AMENDMENT TO CONSTITUTION RELATING TO ELECTION OF PRESIDENT, ETC. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1931 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, The committee met at 10.30; the Hon. Bertrand H. Snell, chairman, presiding. The CHAIRMAN. The committee will now take up the consideration of House Joint Resolution 292, and we will hear from Mr. Gifford. [H. J. Res. 292, Seventy-first Congress, second session] JOINT RESOLUTION Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), That the following article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States: "ARTICLE "SECTION 1. The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 24th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 4th 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. "SEC. 2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall be on the 4th day of January unless they shall by law appoint a different day. "SEC. 3. If the President elect dies, then the Vice President elect shall become President. If a President is not chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect fails to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President has qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case where neither a President elect nor a Vice President elect has qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which a qualified person shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President has qualified. "SEC. 4. 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 devolves 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 devolves upon them. "SEC. 5. Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 30th day of November of the year following the year in which this article is ratified. "SEC. 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 States within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress, and the act of ratification shall be by legislatures, the entire membership of at least one branch of which shall have been elected subsequent to such date of submission." 1 House Report No. 1105, Seventy-first Congress, Second Session PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 8, 1930.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed Mr. GIFFORD, from the Committee on Election of President, Vice President, and Representatives in Congress, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. J. Res. 292] The Committee on Election of President, Vice President, and Representatives in Congress, having had under consideration House Joint Resolution 292, proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, report it back to the House and recommend that the joint resolution do pass. For purposes of convenient reference, the applicable provisions of the Constitution and of various statutes are printed as an appendix to the report. [H. J. Res. 292, Seventy-first Congress, second session] JOINT RESOLUTION Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the Upited States Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thiras of each House concurring therein), That the following article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States: "ARTICLE "SECTION 1. The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 24th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 4th 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. "SEC. 2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall be on the 4th day of January unless they shall by law appoint a different day. "SEC. 3. If the President elect dies, then Vice President elect shall become President. If a President is not chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect fails to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President has qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case where neither a President elect nor a Vice President |