Are you alarmed by the political trajectory of the United States? Are you apprehensive about the growing leviathan that is the federal government?
Do you consider it disquieting that the federal government has
exceeded its constitutional mandate many times over, and poses an existential threat to the states and individual liberty while we wallow away in gloom and despondency?
We convince ourselves that there’s no tool at our disposal to rein in these federal abuses, but there is. A tool given us by our Founders to restore our constitutional republic to its former glory. It’s not some mysterious or obscure tool that nobody has heard of, because it’s been staring us right in the face this entire time.
Article V Section 2 of the Constitution provides that the states can bypass Congress and propose amendments to our Constitution through the State Legislatures. It provides four methods of amending the Constitution, as follows:
(1) Proposal by two-thirds of each house of Congress, then ratification by state legislatures. This method was used for all the amendments
with the exception of the Twenty-First Amendment.
(2) Proposal by two-thirds of each house of Congress, followed by ratification by popular conventions in each state. This method was used to adopt the Twenty-First Amendment, which repealed Prohibition.
(3) Proposal by a “Convention for proposing Amendments,” then ratification by popular conventions in each state.
(4) Proposal by a “Convention for proposing Amendments,” then ratification by state legislatures.
The convention of states procedure begins when two-thirds of the state legislatures (34) adopt the exact same Resolution demanding that Congress call a convention on a particular subjects written into the Resolution. As soon as both chambers of the state legislature pass the application, that state becomes one of the required 34 states calling
for a Convention. In order for the applications to be aggregated—counted together towards the 34-state threshold—they must all cover the same topic or set of topics for a Convention. Once the states reach the
34-state threshold, Congress must call the Convention and designate the location and time of the Convention. If it fails to exercise this power reasonably or at all, the states are at liberty to designate the location and time themselves.
The states then start the process of choosing their respective delegates or commissioners for the Convention. States are free to develop their own selection process for choosing their delegates. Historically, the most
common method used was an election by a joint session of both chambers of the state legislature. Each state’s delegation participates in discussing, drafting, and voting on amendment proposals germane to the
topic(s) stated in the 34 applications that triggered the Convention. According to historical precedent, each state has one vote at the convention. Amendments sent to the states are merely suggestions, and have no authority until ratified by the states.
Thirty-eight states must ratify any proposed amendments before they become part of the Constitution. Each proposed amendment is ratified separately by the states even if proposed as a package (like the Bill of Rights). Ratification may be done by state legislatures or by state ratification conventions, which represent the people more directly. Historically, ratification has been by state legislatures (with the exception of the Twenty-First Amendment, as mentioned previously).
So, what is so unique about a convention of states? Why have I expended this much time explaining the process of a convention of states? It’s because this is the tool I referenced earlier in my letter that the Framers of the Constitution provided to us to rein in the abuses of the federal government – by bypassing the federal government entirely. The Framers understood that the federal government would, sooner or later, extend its claws beyond the boundaries set for it by the Constitution. They heeded the lessons of history, which were two-fold:
(1) that government power invariably grows and will continue to grow, if it
isn’t restrained by those who created it in the first place;
(2) that governments do not voluntarily restrain their own power and authority.
Do you honestly believe that Congress will adopt any amendment that constrains its powers, such as term limits, or a cap on spending? Obviously, it will not.
I recently became involved with an organization which has been expending a copious amount of time and energy working on this very subject, called the Convention of States Project, whose president is Mark Meckler. COS was founded to address some of the most pressing issues of our day – from the spending and debt crisis, to the regulatory crisis, to congressional attacks on state sovereignty, to limiting the jurisdiction of the federal government generally. Over the past decade alone, a plethora of historical data and evidence has been published documenting the process of a convention of states.
Variations of a convention of states has been documented in many states throughout our nation’s history, and there are dozens of decisions from
the Supreme Court on the subject as well. We are confident that this process works. We know that it’s the most effective means at our disposal to reign in the federal government. But we can’t do it alone. We need to rally the troops, and we need the support of every patriotic American who loves and supports our Constitution and Bill of Rights. So, I’m asking you, my fellow Americans, to please join me as we fight to preserve our liberty and freedom. Nothing less is at stake.
