Do our elected representatives in Congress really have our best interests in mind?
If the most recent action by the House Education and Labor Committee is any indication, the answer is no.
Democrats on the committee just blocked a resolution that would have banned money from President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package from going to entities tied to communist China. The amendment was introduced by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) just days after a report that the University of California Berkeley had deep connections with Chinese companies researching data analytics and self-driving cars.
“This amendment would have prohibited academic institutions from funding if they have a partnership with any entity owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by the government of the People’s Republic of China or organized under the laws of the Chinese Communist Party,” Stefanik said.
This seems reasonable enough. Why would Americans want taxpayer dollars going to organizations that help one of our most dangerous enemies on the world stage?
But the Democrats disagreed. Rather than supporting the interests of the American people, these representatives sided with the Chinese government and the big-money colleges and universities to which they donate. It's a perfect, terrifying example of how money and special interests influence the decisions of our "representatives," and the American people have a right to demand decisions that truly reflect their interests.
But here's the problem: this isn't a strictly partisan issue. Republicans have their own special interests to which they're beholden, so simply electing congresspeople from a different party won't solve the problem.
We need to think bigger, which is why millions have joined the effort to call a Convention of States.
An Article V Convention of States can propose constitutional amendments that decentralize power away from Washington, D.C., and spread that power among all 50 states. With power decentralized, special interest groups will have a much more limited ability to influence the policies that affect all Americans.
Under the current balance of power, China and their allies in academia must only influence a few legislators on congressional committees to claim billions of taxpayer dollars. By contrast, if they had to lobby committees in all 50 states, their efforts would reap far smaller rewards, and the American people would be able to better control how their money is spent.
We'll never eliminate special interests, whether foreign or domestic. But we can significantly limit their influence by decentralizing power away from D.C., and we can do it with a Convention of States.
Sign the petition below to get involved!
