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Of the Time, Duration and Place of holding the General Congress.
ART. 67. The general congress shall meet every year on the
1st of January, in the place designated by law. The regulations for the interior
government of the same, shall prescribe the formalities previous to the opening
of the same, as well as those to be observed at its installation.
ART. 68. The President of the Confederation shall assist at this opening, and shall pronounce a discourse suitable to this important act; to which, the presiding officer of the congress shall reply in general terms.
ART. 69. The ordinary sessions of congress shall beheld daily, without any other interruption than solemn days of festivals; and in order to suspend its meetings for more than two days, the consent of both chambers is necessary.
ART. 70. The chambers shall reside in the same place; and they cannot remove to another, without previously agreeing on such removal, as well as the time and manner of effecting it, and designating the same point for their reunion. But if both agree on the removal, but differ as to time, mode and place, the President of the States shall decide the question, by choosing one of the places in dispute.
ART. 71. The general congress shall close its sessions annually
on the 15th of April, with the same formalities prescribed for its opening,
with the faculty of prolonging it for thirty working days whenever they deem
it necessary, or the President of the Federation may request it.
ART. 72. Whenever the general congress may unite in extra session, it shall be composed of the same deputies and senators which formed the ordinary session, and who will confine their attention exclusively to the objects for which they were convoked; but if these be not disposed of at the day appointed for the regular session, the extra session must be closed, and the points pending left to the decision of the ordinary congress.
ART. 73. The resolutions taken by congress relative to the change, prorogation, or suspension of its sessions, according to the three preceding articles, must be communicated to the president, who will cause them to be executed without making any observations thereon.
