[Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 107th Congress]
[107th Congress]
[House Document 106-320]
[The United States Constitution]
[Pages 87-118]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]
[[Page 87]]
articles in addition to, and amendment of, the constitution of the
united states of america, proposed by congress, and ratified by the
several states pursuant to the fifth article of the original
constitution\1\
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\1\ The first 10 amendments to the Constitution of the
United States were proposed to the legislatures of the several States by
the First Congress on September 25, 1789 (this date and the date
succeeding amendments were proposed is the date of final congressional
action--signature by the presiding officer of the Senate--as is shown in
the Senate Journals). They were ratified by the following States, on the
dates shown, and the notifications by the governors thereof of
ratification were communicated by the President to Congress: New Jersey,
November 20, 1789; Maryland, December 19, 1789; North Carolina, December
22, 1789; South Carolina, January 19, 1790; New Hampshire, January 25,
1790; Delaware, January 28, 1790; New York, February 27, 1790;
Pennsylvania, March 10, 1790; Rhode Island, June 7, 1790; Vermont,
November 3, 1791; and Virginia, December 15, 1791. Ratification was
completed on December 15, 1791. The amendments were subsequently
ratified by Massachusetts, March 2, 1939; Georgia, March 18, 1939; and
Connecticut, April 19, 1939.
AMENDMENT I.
| Sec. 208. Freedom of religion, of speech, and of peaceable assembly. | 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. |
| Sec. 209. The right to bear arms. | 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. |
| Sec. 210. Quartering of soldiers in houses. | 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. |
| Sec. 211. Security from unreasonable searches and seizures. | 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. |
| Sec. 212. Security as to accusations, trials, and property. | 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 offence 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. |
| Sec. 213. Right to trial by jury and to confront witnesses and secure testimony. | 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 defence. |
| Sec. 214. Jury trial in suits at common law. | 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 re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law. |
| Sec. 217. Powers reserved to the States. | 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. |
| Sec. 218. Extent of the judicial power | 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. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Sec. 219. Meeting of the electors and transmission and count of their votes. | 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 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 presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted;-- * * * --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Sec. 220. The electoral count. | The electoral count occurs in a joint session of the two Houses in the Hall of the House (III, 1819) at 1 p.m. on the sixth day of January succeeding every meeting of electors (3 U.S.C. 15). The Vice President, as President of the Senate (or the President pro tempore in the Vice President's absence), presides over the joint session (3 U.S.C. 15). The date of the count has been changed by law as follows: (1) the 1957 count was changed to Monday, January 7 (P.L. 84-436); (2) the 1985 count was changed to Monday, January 7 (P.L. 98-456); (3) the 1989 count was changed to Wednesday, January 4 (P.L. 100-646); and (4) the 1997 count was changed to Thursday, January 9 (P.L. 104-296). |
| Sec. 221. Elections of President and Vice President by the House and Senate in certain cases. | * * * 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 |
| Sec. 222. History of original provision for failure of electoral college to choose. | The 20th amendment to the Constitution has clarified some of the provisions of the 12th amendment. In 1801 (III, 1983), the House of Representatives chose a President under article II, section 1, clause 3 (see Sec. 152a, supra), the constitutional provision superseded by the 12th amendment. |
| Sec. 223. Occasions of election by House and Senate after 1803. | In 1825 the House elected a President under the 12th amendment (III, 1985); and in 1837 the Senate elected a Vice President (III, 1941). |
| Sec. 224. Prohibition of slavery and involuntary servitude. | Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall |
|
Sec. 225. Citizenship |
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 |
| Sec. 226. Apportionment of representation. | 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 |
| Sec. 227. Law governing the establishment of districts. | There has been a readjustment of House representation each 10 years except during the period 1911 to 1929 (VI, 41, footnote). From March 4, 1913, permanent House membership has remained fixed at 435 (VI, 40, 41; 37 Stat. 13). Upon admission of Alaska and Hawaii to statehood, total membership was temporarily increased to 437 until the next reapportionment (72 Stat. 339, 345; 73 Stat. 8). Congress has by law provided for automatic apportionment of the 435 Representatives among the States according to each census including and after that of 1950 (2 U.S.C. 2a). The Apportionment Act formerly provided that the districts in a State were to be composed of contiguous and compact territory containing as nearly as practicable an equal number of inhabitants (I, 303; VI, 44); but subsequent apportionment Acts, those of 1929 (46 Stat. 26) and 1941 (55 Stat. 761), omitted such provisions (see Wood v. Broom, 287 U.S. 1 (1932)). Congress has by law provided that for the 91st and subsequent Congresses each State entitled to more than one Representative shall establish a number of districts equal to the number of such Representatives, and that Representatives shall be elected only from the single-Member districts so established. (Hawaii and New Mexico were excepted from the operation of this statute for the elections to the 91st Congress by Public Law 90-196; see 2 U.S.C. 2c). After any apportionment, until a State is redistricted in a manner provided by its own law and in compliance with the congressional mandate, the question of whether its Representatives shall be elected by districts, at large, or by a combination of both, is determined by the Apportionment Act of 1941 (2 U.S.C. 2a). See Deschler's Precedents, vol. 2, ch. 8 for apportionment and districting. |
| Sec. 228. Questions as to elections. | The House has always seated Members elected at large in the States, although the law required election by districts (I, 310, 519). Questions have arisen from time to time when a vacancy has occurred soon after a change in districts, with the resulting question whether the vacancy should be filled by election in the old or new district (I, 311, 312, 327). The House has declined to interfere with the act of a State in changing the boundaries of a district after the apportionment has been made (I, 313). |
| Sec. 229. Requirement that districts be equally populated. | The Supreme Court has ruled that congressional districts must be as equally populated as practicable. Wesberry v. Sanders, 376 U.S. 1 (1964); Kirkpatrick v. Preisler, 385 U.S. 450 (1967). The Court has made clear that variances in population among congressional districts within a State may be considered de minimis only if they cannot practicably be avoided. If such variances, no matter how mathematically miniscule, could have been reduced or eliminated by a good faith effort, then they may be justified only on the basis of a consistent, rational State policy. Karcher v. Daggett, 462 U.S. 725 (1983). The Court has also made evident that it will take judicial review of a claims that apportionment schemes lack consistent, rational bases. Davis v. Bandemer, 478 U.S. 109 (1986) (holding political gerrymandering complaint justiciable under equal protection clause). |
| Sec. 230. Loyalty as a qualification of Senators and Representatives. | 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. |
| Sec. 232. Validity of the national debt, etc. | 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. |
| Sec. 234. Suffrage not to be abridged for race, color, etc. | 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. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Sec. 235. Taxes on incomes. | The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without appor |
| Sec. 236. Election of Senators by direct vote. | 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 |
| Sec. 237. Filling vacancies in the Senate. | Senator Rebecca L. Felton, appointed during the recess of the Senate on October 3, 1922, to fill a vacancy, was the first woman to sit in the Senate (VI, 156). Senator Walter F. George was elected to fill the vacancy on Novem- ber 7, 1922. Mrs. Felton took the oath of office on November 21, 1922, and Senator George took the oath November 22, 1922 (VI, 156). Discussion as to the term of service of a Senator appointed by a State executive to fill a vacancy (VI, 156). |
| Sec. 238. Qualifications of electors. | The right of an elector to vote for a Senator is fundamentally derived from the United States Constitution (United States v. Aczel 219 F.2d 917 (1915)) and may not be denied in a discriminatory fashion (Chapman v. King, 154 F.2d 460 (1946), cert. denied, 327 U.S. 800 (1946); Forssenius v. Harman, 235 F. Supp. 66 (1964), affd., 380 U.S. 529 (1965)). |
| Sec. 239. Prohibition of intoxicating liquors. | 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 territories subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
|
Sec. 240. Women |
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. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Sec. 241. Commencement of terms of Pres., Vice Pres., Senators, and Representatives. | 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 Representa |
| Sec. 242. Meeting of Congress. | 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. |
| Sec. 243. Laws appointing different day for convening. | Since ratification, laws appointing a different day for assembling have been enacted as follows: Public Law 74-120, Jan. 5, 1937; Public Law 77-395, Jan. 5, 1942; Public Law 77-819, Jan. 6, 1943; Public Law 78-210, Jan. 10, 1944; Public Law 79-289, Jan. 14, 1946; Public Law 80-358, Jan. 6, 1948; Public Law 82-244, Jan. 8, 1952; Public Law 83-199, Jan. 6, 1954; Public Law 83-700, Jan. 5, 1955; Public Law 85-290, Jan. 7, 1958; Public Law 85-819, Jan. 7, 1959; Public Law 86- 305, Jan. 6, 1960; Public Law 87-348, Jan. 10, 1962; Public Law 87-864, Jan. 9, 1963; Public Law 88-247, Jan. 7, 1964; Public Law 88-649, Jan. 4, 1965; Public Law 89-340, Jan. 10, 1966; Public Law 89-704, Jan. 10, 1967; Public Law 90-230, Jan. 15, 1968; Public Law 91-182, Jan. 19, 1970; Public Law 91-643, Jan. 21, 1971; Public Law 92-217, Jan. 18, 1972; Public Law 93-196, Jan. 21, 1974; Public Law 93-553, Jan. 14, 1975; Public Law 94-186, Jan. 19, 1976; Public Law 94-494, Jan. 4, 1977; Public Law 95-594, Jan. 15, 1979; Public Law 96-566, Jan. 5, 1981; Public Law 97-133, Jan. |
| Sec. 245. Statutory succession and the 25th amendment. | Congress provided by law in 1947 for the performance of the duties of the President in case of removal, death, resignation or inability, both of the President and Vice President (3 U.S.C. 19). Earlier succession statutes covering the periods 1792-1886 and 1887-1948 can be found in 18 Stat. 21, and 24 Stat. 1, respectively. Also see the 25th amendment to the Constitution, relating to vacancies in the office of Vice President and Presidential inability. |
| Sec. 246. Congress to provide for case wherein death occurs among those from whom House chooses a President. | 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. |
| Sec. 247. Repeal of prohibition. | Section 1. The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Sec. 248. Transportation into States prohibited. | 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. |
| Sec. 249. No person shall be elected President more than twice. | 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 |
| Sec. 250. Representation in the Electoral College to the District of Columbia. | Section 1. The District constituting the seat of Government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as the Congress may direct: --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Sec. 251. Right to vote not denied for failure to pay poll tax. | 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. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Sec. 252. Presidential succession and inability. | Section 1. In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Sec. 253. Confirmation by House and Senate of nominee to fill vice presidential vacancy. | 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. |
| Sec. 254. President's declaration of disability. | 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. |
| Sec. 255. Determination of Presidential inability and 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. |
| Sec. 256. Instances where House and Senate have confirmed nominee as Vice President. | Congress has twice performed its responsibility under section two of the 25th amendment. On October 13, 1973, the Speaker laid before the House a message from President Nixon transmitting his nomination of Gerald R. Ford, Representative and Minority Leader in the House of Representatives, to be Vice President of the United States, Vice President Agnew having resigned on October 10, 1973. The Speaker referred the nomination to the Committee on the Judiciary, which under clause 1(k)(14) of rule X has jurisdiction over messages and matters relating to Presidential succession (Oct. 13, 1973, p. 34032). The nomination of Mr. Ford to be Vice President was confirmed by the Senate on November 27, 1973 (p. 38225) and by the House on December 6, 1973 (p. 39900), and Vice President Ford was sworn in in the Chamber of the House of Representatives on December 6 (p. 39925). Subsequently, President Nixon resigned from office by delivering his written resignation into the office of the Secretary of State, pursuant to 3 U.S.C. 20, on August 9, 1974. Pursuant to section one of the 25th amendment, Vice President Ford became President, and was sworn in in the East Room at the White House. He nominated Nelson A. Rockefeller to be Vice President which nomination was received in the House of Representatives and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary on August 20, 1974; the nomination was confirmed by the Senate on December 10, 1974 (p. 38936) and by the House on December 19, 1974 (p. 41516), and Vice President Rockefeller was sworn in in the Senate Chamber on December 19, 1974 (p. 41181). On both instances, the House received the message from the Senate, announcing that body's |
| Sec. 257. Right to vote extended to persons 18 years of age or older. | Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Sec. 258. Timing of law varying congressional compensation. | No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |