No person
shall be a Senator
or Representative
in Congress,
or elector
of President
and Vice-President,
or hold any office,
civil or military,
under the United States,
or under any State,
who,
having previously
taken an oath,
as a member
of Congress,
or as an officer
of the United States,
or as a member
of any State legislature,
or as an executive
or judicial officer
of any State,
to support
the Constitution
of the United States,
shall have engaged
in insurrection
or rebellion
against the same,
or given aid or comfort
to the enemies thereof.
But Congress may
by a vote
of two-thirds
of each House,
remove such disability.
The validity
of the public debt
of the United States,
authorized by law,
including debts
incurred
for payment
of pensions and bounties
for services
in suppressing insurrection
or rebellion,
shall not be questioned.
But neither
the United States
nor any State
shall assume
or pay any debt
or obligation incurred
in aid
of insurrection
or rebellion
against the United States,
or any claim
for the loss
or emancipation
of any slave;
but all such debts,
obligations
and claims
shall be held
illegal and void.
The Congress
shall have power
to enforce,
by appropriate legislation,
the provisions
of this article.
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,
or previous condition
of servitude.
The Congress
shall have power
to enforce this article
by appropriate legislation.
[Proposed by Congress
on July 2, 1909;
declared ratified
on February 25, 1913.]
[Authorizing Income Taxes]
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.
AMENDMENT XVII
[Proposed by Congress
on May 13, 1912;
declared ratified
on May 31, 1913.]
[Popular Election of Senators]
The Senate
of the United States
shall be composed
of two Senators
from each State,
elected
by the people thereof,
for six years;
and each Senator
shall have one vote.
The electors
in each State
shall have
the qualifications requisite
for electors
of the most numerous branch
of the State legislatures.
When vacancies
happen
in the representation
of any State
in the Senate,
the executive authority
of such State
shall issue
writs of election
to fill such vacancies:
Provided,
That the legislature
of any State
may empower
the executive thereof
to make
temporary appointments
until the people
fill the vacancies
by election
as the legislature
may direct.
This amendment
shall not be
so construed
as to affect the election
or term
of any Senator chosen
before it becomes valid
as part
of the Constitution.
After one year
from the ratification
of this article
the manufacture,
sale,
or transportation
of intoxicating liquors
within,
the importation
thereof into,
or the exportation
thereof
from the United States
and all territory
subject to
the jurisdiction thereof
for beverage purposes
is hereby prohibited.
The Congress
and the several States
shall have
concurrent power
to enforce this article
by appropriate legislation.
This article
shall be inoperative
unless it
shall have been ratified
as an amendment
to the Constitution
by the legislatures
of the several States,
as provided
in the Constitution,
within seven years
from the date
of the submission
hereof to the States
by the Congress.1
[1. Repealed by the Twenty-first Amendment.]