The past quarter has given us more cause for hope than ever before that the upcoming legislative session will finally be the one in which South Carolina passes the Convention of States resolution!
September saw our key leaders attend a transformative COS training conference hosted by staff.
South Carolina patriots traveled to Knoxville, Tennessee, on the weekend of September 7 for a Convention of States training conference.
They joined with 60 volunteers from across 15 states to learn and share strategies for building an army of grassroots activists and ways to reignite the American spirit of liberty and self-governance.
Later that same month came an even more auspicious event: a September 22 meeting for all South Carolina leadership in Lexington with our resolution’s author and Chief Sponsor, Rep. Bill Taylor (H86 - Aiken).
Rep. Taylor thanked the COS for awarding him the Abraham Lincoln Award for Leadership toward a More Perfect Union by posting:
“I'm Honored! I believe the privilege of public service is its own reward. In politics I more often expect barbs and many challenges, and don't look for public accolades. So, imagine my surprise when I was called to the stage in a New Orleans legislative conference to be recognized for my efforts to put limits on the federal government by calling a convention of states to propose amendments under Article V of the United States Constitution.”
At this meeting, Robert sketched out a bold new strategy for obtaining passage of the COS resolution in South Carolina. The most important observation Robert made was that all South Carolina state senators are up for reelection in 2020.
As a result, they will be closely listening to their constituents in 2019, and those who represent themselves as conservatives will be looking for ways to re-establish their conservative bona fides with their electorate.
Robert also coined some memorable phrases worthy of repetition as we work to persuade our legislators:
“Congress is a bigger danger to the Second Amendment than a Convention of the States”
“The Founders supported Article V, but warned us against political parties.”
"There is nothing ¾ of the States would ratify that scares me.”
“Don’t be afraid of a tool the founders gave us.”
Major Endorsements for COS just keep rolling in!
The month of October saw six big COS endorsements from academics, activists, entrepreneurs, evangelicals, and legal experts: CEO Pete Coors, Dr. James Dobson, James O’Keefe, Charlie Kirk, Judge Andrew Napolitano, and Professor Rob Natelson.
O'Keefe has pledged his life to exposing corruption in Washington, D.C., while the business experience of Coors led him to the conclusion that D.C. will never fix itself. Both have named Convention of States as the solution as big as the problem!
Additionally, the leading expert on Article V has voiced his support: Professor Robert G. Natelson! He has advised many organizations, and we have often cited his work, but never before has he officially endorsed an Article V movement...until now!
Charlie spoke of how we bring attention to the Constitution and our inalienable rights.
He believes, as we do, that Article V is the only answer we have to stop judicial overreach, impose fiscal responsibility on the government, and term limit the career politicians.
Knowledge is power. The more we educate the public, the faster we'll get our resolutions passed.
Dr. Dobson’s very powerful endorsement should especially resonate among South Carolina's church communities that might otherwise eschew “politics."
Dr. Dobson: “This is my right to worship as I want. This is my right to raise my children as my spouse and I feel it should be done and my right to assemble with others and all…those things are protected in the Constitution. But it is changing, and we've got people that are staying in power long after the Founding Fathers thought that they would. They would never have expected career politicians.”…“Our country is in serious jeopardy. I really do believe that… That worries me for my grandchildren and future generations. I ask you to take this seriously and do what you can to protect this great country.”
The Convention of States Project announces that Dr. James Dobson, Dr. Tim Clinton and Jenna Ellis, Esq. have issued the following joint statement on behalf of the James Dobson Family Institute:
“Unfortunately, an insidious power grab has been underway in our nation’s capital for many years and it has inflicted great damage upon our constitutional republic. Unelected bureaucrats, activist judges, and the ever-expanding scope, reach and invasion of the federal government into the lives of all Americans has far surpassed what our Founders ever intended.
“Thankfully the drafters of our Constitution built in safeguards to restore the size of government to its proper limits through amendments as outlined in Article V of the U.S. Constitution. Of the two paths an amendment can travel, all 27 have thus far been initiated in Congress. A Convention of States is the second path, which doesn’t allow a rewriting of the Constitution as some have suggested, but rather allows the state legislatures to propose needed amendments to restrain the federal government when Congress fails to act.
“The genius of our Founding Fathers is on full display in the Convention of the States Article V process, which empowers We the People at a local level to continue preserving and protecting the fundamental rights of every individual and keeping America’s limited government in check. Thirty-four states must call a convention to order and already 12 have passed the petition. A Convention of the States can and should be called.
Why We Exist
Volunteers have really delivered with many great legislative contacts this month.
Upstate Region
District Captains Gary Taylor and Bob Schnaible and local constituents met for lunch with another supporting state senator on October 25. Great job, team!
Midlands Region
Volunteer Kelly Steelman and her husband met with another supporting state representative. This state representative agreed to work for passage of the resolution. Great job, Kelly!
Coastal Region
Finally, a major milestone has been achieved. Over 25,000 petitions have been signed by South Carolina residents. Keep it up, team!
As a direct result of engagements such as these in the past several months, we have added five new state representatives and two new state senators as supporters of our resolution!
SOUTH CAROLINA CONVENTION OF STATES TIMELINE
- October 2013: South Carolina and Virginia simultaneously introduced first-in-the nation COS resolutions. Rep. Bill Taylor was the initial sponsor and will remain its chief proponent.
- 2014: Georgia, Alaska, and Florida became the first states to pass the COS resolution. In South Carolina, we were able to get the resolution passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
- 2015 and 2016: Opposition from one House Judiciary Committee Chairman blocked our progress.
- 2017: Sam McDonald took over for Claude O’Donovan as our Legislative Liaison. We were blocked again by the opposition of the House Judiciary Committee Chairman.
- 2018: We were promised a vote in the House Judiciary Committee, but the Chairman ran out the clock on us. A few months later, he announced he would not stand for reelection.
- 2019: We believe that the roadblock is gone, and we have the best chance yet for passage.
