I heard a statement some time ago that generally people do not take bad actions out of malice, rather they take them because they are not aware of all the facts necessary to make an informed decision.
A lack of knowledge about Article V and the Constitution is a clear demonstration of this concept.
I once heard a state legislator state he was concerned that state legislators were moving outside their area of business and into the business of the federal government.
The fact is that Article V gives specific authority to the states to both petition Congress to make a call for an amendments convention and to take part in the said convention.
In truth the states have more authority under Article V than the federal government because they can both propose constitutional amendments as found under the second clause of Article V, in addition to ratifying amendments agreed upon at the convention.
Seeing how amendments can be proposed by a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress, it must still be ratified by three-fourths of the states. One can easily see that Article V gives more power for the states to be a check and balance on the federal government.
Therefore the states can and were always meant to play a large role in amending the Constitution under Article V whenever it became necessary.
The person who made the statement about the states moving outside their area of business was not aware of the facts regarding the duties of the states granted in the Constitution itself.
It is the duty of the states to provide another system of checks and balances to the federal government. This is how our system of federalism was meant to work.
Article V is the mechanism by which the states are to check the power of the federal government. Only through an amendments convention might the states obtain an amendment that could limit or rein in the power of the federal government.
It is just not rational to believe that any governing body would willingly reduce or limit its own power. It is clear that all of us who support an Article V amendments convention need to do a lot of studying and sharing these truths.
We absolutely cannot sit idly by and allow a lack of information--or misinformation spread by malicious individuals who oppose Article V--to cloud the minds of our state lawmakers. If we do, we cannot blame them for making uninformed decisions that are contrary to the Constitution.
An Article V convention will never happen without our continuing effort to help inform our legislators about the states' role in Article V of the Constitution.
Our state legislators simply do not have the luxury of time to do the research necessary to become informed on all aspects of the Constitution. I see this process as our single biggest task for making forward progress.
I challenge you to call your legislator and voice your support for a Convention of States. Find out if they need more information. Don't worry if you can't provide all the answers. You have the country's largest grassroots army to back you up. If necessary, just tell them you will get back to them and let us know what resources you need.
It's a small act of courage that carries a lot of weight. This page can help you find your state legislator's contact information and even sample talking points.
