The committed and dedicated work of COS grassroots leaders across the country is yielding tangible results -- even in seemingly unlikely places.
For the period between March 18-24, 1,811 Americans signed the COS petition calling upon their state legislatures to adopt a resolution calling for an Article V convention.
Of those signers, 12 percent hail from Hawai'i, while nine percent reside in Illinois -- two of the bluest of "blue states" in the country. Virginians made up 10 percent of the petition signers for the week.
These three states do not normally comprise the top three in the weekly tracking of petition signers. Their appearance at the top of the charts is encouraging and inspirational, an example to COS volunteers throughout the United States.
The COS team in Hawai'i, in particular, seized the momentum of their recent victory in the state senate's Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs to gain more petition signers.
The committee is comprised of only one Republican. The chair of the committee, Sen. Glenn Wakai, is a Democrat and sponsored the COS resolution in the Hawai'i Senate.
Success came after years and years of filing and refiling the COS resolution, continuing to engage and establishing relationships with legislators, and spreading the word at several events.
Such progress reinforces a fundamental truth that critics and skeptics ignore: Article V is for all Americans, regardless of party or political affiliation.
Another fundamental truth is that citizens are weary of being subjected to the constricting power of the federal government, particularly the dizzying rules and regulations issued by an unelected administrative state. All citizens are harmed by corrupt members of Congress whose compasses point not toward fulfilling their oath of office, but filling their bank accounts and endless quest for power.
The increasing number of citizens in states such as Hawai'i and Illinois who are discovering our movement and signing our petition reveals a widespread and nonpartisan desire to return to first principles. Victories in legislative committees in Massachusetts and Hawai'i have increased the volume of the call for an Article V convention.
There are perhaps those who agree with and support our cause, yet feel overwhelmed by what we are attempting to accomplish. Perhaps they are impatient with the time that it will take: What can one person do in the face of such a task?
Consider the words of Anglo-Irish statesman and philosopher Edmund Burke:
"Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little."
As the teams in Hawai'i, Virginia, and Illinois recently proved, more and more people doing the work adds up to quite a lot. If you haven't added your name to the consistently growing number of Americans who are convinced that an Article V convention is essential to necessary course correction, do so below:
