Article I of the U.S. Constitution
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
Clause 1. 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.
Clause 2. 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.
Clause 3. Representatives and direct Taxes shall be
apportioned among the several States which may be included
within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which
shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free
Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years,
and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other
Persons. 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.
Clause 4. When vacancies happen in the Representation
from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue
Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.
Clause 5. The House of Representatives shall chuse
their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power
of Impeachment.
Section 3
Clause 1. The Senate of the United States shall be
composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the
Legislature thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall have
one Vote.
Clause 2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in
Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as
equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators
of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the
second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth
Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth
Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year; and if
Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess
of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make
temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of the
Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies.
Clause 3. 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.
Clause 4. The Vice President of the United States
shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless
they be equally divided.
Clause 5. 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.
Clause 6. 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.
Clause 7. 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
Clause 1. 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.
Clause 2. 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
Clause 1. 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.
Clause 2. 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.
Clause 3. 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.
Clause 4. 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
Clause 1. 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, beprivileged 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.
Clause 2. 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.
Section 7
Clause 1. 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.
Clause 2. Every Bill which shall have passed the House
of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a
Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he
approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with
his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated,
who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and
proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two
thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be
sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which
it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds
of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the
Votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and Nays, and
the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall
be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any
Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days
(Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him,
the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it,
unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in
which Case it shall not be a Law.
Clause 3. 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
Clause 1. 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;
Clause 2. To borrow Money on the credit of the United
States;
Clause 3. To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations,
and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;
Clause 4. To establish an uniform Rule of
Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies
throughout the United States;
Clause 5. To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof,
and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and
Measures;
Clause 6. To provide for the Punishment of
counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United
States;
Clause 7. To establish Post Offices and post Roads;
Clause 8. 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;
Clause 9. To constitute Tribunals inferior to the
supreme Court;
Clause 10. To define and punish Piracies and Felonies
committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of
Nations;
Clause 11. To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and
Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
Clause 12. To raise and support Armies, but no
Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term
than two Years;
Clause 13. To provide and maintain a Navy;
Clause 14. To make Rules for the Government and
Regulation of the land and naval Forces;
Clause 15. To provide for calling forth the Militia to
execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel
Invasions;
Clause 16. 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;
Clause 17. To exercise exclusive Legislation in all
Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles
square) as may, byCession 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
Clause 18. 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.
Section 9
Clause 1. 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.
Clause 2. 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.
Clause 3. No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law
shall be passed.
Clause 4. No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be
laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein
before directed to be taken.
Clause 5. No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles
exported from any State.
Clause 6. 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.
Clause 7. 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.
Clause 8. 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
Clause 1. 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.
Clause 2. 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.
Clause 3. 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.
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