Stop S.R. 195
Radio Commentary, 90.7, 91.7 New Life FM, March 17, 2017 – By Sue Ella Deadwyler
S.R. 195 urging Congress to call a constitutional convention is an extremely dangerous bill that must be stopped. If two-thirds of the 50 states enact similar resolutions and Congress convenes a convention, the entire Constitution would be in jeopardy.
ACTION: Call 404 656-5020 and ask House Speaker Ralston to keep S.R. 195 off the House floor; Call 636-5141 and ask Rules Chairman Meadows to keep S.R. 195 in his committee. Ask the following to withdraw support from S.R. 195: Representatives Brockway 656-0188; Barr, 656-0325; Cantrell, 656-0152; Clark, 656-0298; and Hilton, 656-0202.
Talking points: A convention could write its own rules and set its own agenda, which could be influenced by powerful special interest groups. Delegates could change the ratification process, and nobody, including the Courts, has clear authority over the convention once it begins.
Article V does not restrict a convention to only one issue. A two-thirds vote, that’s required in Congress, is not required of convention delegates. Article V does not require delegates to be U.S. citizens or citizens of a state in the United States. Article V does not say who will preside, or what rules will be followed. If Congress can’t limit a convention, states can’t limit it either.Expert Opinions: Former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had this to say, “I certainly would not want a constitutional convention. Whoa! Who knows what would come out of it?”
Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger said, “There is no way to effectively limit or muzzle the actions of a Constitutional Convention. The Convention could make its own rules and set its own agenda. Congress might try to limit the Convention to one amendment or one issue, but there is no way to assure that the Convention would obey. After a Convention is convened, it will be too late to stop the Convention if we don’t its the agenda.”
Former Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg said, “There is no enforceable mechanism to prevent a convention from reporting out wholesale changes to our Constitution and Bill of Rights.”
In the last sentence of a lengthy warning, Professor Bruce Ackerman of Yale Law School said, “Nobody thinks we are now in the midst of constitutional crisis. Why then, should we put the work of the first convention in jeopardy?”
H.R. 217, also, calls for a constitutional convention, but there has been no action on it, yet. If it begins to move, it must be stopped, too. For Georgia Insight I’m Sue Ella Deadwyler, your Capitol correspondent.