who shall not have attained to the age of twenty five years, and
been seven years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when
elected, be an inhabitant of that state in which he shall be chosen.
Representatives
and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several states which may be
included within this union, according to their respective numbers, which shall
be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those
bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three
fifths of all other Persons.
The actual Enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting
of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of ten
years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The number of Representatives
shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each state shall have at
least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the state of
New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode
Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six, New
Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North
Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.
When vacancies happen
in the Representation from any state, the executive authority thereof shall
issue writs of election to fill such vacancies.
The House of
Representatives shall choose their speaker and other officers; and shall have
the sole power of impeachment.
Section 3. The Senate
of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each state, chosen
by the legislature thereof
,
for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote.
No person shall be a
Senator who shall not have attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine
years a citizen of the United States and who shall not, when elected, be an
inhabitant of that state for which he shall be chosen.
The Vice President of
the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote,
unless they be equally divided.
The Senate shall choose
their other officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the absence of the
Vice President, or when he shall exercise the office of President of the United
States.
The Senate shall have
the sole power to try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they
shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President of the United States is
tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no person shall be convicted without
the concurrence of two thirds of the members present.
Judgment in cases of
impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office, and
disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under
the United States: but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and
subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according to law.
Section 4. The times,
places and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives, shall
be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may at
any time by law make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of
choosing Senators.
The Congress shall
assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall be
on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by law appoint a
different day.
Section 5. Each House
shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own
members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a
smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the
attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties as each
House may provide.
Each House may
determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly
behavior, and, with the concurrence of two thirds, expel a member.
Each House shall keep a
journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting
such parts as may in their judgment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of
the members of either House on any question shall, at the desire of one fifth of
those present, be entered on the journal.
Neither House, during
the session of Congress, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for
more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two Houses
shall be sitting.
Section 6. The Senators
and Representatives shall receive a compensation for their services, to be
ascertained by law, and paid out of the treasury of the United States. They
shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be
privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their
respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any
speech or debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other
place.
No Senator or
Representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to
any civil office under the authority of the United States, which shall have been
created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time:
and no person holding any office under the United States, shall be a member of
either House during his continuance in office.
Section 7. All bills
for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the
Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other Bills.
Every bill which shall
have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become
a law, be presented to the President of the United States; if he approve he
shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his objections to that House
in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on
their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two
thirds of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together
with the objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be
reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a
law. But in all such cases the votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas
and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be
entered on the journal of each House respectively. If any bill shall not be
returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have
been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had
signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which
case it shall not be a law.
Every order,
resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the Senate and House of
Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of adjournment) shall be
presented to the President of the United States; and before the same shall take
effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed
by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the rules
and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.
Section 8. The Congress
shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay
the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United
States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the
United States;
To borrow money on the
credit of the United States;
To regulate commerce
with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes;
To establish a uniform
rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies
throughout the United States;
To coin money, regulate
the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and
measures;
To provide for the
punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United
States;
To establish post
offices and post roads;
To promote the progress
of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and
inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;
To constitute tribunals
inferior to the Supreme Court;
To define and punish
piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law
of nations;
To declare war, grant
letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and
water;
To raise and support
armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term
than two years;
To provide and maintain
a navy;
To make rules for the
government and regulation of the land and naval forces;
To provide for calling
forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and
repel invasions;
To provide for
organizing, arming, and disciplining, the militia, and for governing such part
of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the
states respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of
training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
To exercise exclusive
legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten miles
square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress,
become the seat of the government of the United States, and to exercise like
authority over all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the
state in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines,
arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings;--And
To make all laws which
shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers,
and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United
States, or in any department or officer thereof.
Section 9. The
migration or importation of such persons as any of the states now existing shall
think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year
one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such
importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person.
The privilege of the
writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion
or invasion the public safety may require it.
No bill of attainder or
ex post facto Law shall be passed.
No tax or duty shall be
laid on articles exported from any state.
No preference shall be
given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one state over
those of another: nor shall vessels bound to, or from, one state, be obliged to
enter, clear or pay duties in another.
No money shall be drawn
from the treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law; and a
regular statement and account of receipts and expenditures of all public money
shall be published from time to time.
No title of nobility
shall be granted by the United States: and no person holding any office of
profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept
of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any
king, prince, or foreign state.
Section 10. No state
shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation; grant letters of marque
and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit; make anything but gold and
silver coin a tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post
facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any title of
nobility.
No state shall, without
the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports,
except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it's inspection laws: and
the net produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any state on imports or
exports, shall be for the use of the treasury of the United States; and all such
laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the Congress.
No state shall, without
the consent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war
in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another state, or
with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such
imminent danger as will not admit of delay.
Section 1. The
executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America.
He shall hold his office during the term of four years, and, together with the
Vice President, chosen for the same term, be elected, as follows:
Each state shall
appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a number of
electors, equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the
State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or
person holding an office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be
appointed an elector.
The Congress may
determine the time of choosing the electors, and the day on which they shall
give their votes; which day shall be the same throughout the United States.
No person except a
natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the
adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President;
neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained
to the age of thirty five years, and been fourteen Years a resident within the
United States.
The President shall, at
stated times, receive for his services, a compensation, which shall neither be
increased nor diminished during the period for which he shall have been elected,
and he shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the United
States, or any of them.
Before he enter on the
execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or
affirmation:--"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully
execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my
ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United
States."
Section 2. The
President shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States,
and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of
the United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal
officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the
duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves
and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of
impeachment.
He shall have power, by
and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two
thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with
the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public
ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of
the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and
which shall be established by law: but the Congress may by law vest the
appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President
alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.
The President shall
have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the
Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next
session.
Section 3. He shall
from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the union,
and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary
and expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or
either of them, and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the
time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper;
he shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers; he shall take care that
the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the
United States.
Section 4. The
President, Vice President and all civil officers of the United States, shall be
removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or
other high crimes and misdemeanors.
Section 1. The judicial
power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such
inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The
judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during
good behaviour, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services, a
compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.
Section 2. The judicial
power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising under this
Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall
be made, under their authority;--to all cases affecting ambassadors, other
public ministers and consuls;--to all cases of admiralty and maritime
jurisdiction;--to controversies to which the United States shall be a party;--to
controversies between two or more states;--between
a state and citizens of another state;--between citizens of different
states;--between citizens of the same state claiming lands under grants of
different states, and between a state, or the citizens thereof, and foreign
states, citizens or subjects.
In all cases affecting
ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those in which a state
shall be party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the
other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate
jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such
regulations as the Congress shall make.
The trial of all
crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury; and such trial shall
be held in the state where the said crimes shall have been committed; but when
not committed within any state, the trial shall be at such place or places as
the Congress may by law have directed.
Section 3. Treason
against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in
adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be
convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt
act, or on confession in open court.
The Congress shall have
power to declare the punishment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall
work corruption of blood, or forfeiture except during the life of the person
attainted.
Section 1. Full faith
and credit shall be given in each state to the public acts, records, and
judicial proceedings of every other state. And the Congress may by general laws
prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, and proceedings shall be
proved, and the effect thereof.
Section 2. The citizens
of each state shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in
the several states.
A person charged in any
state with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be
found in another state, shall on demand of the executive authority of the state
from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the state having
jurisdiction of the crime.
Section 3. New states
may be admitted by the Congress into this union; but no new states shall be
formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other state; nor any state be
formed by the junction of two or more states, or parts of states, without the
consent of the legislatures of the states concerned as well as of the Congress.
The Congress shall have
power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the
territory or other property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this
Constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United
States, or of any particular state.
Section 4. The United
States shall guarantee to every state in this union a republican form of
government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on application
of the legislature, or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be
convened) against domestic violence.
The Congress, whenever
two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to
this Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of
the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in
either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this
Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several
states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode
of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; provided that no amendment
which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall
in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the
first article; and that no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its
equal suffrage in the Senate.
All debts contracted
and engagements entered into, before the adoption of this Constitution, shall be
as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the
Confederation.
This Constitution, and
the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all
treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States,
shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be
bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary
notwithstanding.
The
Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several
state legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the
United States and of the several states, shall be bound by oath or
affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be
required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United
States
The ratification of the
conventions of nine states, shall be sufficient for the establishment of this
Constitution between the states so ratifying the same.
Congress shall make no
law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of
the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress
of grievances.
A well regulated
militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the
people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
No soldier shall, in
time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor
in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
The right of the people
to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable
searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but
upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly
describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
No person shall be held
to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or
indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces,
or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor
shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of
life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness
against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due
process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just
compensation.
In all criminal
prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by
an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been
committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to
be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the
witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his
favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.
In suits at common law,
where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial
by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise
reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the
common law.
Excessive bail shall
not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments
inflicted.
The enumeration in the
Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage
others retained by the people.
The powers not
delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the
states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.
The judicial power of
the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity,
commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of another
state, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign state.
The electors shall meet
in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President,
one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with
themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President,
and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall
make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons
voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists
they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government
of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate;--The President of
the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives,
open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted;--the person
having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if
such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if no
person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not
exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of
Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in
choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation
from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a
member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the
states shall be necessary to a choice. And
if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right
of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next
following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in the case of the
death or other constitutional disability of the President. The person having
the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if
such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed, and if no
person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the
Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist
of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole
number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible
to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the
United States.
Section 1. Neither
slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the
party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or
any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Section 2. Congress
shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Section 1. All persons
born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction
thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.
No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or
immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any
person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to
any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Section 2.
Representatives shall be apportioned among the several states according to their
respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state,
excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the
choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States,
Representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a state, or
the members of the legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male
inhabitants of such state, being
twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way
abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of
representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of
such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one
years of age in such state.
Section 3. No person
shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and
Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States,
or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of
Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state
legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the
Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or
rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But
Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
Section 4. The validity
of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts
incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing
insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United
States nor any state shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid
of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the
loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims
shall be held illegal and void.
Section 5. The Congress
shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this
article.
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.
The Congress shall have
power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without
apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census or
enumeration.
The Senate of the
United States shall be composed of two Senators from each state, elected by the
people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The
electors in each state shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of
the most numerous branch of the state legislatures.
When vacancies happen
in the representation of any state in the Senate, the executive authority of
such state shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, that
the legislature of any state may empower the executive thereof to make temporary
appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature
may direct.
This amendment shall
not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen
before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.
Section 1. After one
year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or
transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or
the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the
jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.
Section 2. The Congress
and the several states shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.
Section 3. This article
shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the
Constitution by the legislatures of the several states, as provided in the
Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the
states by the Congress.
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 sex.
Congress shall have
power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Section 1. The terms of
the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January,
and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January,
of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been
ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.
Section 2. The Congress
shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon
on the 3d day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.
Section 4. The Congress
may by law provide for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the
House of Representatives may choose a President whenever the right of choice
shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the
persons from whom the Senate may choose a Vice President whenever the right of
choice shall have devolved upon them.
Section 5. Sections 1
and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of October following the ratification of
this article.
Section 6. This article
shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the
Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several states within
seven years from the date of its submission.
Section 1. The
eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is
hereby repealed.
Section 2. The
transportation or importation into any state, territory, or possession of the
United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation
of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.
Section 3. This article
shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the
Constitution by conventions in the several states, as provided in the
Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the
states by the Congress.
Section 1. No person
shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person
who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two
years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be
elected to the office of the President more than once. But this article shall
not apply to any person holding the office of President when this article was
proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding
the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which
this article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as
President during the remainder of such term.
Section 2. This article
shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the
Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several states within
seven years from the date of its submission to the states by the Congress.
Section 1. The District
constituting the seat of government of the United States shall appoint in such
manner as the Congress may direct:
A number of electors of
President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and
Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a
state, but in no event more than the least populous state; they shall be in
addition to those appointed by the states, but they shall be considered, for the
purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors
appointed by a state; and they shall meet in the District and perform such
duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment.
Section 2. The Congress
shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Section 1. The right of
citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for
President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or
for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by
the United States or any state by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other
tax.
Section 2. The Congress
shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Section 1. In case of
the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the
Vice President shall become President.
Section 2. Whenever
there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall
nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority
vote of both Houses of Congress.
Section 3. Whenever the
President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker
of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to
discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a
written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged
by the Vice President as Acting President.
Section 4. Whenever the
Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive
departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to
the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to
discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall
immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
Thereafter, when the
President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker
of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability
exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice
President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive
department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within
four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the
House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable
to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall
decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in
session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter
written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days
after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both
Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his
office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting
President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his
office.
Section 1. The right of
citizens of the United States, who are 18 years of age or older, to vote, shall
not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of age.
Section 2. The Congress
shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
No law, varying the
compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take
effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.