We the people of the United States, in order to form a more
perfect union,
establish justice, assure domestic tranquility,
provide for the common security,
promote the general welfare,
and secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and
our posterity,
do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States
of America.
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 435 members
apportioned
by population and elected to terms of two years in
even-numbered years
by the people of the several states and the
District of Columbia.
The Congress and the President may agree to admit what was the District of Columbia
as a state with the approval of the residents of the District and to decide on its name.
Puerto Rico may also become a state.
Each Representative shall have one vote and must be at least
twenty-five years of age,
must have been a citizen of the United
States for at least ten years, and when elected,
must be an inhabitant
of that state represented.
When vacancies happen in the representation from any state,
elections shall be held to fill such vacancies.
The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and
other officers,
and the House of Representatives shall have the
sole power of impeachment.
Section 3
The Senate of the United States may be revised so that the number of Senators
reflects the population of each state.
Each Senator shall have one vote and must be at least thirty
years of age,
must have been a citizen of the United States for
at least fifteen years,
and when elected, must be an inhabitant
of one of those states
(or the District of Columbia of Puerto Rico if it becomes a state).
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 or
she 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;
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 person convicted shall nevertheless
be liable
and subject
to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment according to law.
Section 4
General elections for all Representatives shall be held on
the first Wednesday
of November in even-numbered years and for
all Senators in even-numbered years
that are not divisible by
four.
Representatives shall be elected by district with ranked choice
voting using
first, second, and third choices in both the primary
and general elections.
As candidates with the least number of
votes are eliminated,
the second (and if necessary the third)
choices of those voters shall take effect
until one candidate
has more votes than all the remaining candidates.
In an open primary all candidates running for an office
are together and can indicate their party.
In the open primary the three top vote getters move on to the final election
which is also determined by ranked choice voting.
This system challenges the domination by the two biggest parties
because ranked choice voting means the
voter is not stuck with a choice between the lesser of two evils.
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, discipline
its members
for disorderly behavior and with the concurrence of
two thirds may expel
a member for a felony conviction or a serious
ethical violation.
Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings and from
time to time publish the same;
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 in 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 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.
No Senator or Representative shall during the time for which
he or she
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; no person holding any office under the United States
shall
be a member of either house during his or her continuance in office.
Section 7
All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House
of Representatives,
and 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 becomes a law, be presented to
the President of the United States.
If he or she approves, he
or she shall sign it;
but if not, he or she shall return it with
his or her objections to that House in which
it shall have originated
and which shall enter the objections at large in 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 it is 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
in 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 or her, the
same shall be a law,
in like manner as if he or she 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 her, or being disapproved by him or her,
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 the following powers:
to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay
the debts and provide
for the security 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, among the several
states,
and with the Indian nations;
to establish a 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 provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws
of the union,
suppress insurrections and repel invasions;
to provide for organizing, equipping, 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
the District of Columbia
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 needed 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.
Section 9
The immigration of persons any of the states shall think proper
to admit
shall not be prohibited by the Congress.
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.
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;
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.
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 or she shall hold this office during the
term of four years and together with the
Vice President, chosen
for the same term, be elected in years divisible by four
by a
majority of all the citizens in the United States using ranked choice voting in
both the primary and general elections as described
in Article I Section 4.
All persons who are at least thirty-five years of age and have
been citizens
for at least twenty years shall be eligible for
the office of President.
The Administrators of the fifteen executive departments of
the United States of America
shall be elected by a majority of
all the citizens in the United States
using ranked choice voting
in both the primary and general elections.
In the first election after the ratification of this
Constitution the Administrators
of all fifteen departments shall
be elected.
The first Administrators of the departments of Agriculture,
Commerce, Communication,
Education, and Energy shall serve for
two years;
the first Administrators of the departments of Environment,
Health, Housing & Welfare
Justice, and Labor shall serve
for four years;
and the first Administrators of the departments
of Science & Technology, Security,
State, Transportation,
and Treasury shall serve for six years.
In each succeeding election
one third of the Administrators
shall be elected to terms of six
years.
Administrators must be at least thirty years of age
and
must have been citizens for at least ten years.
In case of the removal of the President from office or of his
or her death or resignation,
the Vice President shall become President.
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.
Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore
of the Senate
and the Speaker of the House of Representatives
his or her written declaration
that he or she is unable to discharge
the powers and duties of this office,
and until he or she transmits
to them a written declaration to the contrary,
such powers and
duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.
Whenever the Vice President and a majority of the Administrators
of the executive departments 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 this office,
the Vice President shall
immediately assume the powers
and duties of the office as Acting
President.
Thereafter, the Congress shall determine by two-thirds vote
of both houses
if and when the President shall resume the powers
and duties of this office.
The President, Vice President, and Administrators shall receive
compensation,
which shall neither be increased nor diminished
during the period for which
they shall have been elected, and
they shall not receive within that period
any other emolument
from the United States or any of the states.
Before entering on the execution of their offices, the President,
Vice President,
and Administrators shall take the following oath
or affirmation:
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will
faithfully execute the office to which
I have been elected and
will to the best of my ability preserve,
protect and defend the
Constitution of the United States.”
The terms of the elected President, Vice President, Administrators,
Senators
and Representatives shall begin at noon on January 3
following their election.
Section 2
The President shall be the chief executive officer of the United
States and of the militia
of the several states when called into
the actual service of the United States.
The President may require the opinion in writing of the Administrator
in each of the
executive departments upon any subject relating
to the duties of their respective offices.
The President shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons
for offenses
against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.
The President shall have power by and with the advice and consent
of the Senate
to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators
present concur.
The President shall nominate and by and with the advice and
consent of at least
three-fifths 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 Administrators 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 one month after the end of their recess.
Section 3
The President shall from time to time give to the Congress
information of the state
of the union and recommend for their
consideration such measures as he or she
shall judge necessary
and expedient; he or she 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 or she may adjourn
them
to such time as he or she shall think proper.
The President shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers.
The President 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, Administrators, 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,
three appellate courts in each of the five
regions and in at least one district court
in each state as the
Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.
The judges
of the Supreme Court, the fifteen appellate courts, and the district
courts
shall hold their offices during good behavior for ten years,
after which time
they may be appointed again, and they shall receive
for their services 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;
and 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.
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 or in adhering to the
enemies of the United States.
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.
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 and the District of Columbia 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 or she 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 shall 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;
nothing in this Constitution shall
be so construed as to prejudice any claims
of the United States
or of any particular state.
The United States shall not possess nor occupy any territory
that is not a part of one of the United States or the District
of Columbia.
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 a majority vote
of the citizens
in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode
of ratification
may be proposed by the Congress.
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 previous Constitution.
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, anything in the constitution
or laws of any state
to the contrary notwithstanding.
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, 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.
Article VII
Section 1
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.
No soldier shall be quartered in any house without consent of the owner.
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.
No person shall be held to answer for a felony unless on a
presentment or indictment
of a grand jury; nor shall any person
be subject for the same offense
to be twice put in jeopardy of
life or limb; nor shall any person be compelled
in any criminal
case to be a witness against oneself, nor be deprived of life,
liberty,
or property without due process of law; nor shall private
property be taken
or public use without just compensation.
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 one;
to have compulsory process for
obtaining witnesses in one’s favor,
and to have the assistance
of counsel for one’s defense.
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall
exceed one thousand 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.
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed,
nor capital, cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall
not be construed
to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
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.
Section 2
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist within the United States.
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.
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, sex, religion,
political association,
sexual orientation, or previous condition.
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.
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 President more than once.
The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary
or other election for
President and Vice President or Administrators
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 poll tax or other tax.
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.
No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators
and Representatives,
shall take effect, until an election of representatives
shall have intervened.
Section 3
The right of citizens of the United States to attend free public
schools
and use free public libraries shall not be denied
or abridged
by the United States or by any state.
The right of citizens of the United States to receive free
health care shall not be denied
or abridged by the United States
or by any state,
and Congress shall make no law interfering with
a patient’s right
to be treated by a physician.
Those serving in the offices of President, Administrator, Senator,
Representative,
and Judge shall not receive any other income during
their term of public service.
The election campaigns of candidates for the offices of President,
Administrator,
Senator, and Representative shall be publicly financed.
Citizens may also contribute up to one hundred dollars to one
candidate in each office
for which they are qualified to vote
during each primary and general election.
No other person, group,
organization, or business may contribute
to any election campaign for any of these offices.
The contributions from citizens not
spent by the campaign by the primary or general election
day shall
go into the Treasury of the United States,
which shall finance
the debates broadcast for each office and for the sample ballots
mailed
to the voters that shall give equal time and space to all
candidates on the ballots.
Whenever and wherever primary or general
elections for officers of the United States
are held, that day
shall be a federal holiday.
Article VIII
The ratification by the legislatures of three fourths of the
several states
or by a majority vote of the citizens in three
fourths of the several states shall be
sufficient for the establishment
of this Constitution between the states so ratifying the same.
This text has been published in the book
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Global Emergency
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Disarming Weapons of War
Creating Global Democracy
Reforming the US Constitution
Restoring Justice
Sustainable Economics
Freeing Communication
Spiritual Awakening
Nonviolent Strategies
Appendix:
Global Disarmament Treaty (first draft by Beck)
Constitution of the United Nations Democracy (first draft by Beck)
Constitution of the United States Revised (first draft by Beck)