Title: Introduction to Convention of States Guide
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Attached File: Intro_to_COS_Guide.pdf
A companion guide to the Introduction to Convention of States presentation. Use this guide to assist in presenting or use it as a framework in creating your own notes for the presentatio
Created: 2019-06-24 18:38:42
Updated: 2020-07-21 16:35:38
Published: 2020-07-21 02:00:00
Converted: 2025-04-14T19:35:49.275752331
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INTRODUCTION TO CONVENTION OF
STATES PRESENTATION GUIDE
INSTRUCTIONS:
To advance to the next slide, simply click the white arrow at the bottom of the presentation window.
IMPORTANT: For videos, don’t click the “play” button. Click the same white arrow once, and the video will play.
When the video is finished, click the arrow again to advance to the next slide.
Welcome! My name is _____________, and I’m glad you’re here.
Over the next twenty minutes, I’m going to provide everything you
need to know about the Article V Convention of States Project – the
problem, the solution, how it works, our strategy, and, finally, how to
get involved.
If you’re unfamiliar with this idea and this movement, don’t worry! I
was sitting right where you are not too long ago, and hopefully by the
end of our time together you’ll have a good grasp of the basics.
The Convention of States Project is designed to address the three
biggest problems we see in Washington, DC: the debt and spending
crisis, the overreach of the federal government, and the negative ef-
fects of career politicians.
First, the debt and spending crisis. Here’s the most important fact
about our spending problem: party doesn’t matter.
INTRODUCTION (1/33)
THE PROBLEM (2/33)
DEBT + SPENDING (3/33)
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page 2
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Democrats and Republicans both spend far beyond our means, and
it’s jeopardizing the future of our children and grandchildren.
But we’ll feel the effects of this irresponsible spending even before our
grandchildren are saddled with the national debt. According to expert
analysis, the Medicare fund will be depleted by 2026 and Social Secu-
rity will be gone by 2034.
The second problem is government overreach. There are many ways
that Washington abuses its power, but one of the most egregious hap-
pens every day in federal bureaucracies. Most people don’t realize that
bureaucrats are not elected, and yet they are responsible for the vast
majority of the laws and regulations under which we live.
Here’s the problem: Article I of the Constitution says that “all legisla-
tive power is vested in Congress.” I think this video does a great job
illustrating how far we’ve departed from that idea.
And the federal bureaucracy isn’t the only branch that creates laws
out of thin air. The Supreme Court does it too, as Mike Farris explains
in this next video.
Click button at bottom twice to start video.
DEBT GRAPH (4/33)
GOVT SPENDING (5/33)
REGULATIONS (6/33)
LAWS V. REGS (7/33)
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Our Founders never wanted anyone to make a career out of public
service. But look how long these men and women from both sides of the
aisle have been in Washington.
You might say, “What’s wrong with that? Their constituents elect them.
Why shouldn’t they continue serving?”
The problem is that the longer someone stays in D.C., the more they
smell like the swamp. The more they become tied to the bureaucracies
and special interests, the less they’re willing to stick their neck out for the
good of their constituents or, more importantly, the good of the country.
And, as you can see, the problem is getting worse.
And why shouldn’t it? Our federal officials – whether we’re talking
about bureaucrats, the Supreme Court, or Congresspeople – don’t
have any incentive to change the status quo. They’re perfectly happy
to continue acquiring more power, wealth, and influence as long as
We the People will let them.
This is one of our core beliefs at the Convention of States Project: the
federal government will never fix itself. They’ll never stop spending,
abusing their power, or seeking reelection.
3K PG CONSTITUTION (8/33)
CAREER POLITICIANS (9/33)
AVG. TENURE (10/33)
THE SOLUTION (11/33)
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Neither bureaucrats nor Supreme Court justices are elected, which
takes power away from the people and gives it to entities that are
almost never held accountable for their actions.
And speaking of unaccountable federal officials…
Click button at bottom twice to start video.
Fortunately, the Founders predicted this would happen. That’s why
they included the Convention of States option in Article V of the
Constitution.
Click button at bottom twice to advance to slide.
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Read Slide. At its most basic level, Article V allows the state legislatures
to call a convention for the purpose of proposing amendments. This
convention can only be called if two-thirds of the states – today that
would be 34 – pass resolutions calling for such a convention.
And note the word “proposing.” An Article V Convention of States is a
meeting of states in which they discuss potential amendments to the U.S.
Constitution. Those amendments, as Article V says, must then be sent
back to the states and ratified by 38 legislatures. This is a very high bar,
but it ensures that only the best, most popular amendments will finally
be added to our founding document.
Our plan is simple – we want to use Article V as the Founders intend-
ed. We believe the federal government has gone off the rails, and we
want to encourage the states to use their power under Article V to get
our nation back on track.
Like the colonists during the War for Independence, our desire isn’t
to scrap everything and start something brand new. Instead, we want
to get back to our founding principles, and we believe the best, most
effective way to do that is to call a Convention of States.
FOUNDERS SAY (12/33)
ARTICLE V (13/33)
OUR PLAN (14/33)
HOW IT WORKS (15/33)
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As that video explains, the Founders wrote Article V for one specific
reason: so that the states could check federal power. They knew that
without the Convention of States option, a corrupt, powerful federal
government would never fix itself. Which brings us to the actual text
of Article V. Here’s what it says.
Click button at bottom twice to start video.
Fortunately, the Founders predicted this would happen. That’s why
they included the Convention of States option in Article V of the
Constitution.
Click button at bottom twice to advance to slide.
page 5
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First, citizens ask their state legislatures to pass a resolution calling for
an Article V Convention of States. Millions of patriots all across the
country have done this by signing the Convention of States Petition,
and thousands more have called, emailed, and met with their state
representatives.
Next, the Convention of States resolution follows the same process as
any other resolution. It must pass committees in both chambers and
finally pass the full chamber in the House and the Senate.
Once 34 states pass identical resolutions calling for a Convention of
States, Congress is obligated, under Article V, to name a time and
place for the convention.
The state legislatures decide how to select delegates to the convention,
but no matter how many delegates they send, each state gets only one
vote.
At the Convention, delegates propose, debate, and vote on amend-
ments. We’ll get into the details of this in a minute, but for now it’s
important to know that all amendments proposed must be limited
to the language in the Convention of States resolution. Any off-topic
amendments will be considered out of order.
Amendment proposals are passed when a simple majority of the state
delegations vote for them.
STEP 1 (16/33)
STEP 2 (17/33)
STEP 3 (18/33)
STEP 4 (19/33)
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Next, the amendment proposals that pass out of the Convention are sent
back to the states for ratification.
Thirty-eight states must vote “yes” for any amendment proposal to
become part of the Constitution. Again, this is a very high bar, and it
all but ensures that no bad amendments will end up in our founding
document.
You can think of it like this: it only takes 1 legislative chamber in 13
states to keep any amendment from moving forward. I don’t know about
you, but I can easily think of 13 states that would kill any mendment
limiting freedom or drastically restructuring our system of government.
Finally, once that entire process is complete, the amendment propos-
als become part of the Constitution.
On the legislative side, we’re seeking to pass the Convention of States
resolution in at least 34 states. We’ve already passed it in _____,
which means we’re already _______ [fraction] of the way there.
STEP 5 (20/33)
STEP 6 (21/33)
OUR STRATEGY (22/33)
MODEL APP 1 (23/33)
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Our strategy consists of two main arenas: the state legislatures and the
grassroots.
Click button at bottom twice to advance to slide.
page 7
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Our resolution calls for amendments in three distinct categories that:
• limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government
• limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government
• limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government
Remember, like I said before, when the states call for a Convention of
States under this resolution, they can only propose amendments that fall
into one of these three categories.
The Convention of States Project doesn’t endorse any particular amend-
ments. Rather, we want the states to debate and propose specific amend-
ment language under one of these three broad topics.
Here’s where you come in.
Along with lobbying in state legislatures, we’re seeking to build the na-
tion’s largest grassroots army. And, as you can see, we’re well on our way.
We have volunteer teams with leadership structures in ever state, mil-
lions of volunteers and supporters, and local leadership—what we call
District Captains—in over 1,700 state house districts.
The green states represent state where we’ve already passed our resolu-
tion—there are _____ so far.
We’ve also conducted polling in _____ states that have yet to pass our
resolution. In those states, over 60 percent of voters say they would sup-
port their state calling for a Convention of States.
Finally, one of the most exciting aspects of the Article V movement is
that it enjoys bipartisan support. Over half of Democrats and 75 percent
of Republicans say they would back a Convention of States to limit the
power and jurisdiction of the federal government.
Thanks in large part to that grassroots army, the momentum for the
Convention of States movement is building all across the country.
MODEL APP 2 (24/33)
GRASSROOTS (25/33)
PROGRESS 1 (26/33)
PROGRESS 2 (27/33)
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page 8
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Click button at bottom twice to start video.
Click button at bottom twice to advance to slide.
Click on a few, whoever you think your audience will
want to see. You might also ask the audience which
endorsements they’d like to read.
In conclusion, if you’d like to get involved, here are three of the best
ways. We have additional volunteer and leadership positions available,
and if you’re interested in other opportunities, please don’t hesitate to
speak with me at the conclusion of the presentation.
But these are the three ways you can be most helpful to our growing
movement.
First, you can simply sign the official Convention of States Petition at
ConventionofStates.com.
When you sign the petition and provide your full address, we’ll automat-
ically send a copy of the petition to your state legislators. This is a great,
easy way to let you representatives know you support the Convention of
States resolution in your state legislature.
Next, you can volunteer to be a District Captain in your local communi-
ty. Here’s a brief video explaining that position.
Plus, some of the nation’s most prominent thinkers and leaders have
taken note of the growing Convention of States movement.
ENDORSERS (28/33)
GET INVOLVED (29/33)
SIGN PETITION (30/33)
DISTRICT CAPTAIN (31/33)
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That’s it! Thank you so much for your time and attention today, and I’ll
be happy to answer any questions you have.
This last way to get involved is less important than the other two, but I
still wanted to mention it. We rely heavily on our amazing volunteers,
but, like any organization, the Convention of States Project also relies on
our generous donors to keep up the fight for liberty.
If you’d like to contribute, you can do so at conventionofstates.com/do-
nate.
DONATE (32/33)
CONCLUSION (33/33)
NOTES:
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