Semester 2 Week 14
Credit: Kami Harris
Black is the actual Constitution (Red is taken from Making of America by Cleon Skousen to help you understand what the Constitution means.)
Amendment XXIII
1: The District constituting the seat of government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as the 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. So that the people living in the District of Columbia, which is the seat of government, shall have the opportunity to vote for the President and Vice President of regular elections, the Congress shall provide for the appointment of electors numbering no more than the electors of the least populous state of the union, and the vote of these electors shall be counted as thought the District of Columbia were a state.
2: The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Amendment XXIV
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.
2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
This amendment gives every American who is otherwise eligible the right to vote, whether or not that person owes any taxes. History behind this amendment: Many poor Americans, were excluded from voting in certain states because they had to pay a poll tax (so much per person) before they could vote. Actually, the poll tax was a very small tax of one or two dollars to help pay the costs of the election. Nevertheless, it was sufficient to discourage many of the poor from voting.
Amendment XXV
1: In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President. Whenever a President dies, resigns, or is removed from office, the Vice President shall become President. If the office of Vice President becomes vacant, the President shall, with the approval of a majority of the House and the Senat, appoint a Vice President.
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.
3: Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore “for the time being” 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. This gives the President the right to relinquish his duties to the Vice President if he is disabled for any reason, and it also gives him the right to return to his duties should be consider himself capable of doing so.
Wikipedia.org: “President pro tempore of the senate is the second-highest-ranking official of the United States Senate and the highest-ranking Senator. The United States Constitution states that the Vice President of the United States is the President of the Senate and the highest-ranking official of the Senate even though he or she votes only in the case of a tie. During the Vice President's absence, the President pro tempore is the highest-ranking official in the Senate and may preside over its sessions. The President pro tempore is elected by the Senate and is customarily the most senior Senator in the majority party. Normally, neither the Vice President of the United States nor the President pro tempore presides; instead, the duty is generally delegated to the junior Senators of the majority party to help them learn parliamentary procedure.[4] The President pro tempore is third in the line of succession to the Presidency, after the Vice President of the United States and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.”
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. This provision gives the Vice President the right to take over the duties of acting President if a majority of the Cabinet agree with him that the President is incapable of discharging the duties of his office.
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. If the President feels he is still able to perform his duties, he shall advise the Speaker of the House and the president pro tempore of the Senate, but he may not resume his duties if the Vice President and a majority of the Cabinet still believe he is incapable of doing so and advise the same officials of the fact. If there is a dispute between the President and his Vice President as to the President’s ability to resume his office, it will be up to Congress to decide this issue. If the Congress is not in session, it must be recalled within forty-eight hours. The Congress will then have twenty-one days to reach a conclusion. Meanwhile, the Vice President shall continue to occupy the position of acting President. After an appropriate investigation, the Congress will then cast its vote and the President shall resume his office unless two-thirds of both houses vote against him.
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