[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 25 (Tuesday, February 7, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H715-H720]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                      READING OF THE CONSTITUTION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to section 5(h) of House Resolution 
5, the Chair now recognizes the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Jordan) for 
the reading of the Constitution.
  Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, this morning we will read the full text of 
the United States Constitution. The text read today reflects the 
changes to the Constitution made by the 27 amendments. Those portions 
superseded by amendment will not be read.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. McCarthy).
  Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  I will start:
  ``We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect 
Union, establish justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the 
common defence, 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.''
  Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from the State of 
California (Mr. Kiley).
  Mr. KILEY. Article I, 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.
  ``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 chuse their Speaker and other 
Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.''
  Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the gentleman 
from Virginia (Mr. Cline) control the time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Ohio?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. CLINE. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. 
Lee).
  Ms. LEE of Florida. Section 3:
  ``The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators 
from each State 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.
  ``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 chuse 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 chusing 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 Behaviour, 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 encreased 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.''
  Mr. CLINE. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Moran).
  Mr. MORAN. 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

[[Page H716]]

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 
Defence 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 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, 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.''
  Mr. CLINE. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. 
Johnson), who is the chair of the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil 
Liberties Subcommittee.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. 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 Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in 
Proportion to the Census Or Enumeration herein before directed to be 
taken.

                              {time}  1030

  ``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.''
  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 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 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 Controul 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.''
  Article II, 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 or Trust 
or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.
  ``The Congress may determine the Time of chusing 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.' ''

[[Page H717]]

  

  Mr. CLINE. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from South Carolina 
(Mr. Fry).
  Mr. FRY. 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.''
  Article III, 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 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 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.''
  Mr. CLINE. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. 
Lee).
  Ms. LEE of Florida. Article IV, 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 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.''
  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.''
  Article V:
  ``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.''
  Article VI:
  ``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.''
  Mr. CLINE. Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentlewoman from Wyoming 
(Ms. Hageman).
  Ms. HAGEMAN. Article VII:

[[Page H718]]

  ``The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be 
sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the 
States so ratifying the Same.
  Amendment I:
  ``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.''
  Amendment II:
  ``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.''
  Amendment III:
  ``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.''
  Amendment IV:
  ``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.''
  Amendment V:
  ``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.''
  Amendment VI:
  ``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.''
  Amendment VII:
  ``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.''
  Amendment VIII:
  ``Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, 
nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.''
  Amendment IX:
  ``The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be 
construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.''
  Amendment X:
  ``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.''
  Mr. CLINE. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Moran).
  Mr. MORAN. Amendment XI:
  ``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.''
  Amendment XII:
  ``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.
  ``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.''
  Amendment XIII, 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.''
  Amendment XIV, 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

[[Page H719]]

any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held 
illegal and void.''

  Section 5:
  ``The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate 
legislation, the provisions of this article.''
  Amendment XV, 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.''
  Amendment XVI:
  ``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.''
  Mr. CLINE. Amendment XVII:
  ``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.''
  Amendment XIX:
  ``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.''
  Amendment XX, Section 1:
  ``The terms of the President and the 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 3:
  ``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.''
  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.''
  Amendment XXI, 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.''
  Amendment XXII, 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 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.''

  Amendment XXIII, Section 1:
  ``The District constituting the seat of Government of the United 
States shall appoint in such manner as 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.''
  Amendment XXIV, 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.''
  Amendment XXV, 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

[[Page H720]]

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.''

                              {time}  1100

  Mr. SCALISE. Amendment XXVI, 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.''
  Section 2:
  ``The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by 
appropriate legislation.''
  Mr. CLINE. Amendment XXVII:
  ``No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators 
and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of 
Representatives shall have intervened.''
  Mr. Speaker, that concludes the reading of the Constitution.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that I may revise and extend my 
remarks and include omitted material in the Record during the reading 
of the Constitution?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Virginia?
  There was no objection.

                          ____________________