Soveriegn States Constitution

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We the Sovereign people of the Sovereign States

... of Trondgard, Alud, Saxmere, Southland, New Virginia and Deanda, in order to secure our liberties, provide for our defense, establish justice and ensure domestic tranquility, establish this day a Confederacy of Sovereign States to be governed by this Constitution.

Article I - The Institution and Purposes of State Power

Section 1. All power is vested in, and consequently derived from, the Sovereign people, that governments are their trustees and servants, and at all times amenable to them.

Section 2. All people are by nature equally free and independent and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.

Section 3. The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Section 4. The Sovereign people have instituted governments for the common benefit, protection, and security of the people, nation, and community through the Constitutions of the various States and this Constitution of the Confederacy. Whenever any government shall be found inadequate or contrary to these purposes, a majority of the community hath an indubitable, inalienable, and indefeasible right to reform, alter, or abolish it. The governments of the various States may thus be reformed or abolished in accordance with the provisions of the their Constitutions. The government of the Confederacy may be reformed or abolished by:

(a) A two thirds vote of both Houses of the legislature, when confirmed by a two thirds vote of the legislatures of two thirds of the various States,

(b) A two thirds vote in a Constitutional Assembly called by a two thirds vote of the legislatures of two thirds of the various States

(c) A two-thirds vote of the people in a referendum in two thirds of the various States.

Article II - The Rights of the People

Section 1. Neither the Confederacy nor the governments of the various States shall make any law establishing an official religion, or prohibiting the free exercise of religion, whether in private or public forums; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Section 2. All persons born or naturalized in the Confederacy, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the Confederacy and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law that shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens, nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the various States.

Section 3. The right of the Sovereign people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall be issued, except upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Section 4. No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, except upon an indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger. Nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb. Nor shall any person be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself. Nor shall any person be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Section 5. The right of the Sovereign people to a writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended. No bill of attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.

Section 6. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

Section 7. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Section 8. In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty sovs, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the Confederacy, than according to the rules of the common law.

Section 9. In criminal prosecutions, the victim shall be accorded fairness, dignity and respect by the officers, employees and agents of the Confederacy and the various States. The victim may be accorded rights to reasonable and appropriate notice, information, restitution, protection, and access to a meaningful role in the criminal justice process, including the right to address the court and the right to be notified of any appeals, paroles, pardons or release of the convicted party.

Section 10. A well-regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free State; therefore, the right of the people to keep and bear arms as part of the militia shall not be infringed. Standing armies, in time of peace, should be avoided as dangerous to liberty; and that in all cases the military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil powers instituted by the Sovereign people.1

Section 11. No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Section 12. The powers not delegated to the Confederacy by the Sovereign people, nor prohibited by them to the various States, are reserved to the States respectively, and, ultimately, to the Sovereign people themselves.

Article III - The Legislature

Section 1. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the Confederacy, which shall consist of a House of the States and House of Representatives.

Section 2. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the various States, and the electors in each State shall be any citizen of that State having attained the age of twenty-one.2 No person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the age of twenty five years, and been seven years a citizen of his State, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the various States that may be included within this confederacy, according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by an actual Enumeration made every ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each State shall have at least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, Trondgard shall have six, Alud five, Saxmere six, Southland seven, New Virginia ten and Deanda four. When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies. The House of Representatives shall choose their speaker and other officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment.

Section 3. The House of the States shall be composed of two Delegates from each state, chosen by the legislature thereof, for six years, with one third of the Delegates standing for election every two years; and each Delegate shall have one vote.3 If vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise, during the recess of the legislature of any state, the executive thereof may make temporary appointments until the next meeting of the legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies. No person shall be a Delegate who shall not have attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of his State and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State. The Vice President of the Confederacy shall be President of the House of the States, but shall have no vote, unless they are equally divided. The House of the States shall choose their other officers, and a President pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the office of President of the Confederacy. The House of the States shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President of the Confederacy is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside. No person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two thirds of the members present. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the Confederacy: but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according to law.

Section 4. The times, places and manner of holding elections for Delegates and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in October, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.

Section 5. Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties as each House may provide. Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two thirds, expel a member. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of either House on any question shall, at the desire of one fifth of those present, be entered on the journal. Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.

Section 6. The Delegates and Representatives shall receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the treasury of the Confederacy. No law varying the compensation for the services of the Delegates and Representatives shall take effect until an election of Representatives shall have intervened. They shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other place. No Delegate or Representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the Confederacy, and no person holding any office under the Confederacy, shall be a member of either House during his continuance in office.

Section 7. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the House of the States may propose or concur with amendments as on other Bills. Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the House of the States, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the President of the Confederacy; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a law. Nevertheless, in all such cases, the votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each House respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law.

Section 8. The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes from the governments of the various States in proportion to the census or enumeration described above, impose duties and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the Confederacy; but all duties and excises shall be uniform throughout the various States;

To borrow money on the credit of the Confederacy;

To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the various States;

To establish a uniform rule of naturalization

To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures;

To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting;

To establish post offices and post roads;

To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;

To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court;

To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations;

To declare war, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;

To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years;

To provide and maintain a navy;

To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces;

To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Confederacy, suppress insurrections and repel invasions;

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the Confederacy;

To make all laws that shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the Confederacy, or in any department or officer thereof.

Section 9. No tax shall be laid on income other than by the governments of the various States.

No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any state.

No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one state over those of another: nor shall vessels bound to, or from, one state, be obliged to enter, clear or pay duties in another.

No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law; and a regular statement and account of receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time.

No title of nobility shall be granted by the Confederacy: and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.

Section 10. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation; coin money; emit bills of credit; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility.

No state shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any duties on imports or exports.

No state shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another state, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay.

Article IV - The Executive

Section 1. The executive power shall be vested in a President of the Confederacy. He shall hold his office during the term of four years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same term, be elected, as follows:

The legislatures of the various States shall appoint a number of electors, equal to the whole number of Delegates and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Delegate or Representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit under the Confederacy, shall be appointed an elector.4

The electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same state. And they shall make a list of the results for each, which they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the Confederacy, directed to the President of House of the States. The President of the House of the States on the first Monday in October following the election shall, in the presence of the House of the States and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the three persons having the highest numbers on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. However, in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each state having one vote; A quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. Likewise, the person having the greatest number of votes as Vice President, shall be the Vice President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the House of the States shall choose the Vice President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Delegates, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. However, no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice President of the Confederacy.

The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall be the same throughout the Confederacy.

No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the Confederacy, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty five years, and been fourteen Years a resident within the Confederacy.

In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.

Whenever the President or the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.

The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services, a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the Confederacy, or any of the various States.

On the last Monday of October following an election, before he enters on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation: --"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the Confederacy, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the Confederacy and the Rights of the Sovereign people."

Section 2. The President shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the Confederacy, and of the militia of the various States, when called into the actual service of the Confederacy; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the Confederacy, except in cases of impeachment.

He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the House of the States, provided two thirds of the Delegates present concur, to make treaties and appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the Confederacy, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law. Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.

The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the House of States, by granting commissions that shall expire at the end of their next session.

Section 3. He shall on the first Monday of December give to the Congress information of the state of the Confederacy, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses; he shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the Confederacy.

Section 4. The President, Vice President and all civil officers of the Confederacy, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.

Article V - The Judiciary

Section 1. The judicial power of the Confederacy shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services, a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.

Section 2. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the Confederacy, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority; --to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls; --to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; --to controversies to which the Confederacy shall be a party; --to controversies between two or more States; --between a State and citizens of another State; -- between citizens of different States;--between citizens of the same State claiming lands under grants of different States, and between a State, or the citizens thereof, and foreign states, citizens or subjects. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those in which a State shall be party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations as the Congress shall make. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury; and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have directed.

Section 3. Treason against the Confederacy shall consist only in levying war against the various States, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.

Article VI - Relations Among States

Section 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State.

Section 2. A person charged in any state with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another state, shall on demand of the executive authority of the state from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the state having jurisdiction of the crime.

Section 3. New states may be admitted by the Congress, upon ratification by the legislatures of two thirds of the various States, into this Confederacy.

Section 4. The Confederacy shall guarantee to every state in a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened) against domestic violence.

Article VII - The Constitution

This Constitution, and the laws of the Confederation which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the Confederation, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.

The Delegates and Representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several state legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the Confederacy and of the various States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the Confederacy.

Article VII - Ratification

The ratification of the conventions of four states shall be sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between the states so ratifying the same.

Amendment I - Reform of the House of the States

The House of the States shall be composed of two Delegates from each state, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Delegate shall have one vote. When vacancies happen in the representation of any state in the Delegate, the executive authority of such state shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, that the legislature of any state may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.3

Amendment II - Presidential Elections

The legislatures of the various States shall appoint a number of electors, equal to the whole number of Delegates and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Delegate or Representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit under the Confederacy, shall be appointed an elector. The legislatures of the various States shall appoint the electors in accordance with the results of a general election for President and Vice President. If any individual receives a majority of the vote, that individual shall receive a full slate of electors. If no individual receives a majority, then each individual receiving at least 20 percent of vote shall receive a number of electors in proportion to the number of votes he received in the general election. Electors pledged to certain individuals shall be obliged to vote for that individual.4

Amendment III - Elections

General elections for electors, Delegates and Representatives shall be held the first Monday of September in each year of an election.

Amendment IV - Equal Rights

The right of citizens of the Confederacy to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the Confederacy or any of the various States because of race, color, ethnic origin or sex.

Amendment V - Voting Age

The right of citizens of the various States, who are 18 years of age or older, to vote, shall not be denied or abridged by the Confederacy or any of the various States on account of age.2

Amendment VI - Banning Guns

Article II, Section 10 shall read: A well-regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free State; therefore, the right of the people to keep and bear arms as part of the militia shall not be infringed. However, persons not currently enrolled in and actively serving in the militia of the various States shall neither keep nor bear arms. The military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil powers instituted by the Sovereign people. Military and militia personnel shall not obey any order directing them to fire upon, harass or otherwise interfere with any persons not engaged in active, armed rebellion or hostilities against the Confederacy or any of the various States.1

Amendment VII - Abolition of the Death Penalty

The death penalty is hereby abolished for all crimes committed against the laws of the Confederacy and the various States. Crimes formerly punished by pain of death may be punished by life imprisonment in solitary confinement without hope of parole or release.

Amendment VIII – Status of Saxmere

In recognition of its unique status within the Confederation as an ancient, independent and fully sovereign monarchy and in consideration of the express will of its citizens, the State of Saxmere is hereby granted special status as an autonomous and self-governing political entity within the Confederation. In addition to the rights and powers reserved to the separate sovereign states by the Constitution, Saxmere is according the following special rights and privileges.

Article 1 – Establishment of an Autonomous and Indigenous Government

1. The people of Saxmere may establish their own indigenous government in accordance with their native traditions and customs. Notwithstanding the requirements of Article VI, section 4 of the Constitution that each of the separate sovereign states maintain a republican form of government, the people of Saxmere shall have the right to establish for themselves a democratic monarchy, in keeping with their own customs and heritage.

2. Should the people of Saxmere establish a democratic monarchy, the monarch shall be style, according to their own custom, the Grand Duke of Saxmere and the government shall be known as the Autonomous Grand Duchy of Saxmere.

3. The form of government established in Saxmere shall be clearly proscribed in a written constitution.

Article 2 – Granting of Titles and Oaths

1. Notwithstanding the prohibition on granting titles and estates in Article III, sections 9 and 10, the people of Saxmere may grant unto a worthy citizen of upstanding character the hereditary title of Grand Duke and may grant unto other citizens of worth and character such inferior titles as may be deemed appropriate by the people.

2. All individuals accepting such titles must be citizens of the Confederation of good character and must swear an oath to support and defend both the constitution of Saxmere and the Constitution of the Confederation. Notwithstanding the provisions of Article VII of the Constitution, persons accepting titles inferior to that of the Grand Duke may also swear an oath to support the Grand Duke, in so far as he remains faithful to his own oath.

Article 3 – Supremacy of the Confederation Constitution and the Rights of the People

1. The Constitution of the Confederation remains the supreme law of all parts of the Confederation, including Saxmere.

2. Any government constituted by the people of Saxmere must protect the powers and rights of the people as described in Articles I and II of the Constitution.

Article 4 – Special Powers of the Autonomous Government

1. Notwithstanding the provisions of Article III, section 8 of the Constitution, the autonomous government of Saxmere shall have the power to coin money with a fixed equal value with Confederation sov and subject to the same fiscal and monetary controls imposed upon the sov;

To establish post offices and infrastructure, with a postage rate harmonized with that of the Confederation and without and customs restriction on the intrastate mails;

To raise and support its own armed forces, provided that such forces shall be subject to the same requirement as the militias of the separate sovereign states to enter into service to the Confederation at the request of Congress to suppress insurrections and repel invasions, provided that such forces maintain interoperability with the forces of the Confederation and subordinate themselves to command of the national armed forces when called into actual service for Confederation and provided that in all other respects those forces subscribe to and enforce to the provisions of the Constitution;

To appoint consuls to foreign nations to engage in commercial promotion, protection of shipping interests and the protection of its citizens, provided that no consuls shall be appointed to nations engaged in hostilities with the Confederation and that, in the absence of a Confederation diplomatic or consular presence, such consuls offer their services to all citizens of the Confederation without distinction;

2. Notwithstanding any preceding legislation passed by Congress, the autonomous government of Saxmere shall have the right to decline to enforce any economic or social legislation passed by Congress, except where such legislation deals with powers specifically assigned to Congress by the Constitution, except as previously noted, or where such legislation seeks to enforce the rights guaranteed to the people in Articles I and II of the Constitution.