WE THE PEOPLE of the Convention of States movement declare that the United States government has failed to secure the rights of the American people as called for in the Declaration of Independence. Instead, the federal government, dominated by career politicians, has usurped power from the people and the states over many decades, effectively dismantling the principles of federalism that the founding fathers forged into the U.S. Constitution.
Such circumstances necessitate a recurrence to the principles upon which these United States were founded:
- That all persons are created equal.
- That the equality of persons is derived from the equal standing of their individual rights; these rights include life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness.
- That these rights are not established by government; government is established, with the consent of the governed, to secure these preexisting rights.
- That whenever government fails in securing these rights, it is the duty of the people to alter the government to better secure these rights.
We now issue this Open Letter to the States to communicate our grievances with the federal government:
- It has amassed a $30+ trillion national debt with $150 trillion in unfunded liabilities.
- It regularly fails to balance its budget, as most states are required to do.
- It is not held to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, as all businesses are.
- Congress is not required to limit all bills to a single subject, as most states are, leading to massive omnibus federal spending bills.
- Congress unconstitutionally delegates its sole authority to make laws to an unelected bureaucracy.
- The judicial branch unconstitutionally encroaches on the sole authority of Congress to make laws by legislating from the bench.
- The executive branch unconstitutionally encroaches on the sole authority of Congress to make laws through executive orders which change drastically from one administration to another.
- Federal elected officials are accountable to their political parties and special interest groups rather than to their constituents.
- Congress regularly oversteps its constitutionally limited powers in the areas of education, healthcare, energy, the environment and many more.
- It has failed to secure the U.S. border, thus increasing drug and human trafficking and allowing a flow of illegal immigrants who become reliant on services funded by taxpayer dollars.
- It has, at times, made efforts to undermine the Bill of Rights, weaken the justice system, disarm the populace, suppress free speech, regulate religious freedom, and control the mainstream media narrative.
- The unconstitutional Department of Education promotes Critical Race Theory (CRT) and radical sexual/gender ideology in schools.
- It promotes woke ideologies as a replacement for Judeo-Christian values and patriotic national identity.
- Federal officials make prominent government appointments on the basis of race, sex, or sexual orientation rather than strictly on legitimate professional qualifications.
- It employs destructive Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) scoring, which run counter to a free market economy.
- Congress and unelected bureaucrats force health mandates upon the citizenry.
- Federal officials execute unconstitutional government surveillance of law-abiding citizens.
- It suppresses domestic energy independence, causing high fuel prices, food shortages, national blackouts, and dependence on imports from unfriendly countries.
- Federal officials attempt to embrace international treaties that threaten the sovereignty of the United States and override domestic laws.
- Federal officials weaponize federal agencies to suppress political opponents.
- Federal officials have threatened to dismantle the Electoral College and pack the Supreme Court.
- In addition, the federal government has squandered the wealth of its citizenry through unfair and excessive taxation in the name of unconstitutional social programs, an excessive welfare state, expenditures for political gain, and massive deceitful spending disguised as a rescue strategy.
On September 15, 2022, we will recognize the 235th anniversary of the unanimous adoption of Article V into the Constitution, and we, the undersigned, believe Article V holds the key to correcting these and other abuses of power.
Article V defines the process for amending the Constitution. Amendments can be proposed by Congress with a 2/3 vote of each house or by a Convention of the States when requested by 2/3 (34) of the state legislatures. Any proposed amendment, whether proposed by Congress or a Convention of the States, must be ratified by 3/4 (38) states before it becomes effective as part of the constitution.
We hereby call on our elected state legislators to exercise their authority under Article V of the U.S. Constitution to propose amendments that Congress would never propose - placing fiscal restraints on the federal government, imposing term limits on federal officials, and limiting the power, scope, and jurisdiction of the federal government.
Nineteen of the 34 necessary states have already exercised their constitutional authority to call for an amendment-proposing convention to restrain our out-of-control federal government.
We, the undersigned, hereby urge the remaining states to rise to defend our Republic against the growing threat of a tyrannical federal government and reclaim their rightful constitutional powers by calling for a Convention of States.
Convention of States Action is a 501c(4) non-profit organization working across the nation to encourage state legislators to call an Article V Convention of the States in order to limit federal government authority and return power back to local and state governments and, above all, to The People, from which government derives its authority.
