Says that the "28th Amendment" prohibits Congress from creating laws that apply to U.S. citizens but not to them, and vice-versa.
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Viral Meme makes up new Constitutional amendment
A viral meme shared on Facebook displays the "28th Amendment" to the Constitution, which apparently bars Congress from enacting laws that don’t apply to them but apply to the rest of the U.S. population.
There’s just one tiny snag: The Constitution only has 27 Amendments.
Despite the fabrication, the meme has been shared over 74,000 times since October 22, 2019.
Under the title "Amendment 28" the meme’s text reads:
"Congress shall make no law that applies to its citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the Senators and Representatives: and, Congress shall make no law that applies to Senators and Representatives that does not apply equally to the Citizens of the United States."
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Above that, it says: "The 28th Amendment hasn’t been held up in years."
The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)
No such Amendment exists in the U.S. Constitution. The final one, Amendment 27, is about congressional pay.
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Some politicians have proposed amendments similar to the one in the post, but all have failed.
In 2013, Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky submitted a joint resolution that proposed an amendment to the Constitution with wording that was almost identical to the post. It read: "Congress shall make no law applicable to a citizen of the United States that is not equally applicable to Congress."
The bill never made it out of committee and failed again when it was reintroduced in the Senate the following year. Similar proposals introduced in the House around the same time also failed.
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Our Sources
Facebook post, Oct. 22, 2019
GovInfo.gov, Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, Accessed Dec. 11, 2019
FactCheck.org. Meme Makes Up New Amendment, Dec. 4, 2019
Congress.gov, S.J.Res.25, October 11, 2013
Congress.gov, H.J.Res.97; H.J.Res.98, Oct. 22-23, 2013
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Viral Meme makes up new Constitutional amendment
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