Preamble
Article I Legislative
Sections
1. Legislative powers.
2. House of representatives, how constituted, power of impeachment.
3. The senate, how constituted, impeachment trials.
4. Election of senators and representatives.
5. Quorum, journals, meetings, adjournments.
6. Compensation, privileges, disabilities.
7. Procedure in passing bills and resolutions.
8. Powers of congress.
9. Limitations upon powers of congress.
10. Restrictions upon powers of states.
Article II Executive
Sections
1. Executive power, election, qualifications of the
president.
2. Powers of the president.
3. Powers and duties of the president.
4. Impeachment.
Article III Judicial
Sections
1. Judicial power, tenure of office.
2. Jurisdiction.
3. Treason, proof and punishment.
Article IV
Sections
1. Faith and credit among states.
2. Privileges and immunities, fugitives.
3. Admission of new states.
4. Guarantee of republican government.
Article V Amendment of the Constitution
Article VI Debts, supremacy, oath
Article VII Ratification and establishment
Amendments:
No.
1. Freedom of religion, of speech, and of the press.
2. Right to keep and bear arms.
3. Quartering of soldiers.
4. Security from unwarrantable search and seizure.
5. Rights of accused in criminal proceedings.
6. Right to speedy trial, witnesses, etc.
7. Trial by jury in civil cases.
8. Bails, fines, punishments.
9. Reservation of rights of the people.
10. Powers reserved to states or people.
11. Restriction of judicial powers.
12. Election of president and vice president.
13. Sections
1. Abolition of slavery.
2. Power to enforce this article.
14. Sections
1. Citizenship rights not to be abridged by states.
2. Apportionment of representatives in congress.
3. Persons disqualified from holding office.
4. What public debts are valid.
5. Power to enforce this article.
15. Sections
1. Negro suffrage.
2. Power to enforce this article.
16. Authorizing income taxes.
17. Popular election of senators.
18. Sections
1. National liquor prohibition.
2. Power to enforce this article.
3. Ratification within seven years.
19. Woman suffrage.
20. Sections
1. Terms of office.
2. Time of convening congress.
3. Death of president elect.
4. Election of the president.
21. Sections
1. National liquor prohibition repealed.
2. Transportation of liquor into "dry" states.
22. Sections
1. Terms of office of president.
2. When operative.
23. Sections
1. Granting representation in the electoral college to the District of Columbia.
2. Legislation.
24. Sections
1. Failure to pay tax shall not deny right to vote for federal offices.
2. Legislation.
25. Sections
1. Succession to the presidency.
2. Succession to the vice presidency.
3. President's declaration of inability to discharge powers and duties of office.
4. Determination that president is unable to discharge the powers and duties of office.
26. Sections
1. Extending the right to vote to citizens eighteen years of age or older.
2. Legislation.
27. Compensation of members of Congress.
of the
United States
of America
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.
§ 1 LEGISLATIVE POWERS. 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.
§ 2 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, HOW CONSTITUTED, POWER OF
IMPEACHMENT. 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 person.* 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 choose 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.
*Note: Modified by Amendment XIV, Section 2.
§ 3 THE SENATE, HOW CONSTITUTED, IMPEACHMENT TRIALS. 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.
Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes. The seats of the senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year, of the second class at the expiration of the fourth year, and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that one-third may be chosen every second year; and if vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise, during the recess of the legislature of any state, the executive thereof may make temporary appointments until the next meeting of the legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies.*
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.
*Note: Provisions changed by Amendment XVII.
§ 4 ELECTION OF SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES. 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.
**Note: Provision changed by Amendment XX, Section 2.
§ 5 QUORUM, JOURNALS, MEETINGS, ADJOURNMENTS. 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.
§ 6 COMPENSATION, PRIVILEGES, DISABILITIES. 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.
§ 7 PROCEDURE IN PASSING BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS. 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.
§ 8 POWERS OF CONGRESS. 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 an 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 of fences 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, dock yards, 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.
§ 9 LIMITATIONS UPON POWERS OF CONGRESS. 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 capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to the census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to be taken.
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 the 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.
§ 10 RESTRICTIONS UPON POWERS OF STATES. No state shall
enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation; grant letters of
marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit; make any
thing 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 its 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.
§ 1 EXECUTIVE POWER, ELECTION, QUALIFICATIONS OF THE
PRESIDENT. 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 electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves. And they shall make a list of all the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each; which list 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 shall be the president, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such majority, and have an equal number of votes, then the house of representatives shall immediately choose by ballot one of them for president; and if no person have a majority, then from the five highest on the list the said house shall in like manner choose 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. In every case, after the choice of the president, the person having the greatest number of votes of the electors shall be the vice president. But if there should remain two or more who have equal votes, the senate shall choose from them by ballot the vice president.*
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.
In case of the removal of the president from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the vice president, and the congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation or inability, both of the president and vice president, declaring what officer shall then act as president, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a president shall be elected.
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."
*Note: Provisions superseded by Amendment XII.
§ 2 POWERS OF THE PRESIDENT. 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 offences 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.
§ 3 POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE PRESIDENT. 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.
§ 4 IMPEACHMENT. 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.
§ 1 JUDICIAL POWER, TENURE OF OFFICE. 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 behavior, and shall,
at stated times, receive for their services, a compensation, which
shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.
§ 2 JURISDICTION. 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.
*Note: Clause changed by Amendment XI.
§ 3 TREASON, PROOF AND PUNISHMENT. 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.
§ 1 FAITH AND CREDIT AMONG STATES. 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.
§ 2 PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES, FUGITIVES. 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.
No person held to service or labor in one state, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due.
§ 3 ADMISSION OF NEW STATES. New states may be admitted by
the congress into this union; but no new state 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.
§ 4 GUARANTEE OF REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT. 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.
AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. 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.
DEBTS, SUPREMACY, OATH. 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, any thing 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.
RATIFICATION AND ESTABLISHMENT. The ratification of the
conventions of nine states, shall be sufficient for the
establishment of this Constitution between the states so ratifying
the same.
Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the states present the seventeenth day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven and of the independence of the United States of America the twelfth.* In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names,
| GEO. WASHINGTON, President | ||||
| and Deputy from Virginia |
||||
| New Hampshire | Delaware | |||
| John Langdon | Geo. Read | |||
| Nicholas Gilman | Gunning Bedford, Jr. | |||
| Massachusetts | John Dickinson | |||
| Nathaniel Gorham | Richard Bassett | |||
| Rufus King | Jaco. Broom | |||
| Connecticut | Maryland | |||
| Wm. Saml. Johnson | James McHenry | |||
| Roger Sherman | Dan of St. Thos. Jenifer | |||
| New York | Danl. Carroll | |||
| Alexander Hamilton | Virginia | |||
| New Jersey | John Blair | |||
| Wil. Livingston | James Madison, Jr. | |||
| David Brearley | North Carolina | |||
| Wm. Paterson | Wm. Blount | |||
| Jona. Dayton | Richd. Dobbs Spaight | |||
| Pennsylvania | Hu. Williamson | |||
| B. Franklin | South Carolina | |||
| Thomas Mifflin | J. Rutledge | |||
| Robt. Morris | Charles Cotesworth Pinckney | |||
| Geo. Clymer | Charles Pinckney | |||
| Thos. FitzSimons | Pierce Butler | |||
| Jared Ingersoll | Georgia | |||
| James Wilson | William Few | |||
| Gouv. Morris | Abr. Baldwin | |||
to the
Constitution
of the
United States
1791-1992
§ 2 POWER TO ENFORCE THIS ARTICLE. Congress shall have power
to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.*
*Note: Proposed by congress on January 31, 1865; declared ratified on December 18, 1865.
§ 2 APPORTIONMENT OF REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. 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 abridges, 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.
§ 3 PERSONS DISQUALIFIED FROM HOLDING OFFICE. 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.
§ 4 WHAT PUBLIC DEBTS ARE VALID. 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.
§ 5 POWER TO ENFORCE THIS ARTICLE. The congress shall have
power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of
this article.*
*Note: Proposed by congress on June 13, 1866; declared ratified on July 28, 1868.
§ 2 POWER TO ENFORCE THIS ARTICLE. The congress shall have
power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.*
*Note: Proposed by congress on February 26, 1869; declared ratified on March 30, 1870.
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.*
*Note: Proposed by congress on May 13, 1912; declared ratified on May 31, 1913.
§ 2 POWER TO ENFORCE THIS ARTICLE. The congress and the several states shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
§ 3 RATIFICATION WITHIN SEVEN YEARS. This article shall be
inoperative until 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.*
*Note: Proposed by congress on December 18, 1917; declared ratified on January 29, 1919. Repealed by Amendment XXI.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.*
*Note: Proposed by congress on June 4, 1919; declared ratified on August 26, 1920.
§ 2 TIME OF CONVENING CONGRESS. The congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3rd day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.
§ 3 DEATH OF PRESIDENT ELECT. If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the president, the president elect shall have died, the vice president elect shall become president. If a president shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the president elect shall have failed to qualify, then the vice president elect shall act as president until a president shall have qualified; and the congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a president elect nor a vice president elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as president, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a president or vice president shall have qualified.
§ 4 ELECTION OF THE PRESIDENT. 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.
§ 5 Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of October following the ratification of this article.
§ 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.*
*Note: Proposed by congress on March 2, 1932; declared ratified on February 6, 1933.
§ 2 TRANSPORTATION OF LIQUOR INTO "DRY" STATES. The transportation or importation into any states, territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.
§ 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.*
*Note: Proposed by congress on February 20, 1933; declared ratified on December 5, 1933.
§ 2 WHEN OPERATIVE. 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.*
*Note: The certificate of adoption of the 22nd Amendment, dated March 1, 1951, was published in the Federal Register of March 3, 1951.
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.
§ 2 LEGISLATION. The Congress shall have power to enforce
this article by appropriate legislation.*
*Note: The certificate of adoption of the 23rd Amendment, dated April 3, 1961, is published in Vol. 26 Federal Register, page 2808.
§ 2 LEGISLATION. The Congress shall have power to enforce
this article by appropriate legislation.*
*Note: The certificate of adoption of the 24th Amendment dated February 4, 1964, is published in Vol. 29 Federal Register, page 1715.
§ 2 SUCCESSION TO THE VICE PRESIDENCY. 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.
§ 3 PRESIDENT'S DECLARATION OF INABILITY TO DISCHARGE POWERS AND DUTIES OF OFFICE. 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.
§ 4 DETERMINATION THAT PRESIDENT IS UNABLE TO DISCHARGE THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF OFFICE. 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.*
*Note: The certificate of adoption of the 25th Amendment dated February 23, 1967, is published in Vol. 32 Federal Register, page 3287.
§ 2 LEGISLATION. The Congress shall have power to enforce
this article by appropriate legislation.*
*Note: The certificate of adoption of the 26th Amendment dated July 5, 1971, is published in Vol. 36, No. 130, Federal Register, page 12726.