Wednesday, February 23rd was our first in-person testimony in Annapolis since 2020, and our first time back to the Senate since 2018. For many, it was the first time many of us had seen each other face-to-face!
The Maryland Team did a great job testifying in support of SJ08, introduced by our sponsor, Senator Justin Ready (MD-D5), to the Education, Health & Environmental Affairs Committee. COS National ran us “live” on Facebook! We’re working on the video of the session to make it easier to share, but in the meantime it is available here from the COS Project's YouTube channel.
We’ll need to wait to see what the Senate will do next--and as always, get everyone you know to contact their legislators with messages of support using this link.
Remember to personalize the message and ask that the COS Resolution be favorably passed out of committee to the floor for debate and a vote!
There were so many ways to be inspired yesterday. People took time off from their lives and work to drive for hours and then wait more hours to demonstrate to our legislators that we care about our country.
- Our two essay contest winners, 10-year-old Boy Scout Cody White and 12-year-old Ellie Weakley offered testimony on Article V to the Senate Committee along with 17 other Convention of States volunteers.
- Carrie Wolford - a Daughter of the American Revolution - and her family of 5 made the 3-1/2-hour drive from District 1 to Annapolis.
- Seth Lipko experienced the hearings for the first time and found it exhilarating. He testified to his concerns over the nation's economic stability.
- Deirdre Elvis-Peterson, drove from Baltimore to testify of love for her adopted country and her concern for her 5 children in degraded public schools.
In total, over 65 supporters in attendance filled the Senate hearing room and the overflow lobby. Another, 400+ supporters tuned in to the live stream.
We are honored by the sacrifices our supporters and volunteers made: the hours spent on the road, organizing on Zoom meetings, or on the computer crafting the messages, doing the research, and getting the word out--day-in, day-out, over the months and years.
While these sacrifices are not of the same scale as our forebears suffered at Valley Forge, nor at the same scale many of our countrymen and their families have faced in recent years, our supporters’ and volunteers’ sacrifices are significant, important, and greatly appreciated.
There is so much more to do, to get organized, to learn how to be self-governing. Yesterday we made great strides, and it is thanks to all our supporters and volunteers. Stay tuned for future announcements with the date for the House of Delegates hearing.
Our legislators should take responsibility and do their duty to call for an Article V Convention of States. We need the Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee to favorably pass the resolution to the floor of the Senate for debate and a vote.
Send your legislators a personalized, polite message asking that the COS resolution be passed out of committee to the floor for debate and a vote!
And if your legislator supports or sponsors our Convention of States resolution, please thank them for their support!
