Determine Own Rules

The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday comes from Article I.5.2: “The House and the Senate shall each determine the rules and proceedings by which it will carry out its responsibilities.” This principle sets forth the right of the House and the Senate to be independent from each other in how they perform their duties.

Under this provision either chamber may criticize the rules of procedure in the other chamber but neither has power to do anything about it. One such difference in rules is that the members of the Senate can filibuster but members of the House cannot.

Majority Required

The topic for this Constitution Monday comes from Article I.5.1: “A majority of the Senate and a majority of the House of Representatives shall be required in order to constitute a quorum to do the business of these houses.” This principle gives the people the Right to have laws passed by a majority of their representatives. This provision prevents small groups of Senators or Representatives taking over and passing laws.

The Founders knew that a requirement for the attendance of the whole body of Senators or Representatives would present the situation where the non-attendance of a few people could prevent the completion of a particular business. They wanted the business of the people to be performed by a quorum of the majority of their representatives without transferring power to a minority.

Sole Judge

The principle for discussion for this Constitution Monday comes from Article I.5.1: “Each House shall be the sole judge of whether or not an elected Senator or Representative has the required qualifications.” This principle provides both the Senate and the House the right and the responsibility to question the qualifications of the people who go to Washington to represent the states.

It is not a common occurrence for either the Senate or the House to refuse to seat elected representatives, but there have been a few instances. A Wisconsin socialist named Victor L. Berger was refused a seat in the House in 1919 because he had agitated against the United States participating in World War I. The House also refused to seat Adam Clayton Powell in 1967 because of “gross misconduct,” but the House was later overruled by the Supreme Court on this action. Frank Smith of Illinois was refused a seat in 1928 because part of the donations for his campaign came from a questionable source.

Credentials

The principle for discussion on this Constitution Monday comes from Article I.5.1: “The Senate and the House of Representatives shall each judge and determine whether or not its members have been properly elected to represent their respective constituencies.” This principle protects the integrity of the Senate and House of Representatives by giving the members of each body the Right to determine the credentials of their fellow members.

The House or Senate assumes its constitutional role of judging whenever a member is suspected of being elected illegally. Congress can issue a subpoena to compel a witness to appear before them or warrants for arrest of witnesses who are hostile and don’t respond to a subpoena.

The House or Senate retains the authority to investigate irregularities or illegal election procedures even if they refuse to allow a newly elected member to take the oath of office. Any state that allows a Senator or Representative to be elected illegally has no right to claim they are not being represented equally.

Two-Thirds

The principle for discussion on this Constitution Monday comes from Article I.3.6, "No members of the judiciary or the executive branch of government shall be convicted of impeachment charges unless there is a concurrence by two-thirds of the members of the Senate in attendance." This principle gives the accused person the right to protection from partisan politics because it requires the attendance of a substantial majority of the Senate.

Because there are currently 100 members of the Senate, a quorum could be constituted with 51 Senators in attendance. Two-thirds of 51 would be 34 so a President or any other executive or judicial officer could be impeached by a relatively small number of Senators. In reality, impeachment proceedings are so rare that there are usually plenty of Senators in attendance to provide for fairness. If all 100 Senators were in attendance at the proceedings, 67 would need to vote for conviction.

Impeachment of President

The principle for discussion on this Constitution Monday comes from Article I.3.6, "If impeachment charges should be lodged against the President of the United States, the Chief Justice shall preside over the Senate during the impeachment hearing."
This principle gives the President the right to be judged by the highest judicial officer in the nation. It also gives the people of the nation the right to have someone besides the Vice President preside at the hearing.

Under Oath

The principle for discussion for this Constitution Monday comes from Article I.3.6: "When the Senate is sitting in its judicial capacity to try impeachment cases, all members of the Senate must be placed under oath or affirmation to perform their duty honestly and with due diligence." This provision was placed in the Constitution for the specific purpose of ensuring a fair and honest trial. The requirement for the entire Senate to be placed under oath was put in place to make sure that each Senator understood the sacred responsibility he was assuming before fellow Senators, the nation, and God to make sure that the trial would be fair and just.

Impeachment

The principle for discussion on this Constitution Monday comes from Article I.3.6: "The Senate shall have the exclusive power to hear impeachment proceedings which the House of Representatives has brought against any judge or executive official of the government." After the House of Representatives votes to impeach, the Senate then holds a trial to decide whether or not a member of the executive or judicial branch of the government should be removed from office. This responsibility is given to the Senate because Senators are not in office for life and a large number of Senators could be free from influence from a President. Senators are also given this responsibility to remove judges from office because they are part of the procedure of appointing judges. The Chief Justice was selected as the one to preside over a trial of the President because a Vice President would have too much to gain from the removal of the President and might unduly influence the Senators. The Founders also thought it would be improper for the Supreme Court to have the responsibility to impeach a President because the justices are appointed by the President. The threat of impeachment, trial, and removal from office upon conviction of treason, bribery, or other serious crimes keeps the President and other members of the executive and judicial branches under scrutiny.

Alaskan Politics

Alaskan politics made national news this past week when Joe Miller, a little-known, courageous conservative, received more votes than Senator Lisa Murkowski in the Republican primary election. Miller has an awesome resume that includes being a combat veteran and former federal judge. With 99 percent of the precincts reporting, Miller was miraculously ahead of Murkowski 51-49 percent on election night. Thousands of absentee ballots were counted today, closing the gap between Miller and Murkowski a little but leaving Miller too far ahead to catch. Murkowski conceded the election tonight. I think that I can safely say that Murkowski was blindsided by Miller because recent polls had her leading Miller by 30 percent. Few people really expected Miller to win, but he kept quietly working to win the nomination and pulled out a victory. Senator Jim DeMint wrote, "Despite what the liberal media and Washington establishment may say about Joe Miller, he is a rock-solid conservative who believes in balanced budgets, constitutional limits, and individual liberty…. Joe Miller supports a Balanced Budget Amendment, he opposes earmarks, he opposes corporate bailouts, he will fight against amnesty, he's pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, and will be a breath of fresh air in a Senate that is filled with career politicians who go along to get along." Alaskans, like most Americans, recognize that something needs to be done to change the course of our nation, but I personally had to seriously consider the two candidates before deciding how to vote. I then sought confirmation from God if my decision was the right one. I don't think that I would have been too upset by a Murkowski win, but I decided to vote for Miller because he was the more conservative of the two. I know that our leaders in Washington need to start making difficult decisions with wisdom in order to bring the spending under control, and I think Miller is more capable of the hard votes than Murkowski is. I believe that Miller's win should be a wake-up call to Republicans: Even though Alaska's Congressmen have brought home much pork over the years, Alaskans understand that we can't bankrupt the country to benefit ourselves. I also believe that Miller's win should be a wake-up call to all Alaskans: Only those who vote have the power to decide who our representatives will be. About 27 percent of registered Alaskan voters bothered to go to the polls to vote, and they were probably the more conservative voters. There was a proposition about abortion on the ballot with the conservative side being just a little ahead of the more liberal side. If you didn't bother to vote, you have no room to complain about the results! Joe Miller has been endorsed by the Senate Conservatives Fund organized by Senator DeMint as well as the Tea Party Express.

Choose Own Leaders

The principle for this Constitution Monday is found in Article I.3.5: "The Senate shall choose its own clerks, sergeant at arms, and all other officers needed to function effectively." The Founders provided the Senate the right to conduct its business in independence from any other government office. The main officers in the Senate include: 1) The President Pro Tempore or president for the time being. This officer is always a leader from the majority party and is elected by Senators to preside when the Vice President is not in attendance. 2) The Committee Chairmen are chosen from the party in the majority by seniority; they have important roles in the process of legislation. 3) The Floor Leaders are the real leaders of the Senate and are chosen by each party. They are chosen in caucus meetings. Their job is to keep their members organized and in harmony with the party position. Other duties include scheduling legislation, handling information, promoting regular attendance, and being a liaison between the Senate and the White House. 4) Party Whips are assistants to the Floor Leaders. 5) The Secretary of the Senate administers oaths of office, keeps the Senate Seal, keeps record of legislative bills and certifies their passage. Other officers are the Sergeant at Arms, secretaries to both the majority and minority leaders, Chaplain of the Senate, the Parliamentarian, and the Senate pages.

Vice President Presides

The principle for this Constitution Monday is found in Article I.3.4, "The Vice President shall serve as the presiding officer over the Senate." A Vice President is elected to serve all the people and has the responsibility under this provision to preside over the Senators who represent individual states. The Vice President is the only federal officer whose duties are in both the legislative and the executive branches. With the responsibility to preside over the Senate, the Vice President has a specific duty to perform. The Vice President cannot take part in any debate or vote except to break a tie.

Nine Years

The principle for this Constitution Monday is found in Article I.3.3, "A Senator must have been a citizen of the United States for at least nine years." This provision set forth the requirement that any person being elected to be a Senator must have lived in the United States for at least nine years. Most of the Founders had strong opinions about who should hold the power to make treaties and manage foreign affairs. They wanted to be sure that all Senators were free of foreign attachments and would work for the good of the United States of America.

One Vote

The principle for this Constitution Monday is from Article I.3.1 and is that each Senator shall have one vote. This principle means that each Senator has the right to reach his/her own conclusion on any given issue and can vote independently of the other Senator from that state. This principle also gives the people of any state the right and opportunity to know how each Senator voted on a given issue. This principle is different from the original Continental Congress. In that Congress, each state had a vote, and all the delegates from that particular state had to decide how their state would vote, and there was no official record kept of how each Senator voted. The writers of our Constitution wanted each Senator or Congressmen to have a separate vote and to thus fix responsibility for the vote. A politician's voting record is important, especially when reelection time comes around.

Two Legislative Bodies

Provision 9 of the United States Constitution, from Article I.1.1, is "The Congress shall consist of two separate legislative bodies - one to be called a Senate and the other to be called a House of Representatives." American citizens have a Right to be subject only to laws approved by both houses of Congress. There was a huge debate at the Constitutional Convention over the best method for representation. Under the Articles of Confederation, each state sent delegates to the House of Representatives, but there was no upper house or senate. Most of the states had both an upper house and a lower house in their state legislatures at the time of the convention. After much debate about how Congress should be organized, a compromise was reached to have both an upper house and a lower house in the national government. The lower house or House of Representatives would represent the population with the number of representatives from each state being determined by the number of citizens in the state and the states divided into congressional districts. Representatives would be selected by popular vote and would represent the people who elected them. The upper house or Senate would be comprised of equal representation (two senators) from each state. The senators were to be appointed by their respective state legislatures and would represent their state and insure that the state's rights and interests were protected. After the Seventeenth Amendment was adopted in 1913, Senators were also elected by popular vote just like Congressmen. Senators now represent the people "at large" or all the people in their particular state. There is no one in Washington with the specific responsibility to guard the rights of the state. The Seventeenth Amendment changed an important part of the system invented by the Founders. Their system was founded on an idea put forth by political scientists for centuries, an idea that combined the advantages of "the one, the few, and the many." The work of the Founders established a system for this idea for the very first time in history. "The one," represented by the President, would administer the law and direct wartime efforts. "The few," represented by the Senate, would guard property and wealth and establish order. "The many," represented by the House, would represent the will of the people. The federal government as well as most of the states adopted this arrangement of government. The idea to have two branches in the legislative body gives the people double protection in that a majority of each house must be in favor of a bill before it becomes a law. The Founders set up a system of government that provided a measure of permanency. All members of the House of Representatives run for re-election every two years. A President serves for four years before seeking re-election for a second term of office. Senators serve for six year terms with one-third of the Senate running for re-election every two years. This system insures that there are experienced leaders in office at any given time. The idea of "the one, the few, and the many" is also apparent in successful families. "The one" is represented by a father, who is the head of the family. "The few" is represented by father and mother working together for the good of the family. "The many" is represented by the entire family in family council.