Title: Legislative Handout for printing Original CoS Document (slug): [[https://conventionofstates.com/files/legislative-handout-for-printing|legislative-handout-for-printing]] Login Required to view? No Attached File: Legislator_Handout.pdf Created: 2024-12-13 15:12:31 Updated: 2024-12-13 15:29:26 Published: 2024-12-13 03:00:00 Converted: 2025-04-14T20:23:58.732841909 ---- {{:cb_mirror_public:media:files_27443_pdfto001.png?nolink&918x1188 |background image}} George Mason, for example, “verily believed” \\ that the federal government would become \\ “oppressive.” Once this happened, the people and \\ the states would need a process to keep the federal \\ government in check. At the 1787 Constitutional Convention, these \\ concerns led to the creation of the Article V \\ convention process, enabling the states to forcibly \\ rein in the federal government //**without**// approval  from Congress, the president, or anyone else in \\ Washington. As Alexander Hamilton put it in \\ Federalist No. 85, “national rulers… will have //**no **// //**option**// upon the subject.” The final version of Article V thus gives the same \\ power to propose constitutional amendments to \\ Congress and the state legislatures. So, what exactly does an Article V convention \\ entail? According to this neglected constitutional \\ provision, once “two thirds of the several States” \\ apply for a convention to propose amendments, \\ Congress “calls” the convention by setting the time \\ and date for its initial meeting. Implicit in their \\ power to apply for the convention is the states’ \\ power to set its agenda, so two-thirds of the states \\ must agree on the subject matter.  In the case of the Convention of States Action \\ application, the topic of amendments is limited \\ to (1) imposing fiscal restraints on the federal \\ government, (2) limiting its power and jurisdiction, \\ and (3) setting term limits for federal officials. \\ Once the convention is called, each state legislature \\ chooses and commissions delegates to represent it at \\ the convention. Delegates act as the legal “agents”  of their state legislatures and are completely subject \\ to their instructions and control. Contrary to popular misconceptions, a convention \\ cannot “rewrite the Constitution.” Again, Article \\ V merely gives the convention the same power that \\ Congress has: the power to //**propose**// amendments.  Once a majority of the state delegations agree to \\ an amendment proposal, it goes back to the states \\ for ratification. Only //**after**// the proposal crosses  Article V’s 38-state ratification threshold will the \\ amendment take effect.  And there is nothing Washington can do to stop it. \\ From beginning to end, this process is entirely in \\ the hands of the American people, through their \\ state legislatures.\\  \\ George Washington once advised, “If in the opinion \\ of  //**the people, **//the distribution or modification  of the constitutional powers be in any particular \\ wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the \\ way which the Constitution designates.” Convention of States Action, the nonpartisan \\ Article V grassroots movement, believes our \\ federal government has taken on too much power \\ and—according to consistent national polling—\\ two-thirds of Americans agree with us! So we are \\ hard at work to use this long-neglected tool to set \\ things straight. With 19 of the 34 needed states \\ already on board, we are well on our way. For more information, visit **ConventionofStates.com** **CONVENTION OF STATES** A SOLUTION AS BIG AS OUR FEDERAL PROBLEMS **TRY AS THEY DID TO ENSURE** that the federal government would always remain \\ accountable to “We the People,” America’s Founding Fathers suspected that one day this \\ government of, by, and for the people would forget who it was created to serve. **For responses to common fears about the Article V \\ convention process, watch these short videos:** Bill No. {{:cb_mirror_public:media:files_27443_pdfto002.png?nolink&918x1188 |background image}}