Part 178

Article 69. The last day but one of the first period of sessions the Executive shall present to the House of Deputies the bill of appropriations for the next year following and the accounts of the preceding year. Both shall pass to a committee of five Representatives appointed on the same day, which shall be under obligation to examine said documents, and present a report on them at the second session of the second period.

Article 70. The formation of the laws and of the decrees may begin indiscriminately in either of the two houses, with the exception of bills which treat of loans, taxes, or imposts, or of the recruiting of troops, all of which must be discussed first in the House of Deputies.

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Article 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 reference to the form, the intervals, and manner of proceeding in discussions and voting.

A. A bill having been approved in the house where it originated, shall pass for its discussion to the other house. If the latter body should approve it, it will be remitted to the Executive, who, if he shall have no observations to make, shall publish it immediately.

B. Every bill shall be considered as approved by the Executive if not returned with observations to the house where it originated within ten working days, unless during this term Congress shall have closed or suspended its sessions, in which case the return must be made the first working day on which it shall meet.

C. A bill rejected wholly or in part by the Executive must be returned with his observations 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, it shall pass again to the other house. If by this house it should be sanctioned with the same majority, the bill shall be a law or decree, and shall be returned to the Executive for promulgation. The voting on the law or decree shall be by name.

D. If any bill should be rejected wholly in the house in which it did not originate, it shall be returned to that in which it originated with the observations which the former shall have made upon it. If having been examined anew it should be approved by the absolute majority of the members present, it shall be returned to the house which rejected it, which shall again take it into consideration, and if it should approve it by the same majority it shall pass to the Executive, to be treated in accordance with division A; but, if it should reject it, it shall not be presented again until the following sessions.

E. If a bill should be rejected only in part, or modified, or receive additions by the house of revision, the new discussion in the house where it originated shall treat only of the rejected part, or of the amendments or additions, without being able to alter in any manner the articles approved. If the additions or amendments made by the house of revision should be approved by the absolute majority of the votes present in the house where it originated, the whole bill shall be passed to the Executive, to be treated in accordance with division A. But if the additions or amendments made by the house of revision should be rejected by the majority of the votes in the house where it originated, they shall be returned to the former, in order that the reasons of the latter may be taken into consideration; and if by the absolute majority of the votes present said additions or amendments shall be rejected in this second revision, the bill, in so far as it has been approved by both houses, shall be passed to the Executive, to be treated in accordance with division A; but if the house of revision should insist, by the absolute majority of the votes present, on said additions or amendments, the whole bill shall not be again presented until the following sessions, unless both houses agree by the absolute majority of their members present that the law or decree shall be issued solely with the articles approved, and that the parts added or amended shall be reserved to be examined and voted in the following sessions.

F. In the interpretation, amendment, or repeal of the laws or decrees, the rules established for their formation shall be observed.

G. Both houses shall reside in the same place, and they shall not remove to another without first agreeing to the removal and on the time and manner of making it, designating the same point for the meeting of both. But if both houses, agreeing to the removal, should differ as to time, manner, or place, the Executive shall terminate the difference by choosing one of the places in question. Neither house shall suspend its sessions for more than three days without the consent of the other.

H. When the general Congress meets in extra sessions, it shall occupy itself exclusively with the object or objects designated in the summons; and if the special business shall not have been completed on the day on which the regular session should open, the extra sessions shall be closed nevertheless, leaving the points pending to be treated of in the regular sessions. The Executive of the Union shall not make observations on the resolutions of the Congress when this body prorogues its sessions or exercises functions of an electoral body or a jury.

Article 72. The Congress has power: I. To admit new States or Territories into the Federal Union, incorporating them in the nation. II. To erect Territories into States when they shall have a population of eighty thousand inhabitants and the necessary elements to provide for their political existence. III. To form new States within the limits of those existing, it being necessary to this end: 1. That the fraction or fractions which asked to be erected into a State shall number a population of at least one hundred and twenty thousand inhabitants. 2. That it shall be proved before Congress that they have elements sufficient to provide for their political existence. 3. That the Legislatures of the States, the territories of which are in question, shall have been heard on the expediency or inexpediency of the establishment of the new State, and they shall be obliged to make their report within six months, counted from the day on which the communication relating to it shall have been remitted to them. 4. That the Executive of the Federation shall likewise be heard, who shall send his report within seven days, counted from the date on which he shall have been asked for it. 5. That the establishment of the new State shall have been voted for by two-thirds of the Deputies and Senators present in their respective houses. 6. That the resolution of Congress shall have been ratified by the majority of the Legislatures of the States, after examining a copy of the proceedings; provided that the Legislatures of the States whose territory is in question shall have given their consent. 7. If the Legislatures of the States whose territory is in question shall not have given their consent, the ratification mentioned in the preceding clause must be made by two-thirds of the Legislatures of the other States.

A. The exclusive powers of the House of Deputies are: I. To constitute itself an Electoral College in order to exercise the powers which the law may assign to it, in respect to the election of the Constitutional President of the Republic, Magistrates of the Supreme Court, and Senators for the Federal District.

II. To judge and decide upon the resignations which the President of the Republic or the Magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice may make. The same power belongs to it in treating of licenses solicited by the first.

III. To watch over, by means of an inspecting committee from its own body, the exact performance of the business of the chief auditorship.

IV. To appoint the principal officers and other employés of the same.

V. To constitute itself a jury of accusation, for the high functionaries of whom Article 103 of this Constitution treats.

VI. To examine the accounts which the Executive must present annually, to approve the annual estimate of expenses, and to initiate the taxes which in its judgment ought to be decreed to cover these expenses.

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B. The exclusive powers of the Senate are:

I. To approve the treaties and diplomatic conventions which the Executive may make with foreign powers.

II. To ratify the appointments which the President of the Republic may make of ministers, diplomatic agents, consuls-general, superior employés of the Treasury, colonels and other superior officers of the national army and navy, on the terms which the law shall provide.

III. To authorize the Executive to permit the departure of national troops beyond the limits of the Republic, the passage of foreign troops through the national territory, the station of squadrons of other powers for more than a month in the waters of the Republic.

IV. To give its consent in order that the Executive may dispose of the national guard outside of their respective States or Territories, determining the necessary force.

V. To declare, when the Constitutional legislative and executive powers of a State shall have disappeared, that the case has arrived for appointing to it a provisional Governor, who shall call elections in conformity with the Constitutional laws of the said State. The appointment of Governor shall be made by the Federal Executive with the approval of the Senate, and in its recesses with the approval of the Permanent Commission. Said functionary shall not be elected Constitutional Governor at the elections which are had in virtue of the summons which he shall issue.

VI. To decide political questions which may arise between the powers of a State, when any of them may appear with this purpose in the Senate, or when on account of said questions Constitutional order shall have been interrupted during a conflict of arms. In this case the Senate shall dictate its resolution, being subject to the general Constitution of the Republic and to that of the State. The law shall regulate the exercise of this power and that of the preceding.

VII. To constitute itself a jury of judgment in accordance with Article 105 of this Constitution.

C. Each of the houses may, without the intervention of the other:

I. Dictate economic resolutions relative to its internal regimen.

II. Communicate within itself, and with the Executive of the Union, by means of committees from its own body.

III. Appoint the employés of its secretaryship, and make the internal regulations for the same.

IV. Issue summons for extraordinary elections, with the object of filling the vacancies of their respective members.

IV. To regulate definitely the limits of the States, terminating the differences which may arise between them relative to the demarcation of their respective territories, except when these difficulties have a contentious character.

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

VI. To establish the internal order of the Federal District and Territories, taking as a basis that the citizens shall choose by popular election the political, municipal, and judicial authorities, and designating the taxes necessary to cover their local expenditure.

VII. To approve the estimates of the Federal expenditure, which the Executive must annually present to it, and to impose the necessary taxes to cover them.

VIII. To give rules under which the Executive may make loans on the credit of the nation; to approve said loans, and to recognize and order the payment of the national debt.

IX. To establish tariffs on foreign commerce, and to prevent, by means of general laws, onerous restrictions from being established with reference to the commerce between the States.

X. To issue codes, obligatory throughout the Republic, of mines and commerce, comprehending in this last banking institutions.

XI. To create and suppress public Federal employments and to establish, augment, or diminish their salaries.

XII. To ratify the appointments which the Executive may make of ministers, diplomatic agents, and consuls, of the higher employés of the Treasury, of the colonels and other superior officers of the national army and navy.

XIII. To approve the treaties, contracts, or diplomatic conventions which the Executive may make.

XIV. To declare war in view of the data which the Executive may present to it.

XV. To regulate the manner in which letters of marque may be issued; to dictate laws according to which must be declared good or bad the prizes on sea and land, and to issue laws relating to maritime rights in peace and war.

XVI. To permit or deny the entrance of foreign troops into the territory of the Republic, and to consent to the station of squadrons of other powers for more than a month in the waters of the Republic.

XVII. To permit the departure of national troops beyond the limits of the Republic.

[Footnote: Amended by Section B, Clause III., Article 72, of the law of the 13th of November, 1874.]

XVIII. To raise and maintain the army and navy of the Union, and to regulate their organization and service.

XIX. To establish regulations with the purpose of organizing, arming, and disciplining the national guard, reserving respectively to the citizens who compose it the appointment of the commanders and officers, and to the States the power of instructing it in conformity with the discipline prescribed by said regulations.

XX. To give its consent in order that the Executive may control the national guard outside of its respective States and Territories, determining the necessary force.

XXI. To dictate laws on naturalization, colonization, and citizenship.

XXII. To dictate laws on the general means of communication and on the post-office and mails.

XXIII. To establish mints, fixing the conditions of their operation, to determine the value of foreign money, and adopt a general system of weights and measures.

XXIV. To fix rules to which must be subject the occupation and sale of public lands and the price of these lands.

XXV. To grant pardons for crimes cognizable by the tribunals of the Federation.

XXVI. To grant rewards or recompense for eminent services rendered to the country or humanity.

XXVII. To prorogue for thirty working days the first period of its ordinary sessions.

XXVIII. To form rules for its internal regulation, to take the necessary measures to compel the attendance of absent members, and to correct the faults or omissions of those present.

XXIX. To appoint and remove freely the employés of its secretaryship and those of the chief auditorship, which shall be organized in accordance with the provisions of the law.

XXX. To make all laws which may be necessary and proper to render effective the foregoing powers and all others granted by this Constitution and the authorities of the Union.

[Footnote: See respecting this Article the additions A, B, and C to Article 72 of the law of the 13th of November, already cited.]

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Article 73. During the recess of Congress there shall be a Permanent Deputation composed of twenty-nine members, of whom fifteen shall be Deputies and fourteen Senators, appointed by their respective houses the evening before the close of the sessions.

Article 74. The attributes of the Permanent Deputation are:

I. To give its consent to the use of the national guard in the cases mentioned in Article 72, Clause XX.

II. To determine by itself, or on the proposal of the Executive, after hearing him in the first place, the summons of Congress, or of one house alone, for extra sessions, the vote of two-thirds of the members present being necessary in both cases. The summons shall designate the object or objects of the extra sessions.

III. To approve the appointments which are referred to in Article 85, Clause III.

IV. To administer the oath of office to the President of the Republic, and to the Justices of the Supreme Court, in the cases provided by this Constitution.

[Footnote: See the Amendment of September 25, 1873, Article 4.]

V. To report upon all the business not disposed of, in order that the Legislature which follows may immediately take up such unfinished business.

Article 75. The exercise of the supreme executive power of the Union is vested in a single individual, who shall be called "President of the United States of Mexico."

Article 76. The election of President shall be indirect in the first degree, and by secret ballot, in such manner as may be prescribed by the electoral law.

Article 77. To be eligible to the position of President, the candidate must be a Mexican citizen by birth, in the exercise of his rights, be fully thirty-five years old at the time of the election, not belong to the ecclesiastical order, and reside in the country at the time the election is held.

Article 78. The President shall enter upon the performance of the duties of his office on the first of December, and shall continue in office four years, being eligible for the Constitutional period immediately following; but he shall remain incapable thereafter to occupy the presidency by a new election until four years shall have passed, counting from the day on which he ceased to perform his functions.

Article 79. In the temporary default of the President of the Republic, and in the vacancy before the installation of the newly-elected President, the citizen who may have performed the duties of President or Vice-President of the Senate, or of the Permanent Commission in the periods of recess, during the month prior to that in which said default may have occurred, shall enter upon the exercise of the executive power of the Union.

A. The President and Vice-President of the Senate and of the Permanent Commission shall not be reëlected to those offices until a year after having held them.

B. If the period of sessions of the Senate or of the Permanent Commission shall begin in the second half of a month, the default of the President of the Republic shall be covered by the President or Vice-President who may have acted in the Senate or in the Permanent Commission during the first half of the said month.

C. The Senate and the Permanent Commission shall renew, the last day of each month, their Presidents and Vice-Presidents. For these offices the Permanent Commission shall elect, alternatively, in one month two Deputies and in the following month two Senators.

D. When the office of President of the Republic is vacant, the functionary who shall take it constitutionally as his substitute must issue, within the definite term of fifteen days, the summons to proceed to a new election, which shall be held within the term of three months, and in accordance with the provisions of Article 76 of this Constitution. The provisional President shall not be eligible to the presidency at the elections which are held to put an end to his provisional term.

E. If, on account of death or any other reason, the functionaries who, according to this law, should take the place of the President of the Republic, might not be able in any absolute manner to do so, it shall be taken, under predetermined conditions, by the citizen who may have been President or Vice-President of the Senate or the Permanent Commission in the month prior to that in which they discharged those offices.

F. When the office of President of the Republic shall become vacant within the last six months of the constitutional period, the functionary who shall take the place of the President shall terminate this period.

G. To be eligible to the position of President or Vice-President of the Senate or of the Permanent Commission, one must be a Mexican citizen by birth.

H. If the vacancy in the office of President of the Republic should occur when the Senate and Permanent Commission are performing their functions in extra sessions, the President of the Commission shall fill the vacancy, under conditions indicated in this article.

I. The Vice-President of the Senate or of the Permanent Commission shall enter upon the performance of the functions which this Article confers upon them, in the vacancies of the office of President of the Senate or of the Permanent Commission, and in the periods only while the impediment lasts.

J. The newly-elected President shall enter upon the discharge of his duties, at the latest, sixty days after that of the election. In case the House of Deputies shall not be in session, it shall be convened in extra session, in order to make the computation of votes within the term mentioned.

Article 80. In the vacancy of the office of President, the period of the newly-elected President shall be computed from the first of December of the year prior to that of his election, provided he may not have taken possession of his office on the date which Article 78 determines.

Article 81. The office of President of the Union may not be resigned, except for grave cause, approved by Congress, before whom the resignation shall be presented.

Article 82. If for any reason the election of President shall not have been made and published by the first of December, on which the transfer of the office should be made, or the President-elect shall not have been ready to enter upon the discharge of his duties, the term of the former President shall end nevertheless, and the supreme executive power shall be deposited provisionally in the functionary to whom it belongs according to the provisions of the reformed Article 79 of this Constitution.

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Article 83. The President, on taking possession of his office, shall take an oath before Congress, and in its recess before the Permanent Commission, under the following formula: "I swear to perform loyally and patriotically the duties of President of the United States of Mexico, according to the Constitution, and seek in everything for the welfare and prosperity of the Union."

[Footnote: See the Amendments and Additions of September 25, 1873.]

Article 84. The President may not remove from the place of the residence of the Federal powers, nor lay aside the exercise of his functions, without grave cause, approved by the Congress, and in its recesses by the Permanent Commission.

Article 85. The powers and obligations of the President are the following:

I. To promulgate and execute the laws passed by the Congress of the Union, providing, in the administrative sphere, for their exact observance.