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09/01/2004: The following is the only responsibility elected officials in the United States pledge to protect and defend against all enemies foreign and domestic, including themselves. During the past fifty years, but most pronounced within the past three, this is one thing our elected officials in both parties have destroyed. It is the definition of freedom and what it means to be American.
It defines who we are.As of January 2004, the United States moved from a republic as defined in our constitution to achieving all 14 points of fascism. Each of these points counters everything the American values defined and agreed upon in the drafting of the US Constitution represent. For the sake of our nation, please, if you love freedom and the United States devote five minutes of your time and reacquaint yourself with the values that define America and
measure our actions, policies and objectives against this incredible document. This is who we are. This is what America is supposed to be about. Today it is what we say, but according to our policies and actions, it is not what we do. Thank you for caring.
Thank you for giving your time to review this.
--Laura Dawn Lewis, CEO, Couples Company
THE UNITED STATES
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.
Article. I.
Establishment of Congress
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. TOP
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 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. TOP
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 choose 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.
TOP
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. TOP
Clause 5: 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.
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
choosing Senators.
TOP
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 Behavior, and,
with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member.
TOP
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, 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.
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 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. TOP
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.
TOP
Section. 8 (Congress' Power: Money
and
Defense).
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
Defense 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;
TOP
Clause 7: To establish Post Offices and post Roads;
Clause 8: (Patents & Copyrights) 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 Marquee 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; TOP
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, 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,
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.
TOP
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.
TOP
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.
TOP
Section. 10.
Clause 1: No State
shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant
Letters of Marquee 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 Control of the Congress.
TOP
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.
Article. II.
(Office of the President)
Section. 1.
Clause 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
TOP
Clause 2: 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.
Clause 3: The Electors shall meet in their respective States,
and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall
not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they
shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the
Number of Votes for each; which List 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. The
President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and
House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the
Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest
Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a
Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there
be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal
Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall
immediately choose by Ballot one of them for President; and if
no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the
List the said House shall in like Manner choose 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. In every Case, after the Choice
of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes
of the Electors shall be the Vice President.
But if there
should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall
choose from them by Ballot the Vice President.
Clause 4: 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.
TOP
Clause 5: 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.
Clause 6: In Case of the Removal
of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or
Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office,
the Same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress
may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation
or Inability, both of the President and Vice President,
declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such
Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed,
or a President shall be elected.
TOP
Clause 7: 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.
Clause 8: 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."
Section. 2.
Clause 1: 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 relating to
the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power
to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United
States, except in Cases of Impeachment.
TOP
Clause 2: 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.
Clause 3: 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.
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; 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.
TOP
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.
The Judicial System
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.
TOP
Section. 2.
Clause 1: 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 a State and Citizens of
another State;--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.
Clause 2: 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.
Clause 3: 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.
TOP
Section. 3.
(TREASON)
Clause 1: 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.
Clause 2: 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.
Rights of the States
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.
Clause 1: The
Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and
Immunities of Citizens in the several States.
Clause 2: 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.
TOP
Clause 3: No Person held to Service or Labor in one State,
under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in
Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from
such Service or Labor, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the
Party to whom such Service or Labor may be due.
Section. 3.
Clause 1: 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.
Clause 2: 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.
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.
TOP
Article. V.
Additions to the Constitution
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.
Article. VI.
Clause 1: 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. TOP
Clause 2: 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, any Thing in the
Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary
notwithstanding.
Clause 3: 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.
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,
Signatures |