Friday, Jan 27th, 2023, more than 66 republic loving patriots made time to come to Concord and make their voice heard on HCR1. (Not all of them made it into the picture!) 148 people from across NH remotely signed in to show their support!
District Captains from across the state emailed, texted, individually called petition signers for a call-to-action! TelePatriot volunteers joined the District Captains in making phone calls for personal invitations. Everyone even gathered new petition signers and invited them as well!
Regional Direct Susan Peters worked extensively behind the scenes jumping through hoops to support the NH COS team!
We had three generations make their support known! That is what COS is all about, grassroots! COS educates about civics and how to get involved at the local level. Seeing children and teens, the committee was impressed!
Prime Sponsor JD Bernardy
We had COS Leadership team State Director Al Brandano, District Captains Becky Giambarresi and Eric Strapp, Legislative Liaisons Terry Waldron and Joe Torelli, and many more Volunteer Activist testify, as well as Sponsors JD Bernardy, Brandon Phinney, Claudine Burnham, Kelley Potenza! Plus, we had many more submit testimony! You can read the testimonies that were submitted electronically here. All of the speakers had these things in common: they were professional, to the point, and persuasive!
"We don’t want to change our Constitution, we love our Constitution!" ~ Becky Giambaressi
"If men were angels, no government would be necessary," said State Director Al Brandano, citing James Madison. "You may ask me why, I ask you why not."
"We have all different groups here today that represent different viewpoints- US Term Limits, Wolf PAC, COS, all with different viewpoints." ~ Terry Waldron.
"You are just small amount of Rep out of 400, I hope you will give them the chance to vote for my children and grandchildren." ~ Eric Strapp
Joe Torelli shared NH's history,"... not many people knew we needed a federal constitution … they spent nine days debating three pages of the constitution when they met in Concord at the intersection of State Street and Church Street... let it [the idea] rest for nine months because people still needed to believe they needed a federal government... NH was 9th state to ratify the Constitution which enacted the constitution!"
Weeks prior to the hearing, we gave a recognition lapel pin to the sponsors as a "thank you." We let them know how proud we are of them for choosing to STAND and honor the ENTIRE constitution, not only upholding their oaths to office, but to the original intended ideals. We reminded them, "As a Legislator, you are the most powerful in all of government, as you can make laws to govern our lives here in NH, but also rein in Washington. No one else has as much power as you."
We let them know that we are thankful that they recognize their authority and that they act accordingly. "This lapel pin is just a small token of our appreciation."
This is the first time NH has had 9 Sponsors of the COS Resolution!
Co-Sponsors Claudine Burnham, Brandon Phinney, James Connor
If you see any of our Sponsors out and about, please thank them!
Rep Susan Porcelli Rep Kelley Potenza Rep Scott Wallace
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Rep Tom Plosaj Deborah Hobson
But wait, there is MORE!!!
Co-Founder and Senior Advisor Mr. Michael Farris, was in the house!! All of the House Reps and Senators received the golden invitation to meet with Mr. Farris!
The room erupted with laughter when Mr Farris shared how he changes America in a positive way, probably different than others- with his 10 children and 29 grandchildren!
"I have 10 kids and 29 grandkids. You take over America your way, I'll take over America my way," Farris joked. "Think of what would happen if I never disciplined my 10 children. They would grow up to be pretty rowdy and inappropriate... For over 200 years now, the parents – who are the states – have never used Article V to discipline the runaway of federal power. And this convention needs to be called to show the Congress, show the federal government, there are limits here," added Farris.
Everyone in Representatives Hall listened intently as expert Michael Farris shared his testimony. He included how the original constitution that we live by today, was NOT the product of a runaway convention. He shared this source text if you would like to learn more.
Again, there is still more unprecedented activity!
We had former House Reps testify on our behalf. The first, Honorable Fenton Groen who was a Senator at that time, took the Balanced Budget Article V off the table and told all Republicans to vote in favor. THEY DID! So, in 2012, HCR40 passed. This was not a COS Resolution, but great job for getting the ball rolling in NH! To learn more about why we have 3 topics on our Resolution, click here.
We also had Honorable Kurt Wuelper speak on our behalf as well as former Senator Jim Ruben. These former Legislators were persuasive as they shared logical facts mixed with professional passion!
"I have far more confidence in you than I do in members of Congress because I can walk up to you and talk with you folks." ~ former Senator Jim Ruben.
Next, there were two non petition signers who shared amazing evidence! One spoke on agency law - that basically the agents that the states send to any amending proposal convention ARE bound to uphold the state's directives. To learn more from leading expert Mr. Robert G. Natelson on the subject, click here.
The second gentleman who actually took the featured picture in this article, Samuel Fieldman, was from an organization called Wolf-PAC. He said he was neutral on HCR1 but supports all Article V's citing court cases proving that litigation has already been completed regarding the use of Article V. The bottom line, the courts will adjudicate if rules are not followed. Thank you Mr.Fieldman, for testifying to the truth and also taking our group photo! Robert G. Natelson shares more on the courts here.
Mr. Farris has previous stated the same, that courts won't get involved in politics, but will adjudicate if someone does not follow the rules. Listen more about the topic from Mr. Michael Farris at the North Carolina town hall.
Northern Regional Director of US Term Limits, Ken Quinn, spoke in favor of HCR 1, since term limits are included in our Resolution. He shared how he used to hand out the John Birch Society (JBS) dvd, but once he researched for himself, he found all lies.
"I called COS and apologized for handing out JBS dvd and apologized to my state legislators because I had handed them this dvd. What was in that dvd was nothing but lies, and I felt ashamed that I had been handing it out and spreading them." He quoted George Washington, you can read that quote here.
He did an amazing closing in support of HCR1!
All different groups came to rally for the use of Article V with Convention of States!
When this many groups can come together, you have a living example of how Convention of States is truly an American solution!
If you want to watch the replay, you can see the entire hearing here.
Friday, February 3rd, we will find out what the committee decides. We have asked them to vote OTP (ought to pass) so that the entire floor in the House can vote. Please contact your Legislator and ask them to ask the committee to vote OTP and support HCR 1 when it comes to the floor.
