Preparations for testimony were being made in 2023 but when it's that early, there are so many unknowns. Experience leads Legislative Liaison John Graboski so he knows how to prepare while going in with no visibility.
For the first time, John was able to lead and move ahead with both a Legislative Liaison (LL) Team and the COS Veterans Coalition going in with him.
The Vets got started back in October and November preparing the Letter Writing Campaign. They organized over 500 hand-written letters which were hand-delivered to Colorado Legislators on Surge Day, January 9th. This was organized by many Vets, namely COS Vet Director Art Sickler, LL Team Member Frank Vaughn, Lynn Ray and Lowell Harris.
Meanwhile, while the letters were being written throughout Colorado, LL Team Member and District Captain Mike Forbis was in Colorado Springs communicating with his District 14 State Representative Rose Pugliese. After months of correspondence and phone calls, Rep Pugliese agreed to sponsor the COS Resolution. She became the House Minority Leader in 2024 and began to do the work necessary in an uncooperative environment. This year she succeeded to secure ten other sponsors for the Article V COS Resolution.
HJR24-1024 SponsorsAs Minority Leader, she was allowed to bring only four issues to committee for a vote. Our Resolution was one of them.
Months went by where we had no Resolution number, no date, and no idea when we would need to be ready to go. We needed to prepare. John, Frank and Mike started preparing for any possibility.
A survey was created and sent out to supporters statewide to find the willing and able group of patriots who would testify. John, Frank and Mike were visiting the State Capitol regularly, investigating every possibility, and reporting back in the Leadership meetings and the Statewide Volunteer meetings.
They were researching the testimony strategies happening around the nation, looking for strengths and structures that would help us organize in Colorado. The three LL Team members were the Volunteers of the Month back in February for all of their impressive input and output.
This story, however, is about the Volunteers of the Month in April: John, Frank, Mike and the other twenty four Coloradans who testified before the House State, Civic, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee on Monday, April 22, 2024 in support of the Article V COS Resolution HJR24-1024.
LL Team member Mike Forbis had organized and prepared for weeks but once we got a date, time and place, volunteers were able to sign up at the State Legislative website. We then attended Zoom meetings and practiced our testimony, critiqued one another, and then showed up and carried it out.
That's really the only moment that matters in the end of this story. Who showed up and delivered, regardless of the circumstances and outcomes? Twenty seven Colorado supporters and Michael Farris showed up and delivered. This year advanced to a new standard that will be challenging to beat next year: a lot more people showed up to testify in person than online.
To compare, in support of the March 2023 Article V COS Resolution, we had five people show up in person, including two Legislative sponsors, and over a dozen people testified online, including COS Co-Founder Mark Meckler. There was one person who testified against COS last year.
Now in April 2024, we had twenty supporters testify in person, including Minority Leader Rep Rose Pugliese and also Kevin Lundberg (State Senator 2009-2019). There were eight supporters who testified online, including COS Co-Founder Mike Farris. Two of our online supporters did not practice or prepare with us but they were on our team nonetheless and we're grateful. Three people testified against COS this year.
We were voted against on party lines 8-3 and the Resolution was tabled for this year. It was a hard-fought long game and we knew our audience was organized and unfriendly to our cause. The biggest win for us is that our testimony kept Legislators sitting and listening for hours about Convention of States objectives from testimony representing districts across our state. We impressed them with our peaceful and organized message. We educated them with the truth about our objectives. We were prepared and our individual testimonies were compelling, honest, personal and informational.
The Legislators who opposed our message want federal overreach. They want unlimited spending of The People's money. They want to rule without accountability but with impunity.
I believe our State Director Laura Neimeister said it best after the Capitol Rally on April 25th: "they need to understand it's our money, it's not theirs. The government has no money, they just take it from us."
The same can be said about power, about authorization, about accountability. The government wants to brainwash the public with simple but dangerous lies: the government gives us money, the government rules over us and that we are accountable to the government.
According to the law of the land, which is the U.S. Constitution, it's the People's money, the People's authority and the People's Republic. The People want America back. Chaos and corruption overshadows our Republic.
Thank you to Laura Neimeister and the other twenty six Colorado Patriots who testified before Committee on April 22, 2024. Thanks also to COS Co-Founder Mike Farris for his informative and experienced support. His knowledge was a great asset that he generously provided on that day.
We're going to do it again in 2025. That is, we're going to show up and deliver, regardless of the circumstances and outcomes. Be a part of our Grassroots Army. Take action and volunteer with the best group of We the People in the state!
