In an article, which Christian Gomez wrote for the John Birch Society regarding the convening of a “Convention of States” under Article V, he indicated that such an action would threaten the liberty of all American citizens.
Mr. Gomez further stated that “there are some conservatives clamoring for a convention to amend the Constitution (a Constitutional Convention) that also possesses the power to entirely rewrite the Constitution.”
However, nowhere in Article V is the term “Constitutional Convention” or the word “Constitutional” found. Nowhere in Article V is it stated or implied that Article V refers to the convening of a “Constitutional Convention.”
Rather, Article V clearly states that “The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states,”
Nowhere in Article V is there constitutional authority to convene a “Constitutional Convention,” authority to rewrite the Constitution, or authority to abolish the Constitution. Article V is very clear regarding the limits to which Article V may be implemented “for proposing amendments.” No more, no less.
In his article, Mr. Gomez states that “an Article V convention is not the mechanism to take back and rein in our federal government, it’s the principal vehicle to hijack and irrevocably destroy our Republic.”
In response to this claim, one need only refer back to Article V, in which a safety net has been included. Article V requires that once a Convention of States has convened and established proposed Amendments, those proposed Amendments must then be ratified by three-quarters of the states.
It is clear that the Founding Fathers understood the potential for the destruction of our Constitution if Congress or state legislators had the authority to simply create a new Amendment which would then immediately become a part of the Constitution.
It is for this reason that, in their wisdom, they included in Article V the need for ratification by three-quarters of the existing states.
It is evident that the Convention of States movement is on sound ground in their effort to solicit the passage of a Resolution from the required 34 states.
