NEW+Amendment20

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__**The Twentieth Amendment **__ //** By Samantha D., Miranda D., and Nick L. **//
 * Essential Question: **
 * How do the issues which prompted the creation of the amendments compare with the issues they are applied to today?**

**Caption**: //The Twentieth Amendment contains a total of six sections// //and was ratified in 1933.// __ http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_amendments_11-27.html __ __ http://constitutioncenter.org/constitution/the-amendments/amendment-20-presidential-congressional-terms __
 * Question: **** On what date was the Twentieth Amendment ratified? **
 * Answer: ** The Twentieth Amendment, passed by Congress on March 2, 1932, was finally ratified less than a year later on January 23, 1933.
 * Source **** : ** [|http://www.usconstitution.net/constamnotes.html#Am20]

__ http://www.usconstitution.net/constamnotes.html __ __ http://www.ilonanickels.com/CC_lameduck.html __
 * Question: **** For what reason was the Twentieth Amendment created? **
 * Answer: ** The Twentieth Amendment was created for a number of reasons. One of the reasons why the Twentieth Amendment created was to correct the Presidential, Vice Presidential, and Congressional terms. Before the Twentieth Amendment was created, the President, Vice President, and members of Congress were all elected in November, however, began their terms in March. Therefore, during the three months between November and March, the defeated government officials would remain in office, earning the name "lame ducks". The Twentieth Amendment shortened the period of time between the election and the inauguration, so now instead of taking office in March, the new Congress members would take office on January 3rd and the President and Vice President would take office on January 20th, instead of in March. Today, the "lame duck period" is the period of time between the Presidential election in November and the President's inauguration in January, as during that time period, defeated government officials still hold office.
 * Source: ** [|http://ic.galegroup.com]

**Caption:** //The 20th Amendment is also referred to as the Lame Duck Amendment because it was meant to reduce the amount of time in which// //associates of Congress who were not reelected a second term (lame ducks) w ere still able to hold office until their terms came to an end.// __ http://constitutioncenter.org/constitution/the-amendments/amendment-20-presidential-congressional-terms __ __ http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/GPO-CONAN-1992/pdf/GPO-CONAN-1992-10-21.pdf __
 * Question: ** **How many sections are there to the Twentieth Amendment?**
 * Answer: ** There are currently six sections to the Twentieth Amendment. The first section states when the terms of both the President and Vice President will end, and that the newly- elected President and Vice President will begin to take office. The next section discusses that Congress will meet annually on January 3rd, unless another date is announced. Section three states which situations are appropriate for the Vice President to serve as President. If neither a President nor Vice President is available to serve at office, Congress will pick who will act as President until a President or Vice President is able to serve again. Finally, last two sections of the amendment state when sections one and two of the amendment will be put into action. They also advise that the amendment is to be ratified by three-fourths of the states in order to take action.
 * Source: ** []

__ http://www.usconstitution.net/constamrat.html __
 * Question: **** What states (if any) did not agree to ratify this amendment? **
 * Answer: ** All of the 48 states that were in existence in 1933 had agreed to ratify the Twentieth Amendment by April 26, 1933. However, on January 23, 1933, both Georgia and Missouri became the 36th and 37th states to ratify the amendment, meaning that over 3/4 of the 48 states had ratified the amendment passing the requirement of approval for the amendment.
 * Source: **__ http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/GPO-CONAN-2002/pdf/GPO-CONAN-2002-6.pdf __

__ http://www.shmoop.com/constitution/20th-amendment.html __ __ http://constitution.findlaw.com/amendment20/amendment.html __
 * Question: **** What does Section 4 mean in the amendment? **
 * Answer: ** Section 4 states that "The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may choose a President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a Vice President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them". This means that if both the President and Vice dies, Congress could appoint someone President and the House of Representatives could appoint someone Vice President.
 * Source: ** http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxx

__ http://www.factcheck.org/2008/04/vp-term-limits/ __
 * Question: **** What is the maximum amount of time a Vice President can be in charge when the President is not elected? **
 * Answer: ** The most amount of time Vice President can be in charge is how ever long it takes to elect a President, no matter how long or short that period of time is. If neither a Vice President nor President is qualified at that time, the House of Representatives is responsible for choosing a qualified person to take their place until either the Vice President or President is able to serve again.
 * Source: **[|http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Vice_President.h]

Caption: On January 20, as one president is sworn in and begins his/her first term, the other honorably leaves office. __ http://www.ushistory.org/documents/amendments.htm#amend20 __
 * Question: To whom does the 20th amendment apply to?**
 * Answer: ** This amendment applies to the President and Vice President because it states when they start their term ends and starts (January 20 at noon). Another way the 20th amendment applies to the Vice President and President is that if the US elects a Vice President and are still deciding of the President, the Vice President is able to be in charge until they elect the President. Senators and House of Representatives also apply to this amendment in many ways. The first way is that the amendment states when their terms end and start ( January 3 at noon). The second way is that Congress must meet at least once a year on January third at noon. Under the 20th amendment if both the Vice President and President die, then the Senate can choose the new Vice President and the House of Representatives can choose the new President. Amendment 20 also applies to any official who was elected, hasn't served a second term, and still holds office.
 * Source: ** http://www.usconstitution.net/constamnotes.html

**Source:** __ http://www.history.com/topics/herbert-hoover __ __ http://www.enchantedlearning.com/history/us/pres/list.shtml __
 * Question: What President was in office when the 20th Amendment was passed and ratified? **
 * Answer: ** The President who held office when the Twentieth Amendment was passed and ratified was Herbert C. Hoover (1874-1964), who served from 1929-1933. The Vice President who held office when the amendment was passed and ratified was Charles Curtis.

//Caption: Herbert Hoover and Charles Curtis held office when the Twentieth Amendment was ratified// __ http://www.usconstitution.net/constam.html __
 * Question: Who created the 20th Amendment? **
 * Answer: **Congress created the 20th amendment. To create an amendment, Congress must first propose the amendment, having at least two-thirds of the House of Representatives and the Senate vote for it. Then, the authentic copy is forwarded to the Nation Archives and Records Administration's Office of the Federal Register, where it will eventually be handled and published. The OFR then holds onto the documents until the amendment is either approved or dropped. The amendment is put into action and considered a piece of the Constitution right after it is ratified, or approved, by at least 38 out of the 50 states.
 * Source: ** http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/constitution/

**Caption:** //The proposed amendment must be approved multiple times before being put into action//


 * Question: Has anyone ever tried to change or violate the 20th Amendment?**
 * Answer: ** Surprisingly, a handful of people have actually tried to change the the 20th Amendment. After successfully claiming a position in office at the Congressional Election, a number of new Republican U.S. Senators wrote a letter to Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader, as they were trying to convince him to take away other U.S. Senator's rightfully earned authority. Their main reason why for doing so was due to the "lame duck session". At the time, Congress was considering passing a new treaty and they felt that, since they were elected into Congress, they should have a say in the ratification or denial of the treaty. In the end, they were not able to achieve their goal, as the 20th Amendment states that all Congress members have the powers guaranteed to them until 12 o'clock noon on January 3rd.
 * Source: **[]


 * Question: Has the 20th Amendment ever have to be enforced upon a President?**
 * Answer: ** The 20th Amendment has had to be enforced upon a number of Presidents, one of which was James A. Garfield. During his first year of Presidency, Garfield was assassinated while trying to board a train by a man named Charles Guiteau. Shortly after his death, Vice President Chester Arthur was sworn in as President, due to the 20th Amendment which states the conditions under which the Vice President must take office if the President does not.


 * Current Events: **

Samantha's: Current Event Link: Here Summary:

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In the article," 'Lame Duck' Session in N.J. Could Tap In-State Tuition for Immigrants, Gun Ammo Restrictions", lawmakers have several things to do during the lame duck period. One of these is to grant in-state college tuition for illegal immigrants. This bill, also known as the DREAM Act (Development Relief and Education) was originally proposed in June, and is being revived now that the next legislative election is not until two years, and that it has earned the support of Governor Chis Christie. In addition to the DREAM Act, Democrats also intend to bring back a bill that would enforce gun control restrictions. The bill was proposed after the Sandy Hook tragedy, and the families of these victims became supporters of the measure almost instantly. The bill would limit the size of gun/ammunition magazines and reduce the authorized amount of ammunition by about five rounds. The third idea lawmakers must consider before the end of the lame duck session is gay marriage. Lawmakers have three options for this concern: they could attempt to override the governor's veto on the previous bill, write a new bill, or do nothing. If they attempted to override the veto, they would have to edit the bill so that they could win over Republicans, which could possibly limit the rights of gay couples under court rulings. To conclude, lawmakers must accomplish numerous tasks during the lame duck period before their terms end in late January. =====

Miranda' Current Event Link: Here Summary: According the article, "Longtime Democrat to Retire From House", by Paul Steinhauser, Jim Moran who is one of the Representatives of Virginia, is planning to retire at the end of 2014. Jim has been a member of the House for the past twenty-three years, the Mayor of Alexandria and a government official for a total of thirty-five years. He says that it is "...time to close this chapter of my life and move on to the next challenge" and that he was grateful to work with the people he did to make the US a better place. However, Jim Moran is not the only one this year who has not chosen to hold a re-election campaign and retire. Nine Republicans and six Democrats now, Spencer Bachus, Michele Bachmann, John Campbell, Tim Griffin and many more will retire this year. This is a loss to the Democrats in the House because they need seventeen seats to have control over the House again, which was lost in 2010 in the midterm elections. Even though Jim Moran is leaving, he has definitely left his mark, from spending his time and effort on appropriation, to being a senior member of the defense subcommittee. He is also part of the House Appropriations Committee's interior subcommittee and is well known for not being afraid to speak his mind. Jim Moran was an honest critic against the war in Iraq and in 2012, was arrested alongside George Clooney and other people as they protested right outside the Sudanese Embassy. Overall, Jim Moran was a great Representative, who was not afraid to speak his mind and will be dearly missed at the end of 2014 as well as the other Representatives who are also retiring.

Nick's Current Event Link: [|Here] Summary: After reading the article Inauguration's new day beats the old, written by Al Neuharth, it is confirmed that the inauguration's new date, promoted by the 20th Amendment, is without a doubt more liked by the public and government, compared to the old inauguration date. Before the 20th Amendment was ratified, the Presidential inauguration was held on March 4, four months after the Presidential election in November. This period of time from November to March, was known as the "lame duck" period, as defeated government officials still held office and still had a say in all government affairs, which angered a great amount of people, including their successors. They all agreed that "lame ducks" were rarely ever productive and basically were wasting important government posts. Instead of having to wait so long for the new government officials to take office, people wanted a change so that the newly elected officers could assume their roles earlier. Finally, the 20th Amendment was ratified on January 23, 1933, and revised the inauguration date for not only he President and Vice President, but for Congress members as well. As a result of the 20th Amendment, the Congressional and Presidential inauguration date was changed from March 4th to January 3rd for the members of Congress and January 20th for the President and Vice President. In conclusion, the 20th Amendment single-handedly changed the inauguration dates of the President, Vice President, and Congress, shortening the "lame duck" period and allowing the newly elected government officials to take office earlier and be more productive while in office.


 * Essential Question: How do the issues which prompted the creation of the amendments compare with the issues they are applied to today? **
 * Answer: ** The issues which prompted the creation of the amendments are both very similar and different to the issues they are applied to today. In general, when taking a broad look at the amendments and thinking about this question, there are numerous amendments which were created for the same reason they are still applied to today. Take the 1st Amendment, for example, which states that all people are entitled to have freedom of speech, religion and the press. This amendment was created to protect citizens' basic rights from being violated by the government and guaranteed that all people be able to express themselves, and is still applied to the same issue today, as people write their opinions, protest ideas they dislike, and practice their religion on a daily basis. On a different note, some amendments such as the 3rd Amendment, are, today, applied to completely different issues than they were first created for. The 3rd Amendment, which prohibits the quartering of soldiers, was prompted as a result of the Quartering Act of 1765, which forced colonists to house and tend to British soldiers, an act that was repealed a long time ago and does not pose a single threat to any U.S. citizen. Accordingly, this amendment is applied to totally different issues, if any issues at all, today than the issues it was first created for. On a more specific note, regarding the 20th Amendment, or the amendment we researched, we believe that it is applied to very similar, if not identical issues, compared to the issues that caused the amendment to be created. The 20th Amendment, which states the terms of office for the President, Vice President and Congress, as well as the conditions under which someone else will assume the role of President, was created for both those reasons, upon others. Before, the 20th Amendment was ratified, there was a four month period of time known as the "lame duck" period, which allowed defeated government officials to remain in office until the Presidential and Congressional inauguration dates. The 20th Amendment shortened the "lame duck" period by changing the inauguration date from March 4, to January 3 for the Congress and January 20 for the President and Vice President, which is the same issue it is applied to today. Another issue which prompted the creation of the 20th Amendment, was the fear of the death of a President while in office. The 20th Amendment still applies to this valid issue, as it can happen on any given day and the 20th Amendment has prepared us for it. In conclusion, although some amendments, such as the 3rd, apply to issues different to the ones they were created for, we believe that many amendments still apply to the issues and purposes they were created for and are equally important.