Age of Representatives

First of all, Happy Presidents Day to all of you! One of my nephews sent me an email, reminding that I have a family connection with Abraham Lincoln. If you want to know what that connection is, please return to my post on Lincoln. Thanks, Larry, for the reminder! The thirteenth provision of the United States Constitution is found in Article I.2.2: "In order to be a member of the House of Representatives, a person must have reached twenty-five years of age by the time he is sworn into office." This means that Americans have the Right to be represented by a person who is at least twenty-five years old. The age of twenty-five was selected arbitrarily. Most of those men attending the Constitutional Convention were younger men who apparently thought that twenty-five was an adequate age. This provision means to me that the Founders thought it was important to clearly define who could run for the office and who could not. Parents could teach this provision by mentioning other activities that take place at a certain age, such as the age to start school, the age to be baptized, the age to obtain a driver's license, and the age to vote. It is obvious that we need to reach a certain age in order to be physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually mature to do certain tasks.