ART. 66. Bills introduced by the President of the Republic, by the legislatures of the states, or by deputations from the same, shall be at once referred to a committee. Those introduced by deputies or senators shall be subject to the procedure prescribed by the rules of debate.20

ART. 67. No bill which shall have been rejected in the house of its origin, before passing to the other house, shall be again presented in the sessions of that year.

20

ART. 68. The second session shall be devoted, with preference over all other matters, to the examination and voting of the appropriations for the succeeding fiscal year, the levying of the taxes necessary to meet such expenses, and the examination of the accounts of the past year, which the executive shall submit.

ART. 69. On the last day but one of the first session, the executive shall present to the House of Deputies the estimates of appropriations for the following year, and the accounts of the preceding year. Both of these shall be referred to a committee of five representatives, appointed on the same day, whose duty it shall be to examine such documents, and to present a report concerning them at the second meeting of the second session.2 20

ART. 70. Bills and resolutions may be introduced indiscriminately in either house, except that those which relate to loans, taxes, and imposts, or to the recruiting of troops, shall first be discussed in the House of Deputies.21

ART. 71. Every bill, the consideration of which does not belong exclusively to one of the houses, shall be discussed successively in both, the rules of debate being observed with respect to the form, intervals, and mode of procedure in discussions and voting.

A. A bill approved in the house where it originated, shall be sent to the other house for its consideration. If the latter

20 As amended November 13, 1874.

21 As amended November 13, 1874. All of Art. 70 as it now stands is new.

body approves the bill, it shall be forwarded to the executive, who, if he has no objections to make, shall publish it immediately.

B. Every bill shall be considered approved by the executive if not returned with objections to the house where it originated, within ten working days, unless during this term Congress shall have closed or suspended its session, in which case the return should be made on the first working day of the next session.

C. A bill rejected wholly or in part by the executive shall be returned with his objections to the house where it originated. It shall be discussed again by this body and if it should be confirmed by an absolute majority of votes, shall be sent again to the other house. If passed by the same majority in that house the bill shall become law, and shall be returned to the executive for promulgation. The vote upon such a law or decree shall be by name.

D. A bill wholly rejected by the house of revision shall be returned with objections to the house in which it originated. If, having been examined anew, the bill should be approved by an absolute majority of the members present, it shall be returned to the house which rejected it, which shall again consider it, and, if approving it by the same majority, shall transmit it to the executive for the purposes of clause A; but if the bill be rejected, it shall not again be presented until the succeeding sessions.

E. If a bill should be rejected only in part, or amended by the revising house, the new consideration in the house of its origin shall relate only to the rejected parts or to the amendments, without power to alter in any way the articles agreed upon. If the amendments made in the revising house are approved by an absolute majority of the votes present in the house where it originated, the bill shall be transmitted to the executive for the purposes of clause A. But if the amendments made by the revising house shall be rejected by the majority of votes in the house where the bill originated, the bill shall be

returned to the revising house in order that the arguments of the house where it originated may be taken into consideration; and if by an absolute majority of the votes present such amendments are rejected in this second revision, the bill, in so far as it has been approved by both houses, shall be transmitted to the executive for the purposes of clause A; but if the revising house should insist upon such amendments by an absolute majority of the votes present, the whole bill shall not again be considered until the following sessions, unless both houses agree, by the absolute majority of their members present, to the promulgation of the law or decree only with the articles agreed upon, and that the amendments shall be reserved to be examined and voted upon in the following sessions.

F. The same procedure required for the enactment of laws shall be observed in their interpretation, amendment, or repeal.

G. Both houses shall hold their meetings in the same place and shall not move to another without first having agreed upon the removal, and upon the time and manner of making it, designating the same place for the meeting of both. But if the two houses, agreeing to the removal, should differ as to the time, manner, or place, the executive shall terminate the difference, by choosing one of the extremes of the dispute. Neither house shall suspend its sessions for more than three days without the consent of the other.

H. When the general Congress meets in extraordinary session it shall occupy itself exclusively with the object or objects designated in the summons; and if the object of the special session shall not have been accomplished by the day upon which the regular session should begin, the extraordinary session shall, nevertheless, be closed, leaving the unfinished business to be taken up in the regular session.

The executive of the Union shall have no right to object to the resolutions of Congress when it adjourns its sessions, or exercises the functions of an electoral body or of a jury.22

As amended November 13, 1874. All of Art. 71 as it now stands was introduced by amendment.

PARAGRAPH III. THE POWERS OF CONGRESS

ART. 72. The Congress shall have power:

I. To admit new states or territories into the Federal Union, incorporating them into the nation.

II. To erect territories into states when they shall have a population of eighty thousand inhabitants and the elements necessary to provide for their political existence.

III. To form new states within the territories of those existing, it being necessary to this end:

1) That the section or sections which ask to be erected into a state have a population of at least one hundred and twenty thousand inhabitants.

2) That proof be given to Congress that they have the elements sufficient to provide for their political existence.

3) That the legislatures of the states, whose territories are affected, shall have been heard concerning the expediency or inexpediency of erecting the new state; they shall be obliged to make their report within six months from the date of the communication addressed to them with reference to the matter.

4) That the executive of the Federation shall likewise be heard, his report to be made within seven days from the date upon which he shall have been asked for it.

5) That two-thirds of the deputies and senators present in their respective houses shall have voted for the erection of the new state.

6) That the resolution of Congress shall have been ratified by the majority of the legislatures of the states, after the examination of a copy of the proceedings; provided that the legislatures of the states whose territories are affected shall have given their consent.

7) If the legislatures of the states whose territories are affected shall not have given their consent the ratification mentioned in the preceding clause should be made by twothirds of the legislatures of the other states.2

23 As amended November 13, 1874.

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IV. To settle finally the boundaries of the states, terminating the differences which may arise between them relative to the demarcation of their respective territories, except when the differences are of a judicial character.

V. To change the residence of the supreme powers of the Federation.

VI. To legislate in all matters concerning the Federal District and territories.24

VII. To approve the estimates of the federal expenses, which the executive shall annually submit to it, and to impose the taxes necessary to meet such expenses.25

VIII. To establish rules under which the executive may make loans on the credit of the nation; to approve such loans and to recognize and order the payment of the national debt.

IX. To establish tariffs on foreign commerce, and to prevent, by general provisions, onerous restrictions from being established upon the commerce between the states.

X. To promulgate mining and commercial codes, binding throughout the whole Republic; banking institutions shall be regulated by the commercial code.2

26

XI. To create or abolish federal public offices, and to fix, increase, or decrease their salaries.

XII. To confirm the nominations which the executive may make of ministers, diplomatic agents, and consuls, of superior officers of the treasury, of colonels and other superior officers of the national army and navy.27

XIII. To approve the treaties, agreements, or diplomatic conventions which the executive may make.27

26 As amended October 31, 1901.

*Changed by amendment of November 13, 1874. See sec. A, clause 6, of this article.

As amended December 14, 1883. This clause originally read: "To establish the general bases of mercantile legislation."

"By amendment of November 13, 1874, these matters were placed within the exclusive power of the Senate. See sec. B of this article.