AMENDMENT:
Providing that Congress have power to declare an aggressive war only after approval of referendum to voters throughout …
Amendment Details:
Date:
Jan. 31, 1916
Type:
Congressional Bills
State of Origin:
California (CA)
Congress:
64th Congress (1915-1917)
Summary:
Providing that Congress have power to declare an aggressive war only after approval of referendum to voters throughout the United States
Text:
"ARTICLE I.
SEC. 8, Division 11. To declare war in cases of in-
vasion or threatened invasion of the United States, or any
of its insular possessions, by a foreign power, or in cases of
insurrection or revolution within the United States, or any of
its insular possessions, and in other cases where the matter of
declaring war has been first submitted to the citizens of the
United States at a special election called for that purpose
G
and more than half of the citizens voting at said election
have declared themselves in favor of declaring said war.
It shall also have the power to grant letters of marque and
reprisal and make rules concerning captures on land and
water."
the Judiciary and ordered to be printed.
JANUARY 31, 1916.-Referred to the Committee on
By Mr. CHURCH.
of the United States.
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution
Chamber:
House
Sponsor:
CHURCH, Denver Samuel (CA-D)
Committee of referral:
Judiciary
Topics:
war - Power to declare/approve war referen - Referenda
Record Source:
Tansill, Charles C. Proposed Amendments to the Constitution of the United States Introduced in Congress from December 4, 1889 to July 2, 1926, S. Doc. No. 93, 69th Cong. 1st Sess., Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1926.
Cite As:
The Amendments Project, edited by Jill Lepore and Tobias Resch, 2023, https://amendmentsproject.org [Record Number b064-h00128, accessed 2026-09-14]. Record Source: [Tansill, Charles C. Proposed Amendments to the Constitution of the United States Introduced in Congress from December 4, 1889 to July 2, 1926, S. Doc. No. 93, 69th Cong. 1st Sess., Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1926.]
