This workshop will equip state legislatures with practical skills to effectively participate in a convention to propose amendments. Topics include:
* how bipartisan cooperation figures in drafting and approving viable amendments
Meals will be provided, along with ample opportunities to network with other legislators and Article V experts.
Please note that this event is exclusively for legislators and legislative staff. It will be recorded and made available for online viewing, but a remote participation component will not be offered. A link to the registration page will be available in the May newsletter.
America on the Brink of War
by Vickie Deppe
Good people differ on the extent to which the United States should be involved in the war in Ukraine, but our public discourse has raised serious questions about the tactics employed by elected officials in Washington who are pushing for ever-greater levels of involvement. Rather than engaging with those who don’t share their viewpoint, they smear and attempt to silence them. Anyone who notes the centuries-long history of conflict in the region or questions whether the US has a serious enough national interest in Ukraine to risk starting WWIII is painted as a Russian mouthpiece (or worse).
Perhaps the most egregious example in recent weeks is the allegation that former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) extended a “treasonous lie.” Her alleged sin? She suggested that biomedical research facilities in Ukraine should be secured to prevent the release of pathogens as a result of combat operations. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) got the treason bandwagon rolling even after State Department official Victoria Nuland
plainly stated that this was the case, consistent with the
US Embassy’s statement in 2020. Congressmen Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) and
Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) as well as media outlets from
The View to
Forbes quickly piled on.
Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) tweeted a demand that Rumble—a platform founded with the specific purpose of protecting the free speech rights of its content creators—silence those who disagree with his hawkish posture on Ukraine.
One can’t help but wonder why so many sitting members of Congress would make such rash, inflammatory, and blatantly unconstitutional statements amid a delicate diplomatic situation, even as the combatants themselves are engaged in negotiations to end the conflict.
Glenn Greenwald observes: “It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to find any despot in history who does not weaponize accusations of “treason” against dissidents as a central instrument for control. That U.S. discourse has now descended completely to that level is barely debatable.”
What’s also barely debatable is that power and money have eclipsed the interests of the average American in Washington. When the states created the federal government, they had just emerged from a bloody war to secure their freedom. They delegated only a few, narrowly-defined powers to the new government because they feared that if it had too much power, it would once again subject them to tyrannical rule.
They were right.
It’s time for the states to reassert their constitutional authority. It’s time for an Article V Convention.
Article V News
In Wisconsin, a term limits application was passed. All remaining Article V applications died when the deadline for regular business passed in mid-March.
Convention of States Project
West Virginia and South Carolina have become the 18th and 19th states to pass the CoSP application. In Hawaii,
HR 96 and
HCR 100 have been referred to the House Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs Committee. CoSP applications have been filed in
Illinois,
Ohio, and
Minnesota. Another is expected to be filed in Colorado. In Kansas, the
CoSP application failed in the House.
Term Limits
In Hawaii,
HCR 101 and
HR 97 have been referred to the House Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs Committee.
Delegate Selection and Oversight
The Kansas House has assigned
HB 2722 to the Federal & State Affairs Committee. The Missouri House Rules Committee passed
HB 2169, and
SB 1040 has been referred to the Rules, Joint Rules, Resolutions & Ethics Committee.
Who Said It?
“Rights aren’t rights if someone can take them away. They’re privileges.”
George Carlin, 2008
