Bricker Amendment

by The Government of the United States of America

The Declaration of Independence | The Articles of Confederation | The Constitution | The Bill of Rights | Other Amendments | Unsuccessful Amendments

S.J. Res. 130, 82nd Congress - February 7, 1952

• Section 1. No treaty or executive agreement shall be made respecting the rights of citizens of the United States protected by this Constitution or abridging or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.
• Section 2. No treaty or executive agreement shall vest in any international organization or in any foreign power any of the legislative, executive, or judicial powers vested by this Constitution in the Congress, the President, and in the courts of the United States, respectively.
• Section 3. No treaty or executive agreement shall alter or abridge the laws of the United States or the Constitution of laws of the several unless, and then only to the extent that, Congress shall so provide by joint resolution.
• Section 4. Executive agreements shall not be made in lieu of treaties.
  • Executive agreements shall, if not sooner terminated, expire automatically one year after the end of the term of office for which the President making the agreement shall have been elected, but the Congress may, at the request of any President, extend for the duration of the term of such President the life of any such agreement made or extended during the next preceding Presidential term.
  • The President shall publish all executive agreements except that those which in his judgment require secrecy shall be submitted to appropriate committees of the Congress in lieu of publication.
• Section 5. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

S.J. Res. 1, 83rd Congress - January 7, 1953

• Section 1. A provision of a treaty which denies or abridges any right enumerated in this Constitution shall not be of any force or effect.
• Section 2. No treaty shall authorize or permit any foreign power or any international organization to supervise, control, or adjudicate rights of citizens of the United States within the United States enumerated in this Constitution or any other matter essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of the United States.
• Section 3. A treaty shall become effective as internal law in the United States only through the enactment of appropriate legislation by the Congress.
• Section 4. All executive or other agreements between the President and any international organization, foreign power, or official thereof shall be made only in the manner and to the extent to be prescribed by law. Such agreements shall be subject to the limitations imposed on treaties, or the making of treaties, by this article.
• Section 5. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

S.J. Res. 43, 83rd Congress - February 16, 1953

• Section 1. A provision of a treaty which conflicts with any provision of this Constitution shall not be of any force or effect.
  • A treaty shall become effective as internal law in the United States only through legislation which would be valid in the absence of treaty.
  • Executive agreements shall be subject to regulation by the Congress and to the limitations imposed on treaties by this article.
• Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

S.J. Res. 1, as reported by the Judiciary Committee - June 15, 1953

• Section 1. A provision of a treaty which conflicts with this Constitution shall not be of any force or effect.
• Section 2. A treaty shall become effective as internal law in the United States only through legislation which would be valid in the absence of treaty.
• Section 3. Congress shall have power to regulate all executive and other agreements with any foreign power or international organization. All such agreements shall be subject to the limitations imposed on treaties by this article.
• Section 4. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

George Substitute To S.J. Res. 1 - January 27, 1954

• Section 1. A provision of a treaty or other international agreement which conflicts with this Constitution shall not be of any force or effect.
• Section 2. An international agreement other than a treaty shall become effective as internal law in the United States only by an act of the Congress.

Ferguson-Knowland Substitute To S.J. Res. 1 (February 2, 1954)

• Section 1. A provision of a treaty or other international agreement which conflicts with this Constitution shall not be of any force or effect.
• Section 2. Clause 2 of Article VI of the Constitution of the United States is hereby amended by adding at the end thereof the following: 'Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this clause, no treaty made after the establishment of this Constitution shall be the supreme law of the land unless made in pursuance of this Constitution.
• Section 3. On the question of advising and consenting to the ratification of a treaty the vote shall be determined by yeas and nays and the names of the persons voting for and against shall be entered on the Journal of the Senate.

Bricker Substitute To S.J. Res. 1 - February 4, 1954

• Section 1. Clause 2 of Article VI of the Constitution of the United States is hereby amended by adding at the end thereof the following: 'Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this clause, no treaty made after the establishment of this Constitution shall be the supreme law of the land unless made in pursuance of this Constitution.
• Section 2. A provision of a treaty or other international agreement which conflicts with this Constitution shall not be of any force or effect.
• Section 3. A treaty or other international agreement shall become effective as internal law in the United States only through legislation by the Congress unless in advising and consenting to a treaty the Senate, by a vote of two-thirds of the Senators present and voting, shall provide that such treaty may become effective as internal law without legislation by Congress.
• Section 4. On the question of advising and consenting to the ratification of a treaty the vote shall be determined by yeas and nays and the names of the persons voting for and against shall be entered on the Journal of the Senate.

S.J. Res. 181, 83rd Congress - August 7, 1954

• Section 1. A provision of a treaty or other international agreement which conflicts with this Constitution, or which is not made in pursuance thereof, shall not be the supreme law of the land nor be of any force or effect.
• Section 2. A treaty or other international agreement shall become effective as internal law in the United States only through legislation valid in the absence of international agreement.
• Section 3. On the question of advising and consenting to the ratification of a treaty, the vote shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against shall be entered on the Journal of the Senate.

S.J. Res. 1, 84th Congress - January 6, 1955

This was identical to S.J. Res. 181, 83rd Congress.

S.J. Res. 3, 85th Congress - January 7, 1957

• Section 1. A provision of a treaty or other international agreement not made in pursuance of this Constitution shall have no force or effect. This section shall not apply to treaties made prior to the effective date of this Constitution.
• Section 2. A treaty or other international agreement shall have legislative effect within the United States as a law thereof only through legislation, except to the extent that the Senate shall provide affirmatively, in its resolution advising and consenting to a treaty, that the treaty shall have legislative effect.
• Section 3. An international agreement other than a treaty shall have legislative effect within the United States as a law thereof only through legislation valid in the absence of such an international agreement.
• Section 4. On the question of advising and consenting to the ratification of a treaty, the vote shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against shall be entered on the Journal of the Senate.