[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 161]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 OMISSION FROM READING OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION--ARTICLE IV, 
                          SECTION 4; ARTICLE V

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Madam Speaker, earlier today, the historic occasion of 
the first reading of the United States Constitution here on the floor 
of the House took place, and it was a very good bipartisan occasion 
where nearly one-third of all the Members of the House of 
Representatives participated in that reading. Unfortunately, during the 
reading, one of the Members, while he was reading from the notebook at 
the podium, turned two of the pages, and two pages of the Constitution 
were not read.
  So I ask unanimous consent that I now read those pages and that they 
be placed into the reading of the Constitution as it occurred earlier 
today so that we have a complete reading of the Constitution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Virginia?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I will now read at the end of article IV, 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.''
  That is the portion that was omitted earlier and that, by unanimous 
consent, is now included in the reading of the Constitution.

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