Twentieth Amendment Section Four Study Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3950 To establish a panel of constitutional experts to recommend to Congress an appropriate process for providing for the case of the death of a candidate in a contingent presidential or vice-presidential election. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 11, 2020 Mr. PORTMAN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration A BILL To establish a panel of constitutional experts to recommend to Congress an appropriate process for providing for the case of the death of a candidate in a contingent presidential or vice-presidential election. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Twentieth Amendment 4 Section Four Study Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:52 Jun 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3950.IS S3950 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3950 IS SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF A PANEL. 1 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the 2 ‘‘Twentieth Amendment Section Four Panel’’ (in this Act 3 referred to as the ‘‘Panel’’). 4 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Panel shall be composed 6 of 6 constitutional experts, of whom— 7 (A) 1 shall be appointed by the majority 8 leader of the Senate; 9 (B) 1 shall be appointed by the minority 10 leader of the Senate; 11 (C) 1 shall be appointed jointly by the ma- 12 jority and minority leader of the Senate; 13 (D) 1 shall be appointed by the Speaker of 14 the House of Representatives; 15 (E) 1 shall be appointed by minority leader 16 of the House of Representatives; and 17 (F) 1 shall be appointed jointly by the 18 Speaker of the House of Representatives and 19 the minority leader of the House of Representa- 20 tives. 21 (2) DATE.—The appointments of the members 22 of the Panel shall be made not later than 180 days 23 after the date of enactment of this Act. 24 (3) VACANCY.—Any vacancy occurring in the 25 membership of the Panel shall be filled in the same 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:52 Jun 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3950.IS S3950 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3950 IS manner in which the original appointment was 1 made. 2 (4) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIRPERSON.— 3 The Panel shall select a Chairperson and Vice 4 Chairperson from among the members of the Panel. 5 (c) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Panel shall be to 6 recommend to Congress model legislation, which shall pro- 7 vide for an appropriate process, pursuant to section 4 of 8 the Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitu- 9 tion, to resolve any vacancy created by the death of a can- 10 didate in a contingent presidential or vice-presidential 11 election. 12 (d) REPORTS.— 13 (1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 14 after the date on which all of the appointments have 15 been made under subsection (b)(2), the Panel shall 16 submit to Congress an interim report containing the 17 Panel’s findings, conclusions, and recommendations. 18 (2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 6 months 19 after the submission of the interim report under 20 paragraph (1), the Panel shall submit to Congress a 21 final report containing the Panel’s findings, conclu- 22 sions, and recommendations. 23 (e) MEETINGS; INFORMATION.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:52 Jun 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3950.IS S3950 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3950 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—Meetings of the Panel shall 1 be held at the Law Library of Congress. 2 (2) INFORMATION.—The Panel may secure 3 from the Law Library of Congress such information 4 as the Panel considers necessary to carry out the 5 provisions of this section. 6 (f) FUNDS.— 7 (1) COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.—Members of 8 the Panel shall receive no compensation. 9 (2) OTHER FUNDING.—No amounts shall be 10 appropriated for the purposes of this Act, except for 11 any amounts strictly necessary for the Law Library 12 of Congress to execute its responsibilities under sub- 13 section (e). 14 (g) TERMINATION.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The panel established under 16 subsection (a) shall terminate 90 days after the date 17 on which the panel submits the final report required 18 under subsection (d)(2). 19 (2) RECORDS.—Upon termination of the panel, 20 all of its records shall become the records of the Sec- 21 retary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of 22 Representatives. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:52 Jun 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3950.IS S3950 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS