Twenty-Seventh Amendment (1992)

No law varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.

The Twenty-Seventh Amendment was proposed as part of the original Bill of Rights, but it failed to be ratified. It was reintroduced in the early 1980s and was ratified in 1992. The Twenty-Seventh Amendment prohibited members of Congress from raising their salaries during their terms of service. Members of Congress cannot receive an increase in salary until after the next election.

This cartoon suggests that Congressmen are greedy, and therefore are prone give themselves pay raises at the expense of the rest of the citizens. The cartoon reemphasizes the need for the 27th Amendment. http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2009/12/24/congress-votes-themselves-pay-raise-in-2

The 27th Amendment restricts the ability for Congressmen to receive pay raises. In this video Florida Representative Vern Buchanan pushes for a bill that will prohibit Congressmen from receiving a pay increase until they balance the budget. This would place even more restrictions on the ability for Congressmen to receive pay raises.

Twenty-Sixth Amendment (1971)

Section 1. 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.

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

The Twenty-Sixth Amendment lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 in federal, state, and local elections. It also gave Congress the authority to enforce the amendment through legislation.

This 1969 New Jersey campaign poster was created in support of lowering the voting age from 21 to 18, paving the way for the drafting of the 26th Amendment. However, New Jersey was one of the states that did not vote to ratify the 26th Amendment. http://www2.scc.rutgers.edu/njh/1960/vote.php

This video is a clip from the 26th Amendment Certification Ceremony. President Nixon chooses three 18-year-olds to serve as witnesses to the certification of the 26th Amendment. He does this on purpose to celebrate what the 26th Amendment does.

Twenty-Fifth Amendment (1967)

Section 1. In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.
 
Section 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.
 
Section 3. Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore 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.
 
Section 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.
 
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.
 
The Twenty-Fifth Amendment outlined the presidential plan of succession.

The following image illustrates the first three persons in line for presidential succession after President Barack Obama, starting with Vice President Joe Biden to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to President Pro Tempore Daniel Inouye. http://www.aolnews.com/opinion/article/opinion-after-byrd-a-new-presidential-succession-plan-needed/19538649

This video comically gives account to the presidential line of succession if Bush were to have become incapacitated.



Twenty-Fourth Amendment (1964)

Section 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.

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

The Twenty-Fourth Amendment got rid of the poll tax. It also gave Congress the authority to enforce the amendment through legislation. 

This cartoon illustrates the terribly constraining effects of the poll tax on citizens' ability to vote for change. http://bvapush.pbworks.com/w/page/4313391/Amendment-24 

This video recounts the history behind the ratification of the 24th Amendment. This video highlights the voting disparities between the wealthy and the poor. I enjoyed the accompanying music very much.

Twenty-Third Amendment (1961)

Section 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.

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

The Twenty-Third Amendment amended Article 2, Section 2 of the Constitution. It gave the District of Columbia electors. It also gave Congress the authority to enforce the amendment through legislation.

The following picture shows what life was like in Washington D.C. before the Twenty-Third Amendment. http://www.livinginaperfectworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/23rd-amendment.jpg

Although the 23rd Amendment gave D.C. the right to vote for President and Vice President, it did not give D.C. represenation in Congress. This video is fighting for D.C.'s right to representation in Congress.



Twenty-Second Amendment (1951)

Section 1. 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 the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President, when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.

Section 2. 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 several States within seven years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress.

The Twenty-Second Amendment set presidential term limits at two terms.

There have been many attempts since the ratification of the 22nd Amendment to repeal it. This web page lists the many attempts to either repeal or restructure the 22nd Amendment during the last 20 years. http://theconservativist.com/tag/22nd-amendment/

This video recounts the history behind the ratification of the 22nd Amendment. It talks about how President George Washington set the ground for the custom of presidents serving two terms until being challenged by President Grant and President Roosevelt. The 22nd Amendment was created to prevent this from happening again.

Twenty-First Amendment (1933)

Section 1. The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.

Section 2. The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.

Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

The Twenty-First Amendment repealed the Eighteenth Amendment, ending the Prohibition. The Twenty-First Amendment returned the regulation of alcohol to the states. The Twenty-First Amendment was the only amendment ratified by conventions rather than legislatures.  

The following photograph shows the excitement experienced after the repeal of the 21st Amendment!
http://www.albany.edu/~wm731882/21st_amendment_final.html

This video illustrates the rejuvenation of the liquor industry after the repeal of the 18th Amendment by the 21st. The Prohibition had been a major blow to the alcohol industry and the nation's economy.