January 18, 2012

Please Forward this to everyone you know!

We are at risk of Arizona passing a Call for a Constitutional Convention.

Please Email or Call all of the Arizona State Senators listed below today.

Your emails and calls are critical to defeating this measure. OPPOSE SCR 1005 "Amendments Convention" or CON/CON (Call for a Constitutional Convention)

VOTE in Full Senate could be as early as Thursday, January 19th at 1:30pm or more likely it will be on Monday or Tuesday afternoon, January 23rd or 24th.

MESSAGE: Vote NO on SCR 1005. Do not put our Constitution at risk by asking Congress to "call a Convention for the purpose of proposing amendments." Article V of the Constitution does not provide any way to limit an "amendments convention." We don't trust the politicians with our Constitution.

CONTACT:

Senators:

Andy Biggs: 602-926-4371, abiggs@azleg.gov

Rich Crandall: 602-926-3020, rcrandall@azleg.gov

Ron Gould: 602-926-4138, rgould@azleg.gov

Gail Griffin: 602-926-5895, ggriffin@azleg.gov

Jerry Lewis: 602-926-5760, jlewis@azleg.gov

John McComish: 602-926-5898, jmccomish@azleg.gov

Don Shooter: 602-926-4139, dshooter@azleg.gov

Barry Goldwater said: "[I am] totally opposed [to a Constitutional Convention]...We may wind up with a Constitution so far different from that we have lived under for two hundred years that the Republic might not be able to continue."

SCR1005 is a Call for a Constitutional Convention or an "amendments convention" to consider whether an increase in the federal debt should require approval from a majority of the legislatures of the states. Have you witnessed the ferocious battles in Congress

over the debt ceiling? Can you imagine what that same battle would entail in a Constitutional Convention which could put our whole Constitution at risk as the "amendments convention" considers multiple versions and multiple amendments?

There is no way provided in Article V of the U.S. Constitution to limit the number of amendments which can be proposed in an "amendments convention," even if the states, as in SCR1005, try to limit it. Article V states, "Congress.on the application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments." (that's amendments in the plural).

The highest authority to ever speak on an amendments convention was Chief Justice Warren Burger. He said, "I have repeatedly given my opinion that there is no effective way to 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 to 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 like its agenda.Our 1787 Constitution was referred to by several of its authors as a 'miracle.' Whatever gain might be hoped for from a new Constitutional Convention could not be worth the risks involved." .

Letter from retired Chief Justice Warren Burger opposing a Constitutional Convention, June 22, 1988

More information from Phyllis Schlafly on a Call for a Constitutional Convention:

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Con Con Brochure Good Advice Against a Con Con Beware of Attacks on the Constitution Con Con Is a Terrible Idea See who else opposes this bad idea and why

Copy of the Bill

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Applying to the congress of the United States to call a convention for proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to provide that an increase in the federal debt requires approval from a majority of the legislatures of the separate states.

Whereas, Article V of the Constitution of the United States provides authority for a convention to be called by the Congress of the United States for the purpose of proposing amendments to the Constitution on application of two-thirds of the legislatures of the several states ("amendments convention"); and

Whereas, the Legislature of the State of Arizona favors the proposal and ratification of an amendment to the Constitution of the United States that will provide that an increase in the federal debt requires approval from a majority of the legislatures of the separate states.

Therefore

Be it resolved by the Senate of the State of Arizona, the House of Representatives concurring:

1. That, pursuant to Article V of the Constitution of the United States, the Legislature of the State of Arizona formally applies to the Congress of the United States to call a convention for the purpose of proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, to be ratified by the legislatures or by conventions in threefourths of the several states, that will provide that an increase in the federal debt requires approval from a majority of the legislatures of the separate states. 2. That the amendments convention contemplated by this application be entirely focused on and exclusively limited to the subject matter of proposing for ratification an amendment to the Constitution of the United States providing that an increase in the federal debt requires approval from a majority of the legislatures of the separate states. 3. That this application constitutes a continuing application in accordance with Article V of the Constitution of the United States until at least two-thirds of the legislatures of the several states have made application for an equivalently limited amendments convention. 4. That the Secretary of State of the State of Arizona transmit a copy of this Resolution to the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, each Member of Congress from the State of Arizona and the presiding officers of each house of the several state legislatures, requesting their cooperation in applying for the amendments convention limited to the subject matter contemplated by this application.
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