The Convention of States Project
To the Editor:
Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired of what the federal government has been up to for the past several decades? Then you need to be a part of the Convention of States. The Convention of States Project was created with two goals in mind: first, get control of the federal government by reining in the federal debt spending crisis, addressing federal overreach, and putting an end to Washington, D.C.’s, career politicians. Second, to grow and develop the largest grassroots volunteer movement in the nation.
According to Mark Meckler, president of the Convention of States, “The problems are big, but we have a solution as big as those problems. Article V (of the U.S. Constitution) gives us the tool our Founding Fathers intended for us to use to fix the mess in D.C.”
Article V came about because the Founding Fathers, having just fought a tyrannical government themselves, wanted to make sure there was a process available in the U.S. Constitution to protect future generations from the oppression against which they had fought. In fact, the Founding Fathers found Article V so important, they voted unanimously to approve it, a rare occurrence at the time.
There are six steps in calling an Article V Convention of States, starting with the people. Concerned citizens ask their legislators to support and sponsor the Convention of States (COS) Resolution. This step is followed by a state legislator who sponsors the COS Resolution and files it with the state legislature. The next step occurs when 34 states pass the COS resolution and the states appoint commissioners to represent them at the convention. States may send as many commissioners as they wish but there is only one vote per state. In the fourth step, the commissioners propose, debate, and vote on amendments limited to the language of the COS resolution. Proposed amendments passed by a majority of state commissioners are then sent to the states for ratification. The fifth step requires that the proposed amendments be ratified by 38 states. And finally, the Constitution is amended.
Tennessee, an early adopter, became the fifth state to pass the resolution Feb. 4, 2016. There are currently 18 states which have passed the resolution, and seven more states have passed in one chamber. The momentum has increased as more and more people realize it does not matter who is in office, Washington, D.C., is broken.
The key to the success of the Convention of States is its grassroots volunteer movement. There are over five million volunteers and supporters with volunteer leadership teams in all 50 states and over 1,700 District Captains nationwide. When citizens sign the petition, their legislators are notified of their support, helping to assure that we maintain top-of-mind awareness with our state senators and house representatives.
We are fortunate in Farragut to have strong support from both the state senate and the house legislators. We have over 62,000 petition signers In Tennessee, but we need more as there is much work left to do here and across the state to ensure a convention occurs.
The Farragut COS Volunteer Group is holding an open meeting beginning at 6 p.m. April 21 in the Farragut Community Center’s large classroom. Please RSVP to Paula Mills, District Captain, at 865-335-8555 or paula.mills@cosaction.com.
Those unable to attend but wanting to learn more or sign the petition can visit http://conventionofstates.com/?ref=62692 .
Paula Mills
Farragut
