[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 93 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. CON. RES. 93
Finding that the January 6, 2021, attack on the United States Capitol
Complex and the corresponding attempt to bypass constitutional order
and obstruct through corrupt means the counting of certified electoral
votes of the several States under section 15 of title 3, United States
Code, on January 6, 2021, with intent to displace the lawfully elected
President of the United States or thwart the will of the majority of
electors, constitute an insurrection against the United States, and
that any person who participated in the attack, or conspired or
attempted to bypass constitutional order and obstruct through corrupt
means the counting of certified electoral votes of the several States
under section 15 of title 3, United States Code, on January 6, 2021,
with intent to displace the lawfully elected President of the United
States or thwart the will of the majority of electors, is deemed to
have engaged in an insurrection in violation of section 3 of the 14th
Amendment to the Constitution.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 27, 2022
Ms. Wasserman Schultz (for herself and Mr. Raskin) submitted the
following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on
the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Finding that the January 6, 2021, attack on the United States Capitol
Complex and the corresponding attempt to bypass constitutional order
and obstruct through corrupt means the counting of certified electoral
votes of the several States under section 15 of title 3, United States
Code, on January 6, 2021, with intent to displace the lawfully elected
President of the United States or thwart the will of the majority of
electors, constitute an insurrection against the United States, and
that any person who participated in the attack, or conspired or
attempted to bypass constitutional order and obstruct through corrupt
means the counting of certified electoral votes of the several States
under section 15 of title 3, United States Code, on January 6, 2021,
with intent to displace the lawfully elected President of the United
States or thwart the will of the majority of electors, is deemed to
have engaged in an insurrection in violation of section 3 of the 14th
Amendment to the Constitution.
Whereas section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution states ``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.'';
Whereas the 14th Amendment, ratified following the Civil War, included section
3, which originally was intended to address insurrection against the
United States by, among other things, preventing those who joined the
Confederacy from holding future State or Federal office;
Whereas the language of section 3 of the 14th Amendment, and subsequent
congressional actions and judicial decisions, all uniformly establish
that disqualification from holding future Federal or State office is
applicable to covered persons who participate in any and all future
rebellions or insurrections, and not merely covered persons who joined
the Confederacy;
Whereas invoking section 3 of the 14th Amendment does not impose criminal
punishment, but merely acts to ensure that those entrusted with public
office have not acted dangerously towards the Union in the past by
previously participating in an insurrection against the United States,
as was stated by Senator Waitman T. Willey from West Virginia during the
debate on ratifying the 14th Amendment, the ban on office holding is not
``penal in its character, it is precautionary'';
Whereas Congress has broad authority under article I, section 8 of the
Constitution to protect the functions of the government and has
authority to pass appropriate resolutions to enforce section 3 of the
14th Amendment, following the decisive precedent established by Congress
in 1869 when it invoked section 3 through a Joint Resolution in 1869
ordering the removal of civil officeholders who had not received amnesty
from Congress;
Whereas Congress previously passed the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 which, among
other things, enforced section 3 of the 14th Amendment by giving
priority to civil actions seeking to remove ineligible officials and
imposing criminal penalties for knowing violations of this
constitutional provision; and
Whereas the framers of the 14th Amendment intended that ``office, civil or
military, under the United States'' include the Office of the President
and Vice President, and the term ``officer of the United States''
include the President and Vice President: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
That based on the foregoing, Congress declares that--
(1) any person who participated in the attack on the United
States Capitol Complex on January 6, 2021, is deemed to have
engaged in an insurrection in violation of section 3 of the
14th Amendment to the Constitution;
(2) any person who conspired or attempted to bypass
constitutional order and obstruct through corrupt means the
counting of certified electoral votes of the several States
under section 15 of title 3, United States Code, on January 6,
2021, with intent to displace the lawfully elected President of
the United States or thwart the will of the majority of
electors, is deemed to have engaged in insurrection in
violation of section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the
Constitution; and
(3) therefore, pursuant to section 3 of the 14th Amendment
to the Constitution of the United States, any person described
in paragraph (1) or (2) is disqualified from being a Senator or
Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice
President, or holding any office, civil or military, under the
United States, or under any State.
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