[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 142-149]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      READING OF THE CONSTITUTION

  The SPEAKER. Pursuant to section 5(a) of House Resolution 5, the 
Chair now recognizes the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) for 
the reading of the Constitution.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, this morning, for only the second time in 
the history of the House of Representatives, we will read aloud the 
full text of the Constitution of the United States.
  We hope this reading will inspire many more Americans to read the 
Constitution. We also hope that this reading will help demonstrate to 
the American people that the House of Representatives is dedicated to 
the Constitution and the system it establishes for limited government 
and the protection of individual liberty.
  The text we are reading today reflects the changes to the document 
made by the 27 amendments to it. Those portions superseded by amendment 
will not be read.
  In order to ensure fairness to all those interested in participating, 
we have asked Members to line up to be recognized on a first-come, 
first-served basis. I will recognize Members based on this guidance. 
Each Member will approach the podium and read the passage laid out for 
him or her.
  In order to ensure relative parity and fairness, I may recognize 
Members out of order to ensure bipartisanship and balance. 
Additionally, because of his long-term leadership on civil rights 
issues, I will recognize Congressman John Lewis of Georgia out of order 
to read the Thirteenth Amendment.
  I thank the Members of both parties in advance for their 
participation in this historic event, and I will begin this historic 
reading by reading the preamble to the Constitution:
  ``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.''
  It is now my pleasure to yield to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. 
Enyart).
  Mr. ENYART. 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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I now yield to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. 
Walberg).
  Mr. WALBERG. Article I, 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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I now yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. 
LaMalfa).
  Mr. LaMALFA. ``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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I now yield to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. 
Lipinski).
  Mr. LIPINSKI. ``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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I now yield to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. 
Barber).
  Mr. BARBER. ``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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I now yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
DeSantis).
  Mr. DeSANTIS. Article I, 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.''

                              {time}  1010

  Mr. GOODLATTE. I now yield to the gentleman from Virginia, the 
majority leader, Mr. Cantor.
  Mr. CANTOR. ``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.''

[[Page 143]]


  Mr. GOODLATTE. I now yield to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. 
Walz).
  Mr. WALZ. ``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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I now yield to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. 
Franks).
  Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. ``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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I now yield to the minority whip, the gentleman from 
Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).
  Mr. HOYER. ``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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I now yield to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. 
Duncan).
  Mr. DUNCAN of South Carolina. ``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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I now yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Lowenthal).
  Mr. LOWENTHAL. Article I, Section 4:
  ``The times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators and 
Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the legislature 
thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such 
regulations, except as to the places of choosing Senators.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I now yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. 
Collins).
  Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Article I, 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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I now yield to the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. 
Faleomavaega).
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. ``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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I now yield to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. 
Lamborn).
  Mr. LAMBORN. ``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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I now yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Maffei).
  Mr. MAFFEI. ``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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I now yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Valadao).
  Mr. VALADAO. Article I, 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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I now yield to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. 
Holt).
  Mr. HOLT. ``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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I now yield to the gentlewoman from North Carolina 
(Ms. Foxx).
  Ms. FOXX. Article I, 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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I now yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Conaway).
  Mr. CONAWAY. ``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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I now yield to the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. 
DelBene).
  Ms. DelBENE. ``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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I now yield to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. 
Garrett).
  Mr. GARRETT. ``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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I now yield to the gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Ms. 
Tsongas).
  Ms. TSONGAS. ``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.''

                              {time}  1020

  Mr. GOODLATTE. I now yield to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. 
Wilson).
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Article 1, Section 8:
  ``The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, 
imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common 
defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, 
imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; . . 
. ''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I now yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gene 
Green).
  Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. `` . . . 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; . . .''

[[Page 144]]


  Mr. GOODLATTE. I now yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Nugent).
  Mr. NUGENT. `` . . . 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; . . .''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I now yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Bera).
  Mr. BERA of California. `` . . . 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; . . .''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I now yield to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. 
Griffith).
  Mr. GRIFFITH of Virginia. `` . . . 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; . . .''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I now yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. 
Lee).
  Ms. LEE of California. `` . . . to exercise exclusive legislation in 
all cases whatsoever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles 
square) as may, by cession of particular States, and the acceptance of 
Congress, become the seat of the Government of the United States, and 
to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of 
the legislature of the State in which the same shall be, for the 
erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful 
buildings; and to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for 
carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers 
vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or 
in any department or officer thereof.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I now yield to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. 
Huizenga).
  Mr. HUIZENGA of Michigan. Article I, 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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I now yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Takano).
  Mr. TAKANO. ``No capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid, 
unless in proportion to the census or enumeration herein before 
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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I now yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Yoho).
  Mr. YOHO. ``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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I now yield to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Danny 
K. Davis).
  Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Article I, Section 10:
  ``No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation; 
grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit; 
make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts; 
pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the 
obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility.
  ``No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any 
imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely 
necessary for executing 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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I now yield to the gentleman from North Dakota (Mr. 
Cramer).
  Mr. CRAMER. ``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:''

                              {time}  1030

  Mr. GOODLATTE. I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Veasey).
  Mr. VEASEY. ``Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the 
legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the 
whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be 
entitled in the Congress. But no Senator or Representative or person 
holding an office of trust or profit under the United States shall be 
appointed an elector.
  ``The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors and 
the day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall be the 
same throughout the United States.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I yield to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tipton).
  Mr. TIPTON. ``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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. O'Rourke).
  Mr. O'ROURKE. ``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.

  Article II, 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

[[Page 145]]

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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I yield to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Gosar).
  Mr. GOSAR. ``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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Huffman).
  Mr. HUFFMAN. ``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.''
  Article II, 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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I yield to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Rogers).
  Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. ``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.''
  Article II, 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 behavior and 
shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compensation, 
which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I yield to the minority leader, the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Pelosi).
  Ms. PELOSI. Article III, 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 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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Flores).
  Mr. FLORES. ``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.''
  Article III, 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. GOODLATTE. I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Swalwell).
  Mr. SWALWELL of California. 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.''
  Article IV, 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.''

                              {time}  1040

  Mr. GOODLATTE. I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Gibbs).
  Mr. GIBBS. Article IV, 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.''
  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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I yield to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hultgren).
  Mr. HULTGREN. 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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Austin 
Scott).
  Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia. 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

[[Page 146]]

made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, 
shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every State 
shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any 
State to the contrary notwithstanding.
  ``The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members 
of the several State legislatures, and all executive and judicial 
officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be 
bound by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution; but no 
religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office 
or public trust under the United States.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I yield to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. 
Holding).
  Mr. HOLDING. Article VII:
  ``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.''
  Signers of the Constitution.
  George Washington, President and Deputy from Virginia.
  Delaware: George Read, Gunning Bedford, Jr., John Dickinson, Richard 
Bassett, Jacob Broom.
  Maryland: James McHenry, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, Daniel 
Carroll.
  Virginia: John Blair, James Madison, Jr.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I yield to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. King).
  Mr. KING of Iowa. North Carolina: William Blount, Richard Dobbs 
Spaight, Hugh Williamson.
  South Carolina: John Rutledge, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Charles 
Pinckney, Pierce Butler.
  Georgia: William Few, Abraham Baldwin.
  New Hampshire: John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman.
  Massachusetts: Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King.
  Connecticut: William Samuel Johnson, Roger Sherman.
  New York: Alexander Hamilton.
  New Jersey: William Livingston, David Brearley, William Paterson, 
Jonathan Dayton.
  Pennsylvania: Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Mifflin, Robert Morris, 
George Clymer, Thomas FitzSimons, Jared Ingersoll, James Wilson, 
Gouverneur Morris.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I yield to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Yoder).
  Mr. YODER. 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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I yield to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Barr).
  Mr. BARR. 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 offense to be twice put in jeopardy of 
life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a 
witness against himself; nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, 
without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for 
public use, without just compensation.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I yield to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. 
Meadows).
  Mr. MEADOWS. 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 
defense.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I yield to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. 
Esty).
  Ms. ESTY. 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 reexamined in any court of the 
United States, than according to the rules of the common law.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I yield to the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Pearce).
  Mr. PEARCE. 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. GOODLATTE. I yield to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Hurt).
  Mr. HURT. 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.''

                              {time}  1050

  Mr. GOODLATTE. I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Perry).
  Mr. PERRY. ``The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of 
the Senate and the 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 having such majority, then from 
the persons having the highest number 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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I yield to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. 
Pittenger).

[[Page 147]]


  Mr. PITTENGER. ``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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. It's my pleasure to yield to the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Lewis).
  Mr. LEWIS. 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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I yield to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Womack).
  Mr. WOMACK. 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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I yield to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Connolly).
  Mr. CONNOLLY. ``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 . . . ''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Ross).
  Mr. ROSS. `` . . . 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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Denham).
  Mr. DENHAM. ``But neither United States nor any State shall assume or 
pay any debtor obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion 
against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of 
any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held 
illegal and void.''
  Section 5:
  ``The Congress shall have 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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. It's now my pleasure to yield to the majority whip, 
the gentleman from California (Mr. McCarthy).
  Mr. McCARTHY of California. Section 2:
  ``The Congress shall have the 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.''
  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 . . . ''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I yield to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Lankford).
  Mr. LANKFORD. `` . . . 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 the power to enforce this article by 
appropriate legislation.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. 
Fleischmann).
  Mr. FLEISCHMANN. 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 3rd 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 3rd day of January, unless they 
shall by law appoint a different day.''

                              {time}  1100

  Mr. GOODLATTE. I yield to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-
Lehtinen).
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. 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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I yield to the gentlewoman from Indiana (Mrs. Brooks).
  Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana. Section 4:

[[Page 148]]

  ``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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I yield to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bonner).
  Mr. BONNER. 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:
  ``The 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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I am pleased to yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Gohmert).
  Mr. GOHMERT. 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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I yield to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Huelskamp).
  Mr. HUELSKAMP. 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 12th article of amendment.''
  Section 2:
  ``The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by 
appropriate legislation.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I yield to the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. 
Fortenberry).
  Mr. FORTENBERRY. 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.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I yield to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Delaney).
  Mr. DELANEY. Section 4:
  ``Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal 
officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress 
may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate 
and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written 
declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and 
duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the 
powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
  ``Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro 
tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives 
his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the 
powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a 
majority of either the principal officers of the executive department 
or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within 
four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of 
the House of Representatives their written declaration that the 
President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. 
Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within . . . ''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I yield to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Salmon).
  Mr. SALMON. `` . . . 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.''
  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.''

                              {time}  1110

  Section 2:
  ``The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by 
appropriate legislation.''
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I yield to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rodney 
Davis).
  Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. 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. GOODLATTE. That concludes the reading of the United States 
Constitution.
  I want to thank the gentlemen who arrived and were available, but we 
ran out of Constitution before we ran out of readers.

[[Page 149]]

  I want to thank the Speaker and all the Members who participated in 
this important reading.
  I yield back the balance of my time.

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