False Statements in SJR3's Call for a Convention

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Furthermore, Art. I, §1, U.S. Constitution: 

“All legislative [law-making] Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.” 

Note: Our U.S. Constitution doesn’t grant any lawmaking powers to the Judicial Branch (courts).

2. This is what the SJR3 resolution says:

“The United States Congress shall perform its ministerial duty of calling an amendment convention of the states only upon the receipt of applications for an amendment convention for the substantially same purpose as this application from two-thirds (2/3) of the legislatures of the several states;”

TRUTH: All the States can do is make application to Congress to call a convention.  Article V, U.S. Constitution does not confer any power on the States to dictate to Congress how Congress is to count the applications!

Pursuant to Article V and Article I, § 8, last clause, U.S. Constitution – quoted above – Congress alone has the power to decide how it is going to count the applications for a convention.

3. This is what the falsely-stated SJR3 resolution says:

“The United States Congress does not have the power or authority to determine any rules for the governing of a convention for proposing amendments called pursuant to Article V of the United States Constitution. The United States Congress does not have the power to set the number of delegates to be sent by any state to such a convention, nor does it have the power to name delegates to such a convention. The power to name delegates remains exclusively within the authority of the legislatures of the several states;” 

TRUTH: This whole assumption by the states is FALSE. Nothing in the U.S. Constitution delegates to the States any power over the convention. As shown by the provisions quoted above from the U.S. Constitution, all powers over organizing the convention are delegated to the Congress alone.

The April 11, 2014 Report of the Congressional Research Servuce (CRS) shows that Congress also sees Article V as delegating to Congress exclusive authority over setting up the convention. The CRS Report exposes as false the assurances that the States would be in control of a convention. The Report says:

“First, Article V delegates important and exclusive authority over the amendment process to Congress…” (page 4)

“Second while the Constitution is silent on the mechanics of an Article V convention, Congress has traditionally laid claim to broad responsibilities in connection with a convention, including (1) receiving, judging, and recording state applications; (2) establishing procedures to summon a convention; (3) setting the amount of time allotted to its deliberations; (4) determining the  number and selection process for its delegates; (5) setting internal convention procedures, including formulae for allocation of votes among the states; …(page 4)

Art. I, §1, U.S. Constitution: 

“All legislative [law-making] Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.” 

Note: Our Constitution doesn’t grant any lawmaking powers to the Judicial Branch (courts).

Article 1, § 8 The Congress shall have Power:

Article 1, § 8 clause 18 (last clause) To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Office thereof.

Article VI, clause 2, U.S. Constitution, the “supremacy clause”, defines “supreme Law of the Land” as the Constitution, and acts of Congress and Treaties which are authorized by the Constitution: 

“This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.”

4. This is what the falsely-stated SJR3 resolution says:

“By definition, an amendment convention of the states means that states shall vote on the basis of one (1) state, one (1) vote;” 

TRUTH: This whole assumption by the states that each state has one (1) vote is FALSE! Article V, U.S. Constitution doesn’t say that. 

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report says:

“. . . [In previous bills filed in Congress] [a]pportionment of convention delegates among the states was generally set at the formula provided for the electoral college, with each state assigned a number equal to its combined Senate and House delegations. Some bills included the District of Columbia, assigning it three delegates, but others did not include the federal district. . .” (page 37)

“… A related question concerns vote allocation in an Article V Convention. Would delegates vote per capita, or would each state cast a single vote, during the convention’s deliberations, and on the final question of proposing amendments?…” [then follows a discussion of different views on this undecided issue] (page 41)

So, Congress may decide that each State will have that number of delegates which is equal to its electoral votes. If Congress does that, Arkansas will get 6 Delegates, and California will get 55. 

5. This is what the falsely-stated SJR3 resolution says:

“A convention for proposing amendments convened pursuant to this application shall be limited to consideration of the topics specified herein and no other. This application is made with the express understanding that an amendment that in any way seeks to amend, modify, or repeal any provision of the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution shall not be authorized for consideration at any stage. This application shall be void ab initio [from the beginning] if ever used at any stage to consider any change to any provision of the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution;” 

TRUTH: The assumption by the states that they can limit the topics specified herein is FALSE. The only thing the states can do is make application to Congress to call a convention. Nothing in Article V or the Constitution limits a convention to a single topic(s). The convention is the deliberative body!

a. Under the supremacy clause in the U.S. Constitution, Article VI, clause 2 (as quoted above in point #1), any state law made which contradicts the U.S. Constitution is void. 

b. Delegates to a convention have the inherent right to alter or abolish our Form of Government, as expressed in the Declaration of Independence, paragraph 2. The 1787 constitutional convention is a case in point. 

c. Pretended limits and supposed safeguards in any state legislation (as in SJR3) are just a marketing gimmick by its lobbyists promoters designed to give legislators a false sense of security and control over a process which will be totally out of their control in an attempt to get legislators’ votes.

6. This is what the falsely-stated SJR3 resolution says:

“Pursuant to Article V of the United States Constitution, the United States Congress may determine whether proposed amendments shall be ratified by the legislatures of the several states or by special state ratification conventions. The General Assembly recommends that the United States Congress select ratification by the legislatures of the several states;”

TRUTH: This recommendation by the states is in error and holds no water.  The method of ratification is proposed by Congress. Authority: U.S. Constitution, Article V. The States can recommend anything they want, but Congress is under no obligation to follow any such recommendations from any State.

7. This is what the falsely-stated SJR3 resolution says:

“The General Assembly may provide further instructions to its delegates and may recall its delegates at any time for a breach of a duty or a violation of the instructions provided; and”

TRUTH: This is a FALSE assumption. The states have NO control over the Delegates to the Convention. If delegates to a convention today vote to make the proceedings secret, the States won’t know what is going on – and can’t stop it. Moreover, if delegates vote by secret ballot, the States would NEVER know who did what.

It is a federal convention, called by the federal government, to perform the federal function of addressing our federal Constitution. State legislatures have nothing to do with it (except APPLY to Congress to call the convention)!

8. This is what the falsely-stated SJR3 resolution says:

“Delegates are bound to the instructions provided by the General Assembly and a failure to follow the instructions provided constitutes a breach of the delegate’s duty and subjects them to recall and replacement.”

TRUTH: This is a FALSE assumption. Once again, the states have NO control over the Delegates to the Convention. If delegates to a convention vote to make the proceedings secret, the States won’t know what is going on – and can’t stop it. And if delegates vote by secret ballot, the States would NEVER know who did what.

State Legislatures & the Continental Congress couldn’t control the Delegates to the federal amendments convention of 1787 (where our present Constitution was drafted), and they cannot control Delegates to an Article V convention:

• The Declaration of Independence recognizes that it is the power of a free people to form, modify, or abolish their government.  

• An Article V convention is a sovereign assembly with government-making or government-changing authority.

• The Delegates would be the Sovereign Representatives of The People.

So the Delegates can – like James Madison in Federalist No. 40 – invoke that “transcendent & precious right” recognized in our Declaration of Independence, to throw off the governments we have & write a new constitution which creates a new system of government. And since the new Constitution will have its own new mode of ratification, it’s sure to be approved.

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Legislators, remember your oath of office?

Oath of office

The oath of Office is in the Constitution of the State of Arkansas of 1874:   Article 19, section §20 Oath of office. Senators and Representatives, and all judicial and executive, State and county officers, and all other officers, both civil and military, before entering on the duties of their respective offices, shall take and subscribe to the following oath of affirmation:

“I,       , do solemnly swear(or affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Arkansas, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of        , upon which I am now about to enter.” 

NOTE: Are you as legislators men and women of honor and integrity… or not? For whom and what do you stand – The People… or corporate America and paid-off lobbyists?

Article 5, § 35, Arkansas Constitution. Bribery of member of General Assembly or state officer.

“Any person who shall, directly or indirectly, offer, give, or promise any money, or thing of value, testimonial, privilege or personal advantage to any executive or judicial officer, or member of the General Assembly; and any such executive or judicial officer, or member of the General Assembly, who shall receive or consent to receive any such consideration, either directly or indirectly, to influence his action in the performance or non performance of his public or official duty, shall be guilty of a felony, and be punished accordingly.”

The funds dumped into the legislators’ campaign funds by lobbyists has strings attached and the lobbyists expect something in exchange for this money. Note: Taking money in exchange for a favor is a bribe. The person giving the money and the person taking the money both need to be prosecuted.

Article 5, § 9, Arkansas Constitution. Persons convicted ineligible.

“No person hereafter convicted of embezzlement of public money, bribery, forgery or other infamous crime, shall be eligible to the General Assembly or capable of holding any office of trust or profit in this State.”

In Summary:

Regarding Senate Joint Resolution 3 (SJR3) – You should be extremely concerned about this predatory resolution introduced by Senator Stubbelfield that was recently ramrodded through the Senate on January 29, 2019, assisted by two well-paid lobbyists, Mark Meckler and Tom Coburn (they very strictly supervised our senators). SJR3 has numerous errors and false statements in it, and it appears that Bureau of Legislative Research dropped the ball when preparing the false document. Also, the legislators that Voted “Yea” on SJR3 either had no knowledge of the U.S Constitution, were paid off, or bribed by their corporate donors (masters)via their campaign funds. Yes, folks, there is a mandated foul agenda for 2020 underway.

Legislators:  please hold to your convictions — if you still have any — and don’t let the lobbyists intimidate you or manipulate your emotions or your votes based on fabricated information which has no basis in truth or constitutional law. Once you pull the trigger on a convention, there are no take-backs.

Past occurence: SJR3 Vote in the Arkansas Senate on Tuesday, January 29, 2019 from 35 Senators

The Senators highlighted in RED below are associated with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) 

Yeas 19 (18 ALEC Members)

Nays 13 (2 ALEC Members)

Non Voting 2 (1) ALEC Member

Excused       1   (1) ALEC Member

Total 35 (22 ALEC Members)

You can figure this out very quickly with just one glance at the Senate voting chart (shown below)!

Yeas

Nays

Non Voting

Most recent occurrence: SJR3 was scheduled to be voted on in the House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs on Wednesday, January 30, 2019. (UPDATE! Delayed in the Arkansas House)

ACTION ITEMS:

Call, email, and/or text your Arkansas State Representatives and ask them to VOTE NO on SJR3 that calls for an Article V Convention.

Click here for the Arkansas House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs members’ names, email addresses, and phone numbers. There are 20 members on this committee, and we want to remind you that regrettably, the chosen Golden Boy, Rep. Jim Dotson, is an American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) State Chair for the Arkansas House of Representatives AND also serves on the House State Agencies Committee. (The dangerous SJR3 was delayed in that committee, thank goodness!)

Click here for ALL 100 Arkansas Representatives’ names, email addresses, and phone numbers.

PLEASE NOTE -- their email addresses are at the very bottom of the PDF due to formatting.

Thank you once again for your swift response. We know your calls, texts, and emails help make the difference. Let Secure Arkansas know via email what you’re hearing back from the legislators. We use this email: [email protected]

Stay aware, stay involved, and stay vigilant.

Remember:  eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.

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Securing the blessings of liberty,
 

Secure Arkansas
securetherepublic.com/arkansas
[email protected]

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