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HJRES 54
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Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States providing that the rights protected and extended by the Constitution are the rights of natural persons only.

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States providing that the rights protected and extended by the Constitution are the rights of natural persons only.

Introduced Feb 12, 2025

Latest action (Feb 12, 2025) Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

Referred to
Judiciary Committee
Policy area
Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues
Issues
Civil Rights
Legislative subjects (3)
Constitution and constitutional amendmentsElections, voting, political campaign regulationFirst Amendment rights

Summary

This joint resolution proposes a constitutional amendment establishing that constitutional rights belong only to natural persons, not artificial entities such as corporations or limited liability companies. The amendment would authorize federal, state, and local governments to regulate, limit, or prohibit campaign contributions and expenditures to ensure all citizens have equal access to the political process regardless of economic status, with all contributions and expenditures publicly disclosed. The amendment would specify that spending money to influence elections is not protected speech under the First Amendment. It would not restrict freedom of the press. The amendment would take effect upon ratification by three-fourths of state legislatures.

AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.

Sponsor (1)
78 cosponsors

Actions (2)
  1. Feb 12, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. · house
  2. Feb 12, 2025 Introduced in House

More bills on these subjects (8)

Other bills that carry the most legislative subjects in common with this one (topical discovery — distinct from the procedural related bills above).

  • HR 9770 — Continuing Appropriations Act, 2027 (shares 2 subjects)
  • HR 7148 — Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 (shares 2 subjects)
  • HR 7006 — Financial Services and General Government and National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2026 (shares 2 subjects)
  • S 2882 — Continuing Appropriations and Extensions and Other Matters Act, 2026 (shares 2 subjects)
  • HR 5450 — Continuing Appropriations and Extensions and Other Matters Act, 2026 (shares 2 subjects)
  • HJRES 16 — Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States extending the right to vote to citizens sixteen years of age or older. (shares 2 subjects)
  • S 51 — Washington, D.C. Admission Act (shares 2 subjects)
  • HJRES 13 — Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States limiting the pardon power of the President. (shares 2 subjects)

Similar bills (6)

Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.

  • HJRES 31 — Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to prohibit persons who are not citizens, nationals, or lawful permanent residents of the United States from voting in elections. · Introduced Jan 31, 2025 · Cong. 119 74%
  • HJRES 103 — Proposing an amendment to the Constitution to protect American citizenship. · Introduced Jun 30, 2025 · Cong. 119 69%
  • HJRES 127 — Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to parental rights. · Introduced Sep 19, 2025 · Cong. 119 68%
  • HJRES 107 — Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to prohibit voting in Federal, State, or local elections by individuals who are not citizens of the United States. · Introduced Jul 16, 2025 · Cong. 119 67%
  • HJRES 112 — Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States related to the public debt. · Introduced Aug 15, 2025 · Cong. 119 66%
  • HJRES 6 — Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to provide for balanced budgets for the Government. · Introduced Jan 3, 2025 · Cong. 119 65%

Text versions (1)
  • Introduced in House · Feb 12, 2025

Only one text version is on file, so there’s no earlier version to compare against yet.

Full text

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

February 12, 2025

Ms. Jayapal (for herself, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Williams of Georgia, Mr. Tonko, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Panetta, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. Doggett, Ms. Tlaib, Mrs. Ramirez, Ms. Clarke of New York, Ms. Norton, Mr. Magaziner, Ms. Velazquez, Mr. Moulton, Mr. Castro of Texas, Mr. Khanna, Ms. McCollum, Ms. Brown, Mr. Peters, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Ms. Salinas, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. Carbajal, Ms. Chu, Mr. Vargas, Mr. Frost, Ms. Adams, and Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania) submitted the following joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

JOINT RESOLUTION

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States providing that the rights protected and extended by the Constitution are the rights of natural persons only.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), That the following article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States:

“Article—

“Section 1. The rights and privileges protected and extended by the Constitution of the United States are the rights and privileges of natural persons only. An artificial entity, such as a corporation, limited liability company, or other entity, established by the laws of any State, the United States, or any foreign state shall have no rights under the Constitution and are subject to regulation by the People, through Federal, State, or local law. The privileges of an artificial entity shall be determined by the People, through Federal, State, or local law, and shall not be construed to be inherent or inalienable. “Section 2. Federal, State, and local government shall regulate, limit, or prohibit contributions and expenditures, including a candidate’s own contributions and expenditures, to ensure that all citizens, regardless of their economic status, have access to the political process, and that no person gains, as a result of that person’s money, substantially more access or ability to influence in any way the election of any candidate for public office or any ballot measure. Federal, State, and local governments shall require that any permissible contributions and expenditures be publicly disclosed. The judiciary shall not construe the spending of money to influence elections to be speech under the First Amendment. “Section 3. This amendment shall not be construed to abridge the right secured by the Constitution of the United States of the freedom of the press.”. <all>

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