Coalition letter against Convention of States
The undersigned organizations and individuals stand in defense of our U.S. Constitution, and oppose all attempts under its Article V to convene a new constitutional convention ("Con Con").
State legislation is being pushed by undisclosed donors to force Congress to convene a Con Con supposedly "to limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government." Such a convention would open the door for liberals to eliminate border security. It would inevitably seek to repeal the Second Amendment while inserting a new requirement for taxpayer-funded abortion. Article V expressly allows the adoption of amendments, plural, without limitation, so a Con Con would probably vastly expand federal power in many undesirable ways, such as new federal authority over churches and schools.
No good, and tremendous harm, would result from such a convention because it would allow numerous changes to our Constitution with the liberal media guiding the way.
Justice Antonin Scalia condemned the proposals for an Article V convention as a "horrible idea" months before he unexpectedly passed away. Phyllis Schlafly spoke out strongly against all Article V convention ideas, explaining that they would be "playing Russian Roulette with the Constitution." Chief Justice Warren Burger wrote against the mere suggestion of holding a Con Con. Second Amendment groups like the Gun Owners of America fully oppose it. The Founders themselves were very much against holding another constitutional convention, and many of the greatest American statesmen throughout history spoke out passionately against the idea.
In July 2016 in Cleveland, the Republican Party national platform committee rejected, nearly unanimously, an attempt to adopt a resolution calling for an Article V constitutional convention to enact a Balanced Budget Amendment.
Now the media want to repeal the Electoral College, which properly requires geographical diversity before a presidential candidate can win. Globalists and the media also want to repeal the Treaty Clause, which protects our Nation against harmful treaties with foreign powers by requiring the difficult-to-attain 2/3rds support in the Senate.
The Constitution has never been the problem, and our political leaders should be defending the Constitution rather than falsely pretending that it needs to be changed. Politicians and courts that do not abide by the Constitution today will not abide by a rewritten one tomorrow.
Promoters of the misnamed "Convention of States," which is merely a repackaged Article V "Con Con," fail to comply with state requirements for fiscal notes disclosing the economic impact of their legislation. Reducing federal power to secure our borders, as invited by the Convention of States legislation, would impose billions of dollars in new costs on states. States would be compelled to dole out more entitlements and spend far more combating crime as a result of reduced federal power to stop illegal immigration.
Conclusion
Our U.S. Constitution is the longest, most successful constitution in the history of mankind. It is not for sale, and it is not broken. It should not be "fixed" by secret billionaires having their own hidden agenda of globalism and open borders, views that they conceal with broad platitudes like "limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government."
Far too much is stake to gamble away the future of our Constitution and our Nation on a runaway constitutional convention. Please speak out against any and all proposals to convene an Article V Convention, including the Convention of States resolutions, and please demand that the undisclosed donors pushing this "horrible idea" identify themselves and disclose their real agenda.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Andrew Schlafly, Esq.
Phyllis Schlafly Eagles
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