Stop All North Carolina Con-Con Calls

Currently referred to and pending in the Committee on Rules and Operations of the Senate of the North Carolina legislature are four bills – S 610, S 634, S 637, and S 680, all four of which are sponsored by North Carolina State Senator David Rouzer and call upon the Congress of the United States to convene a constitutional convention (Con-Con) for the purposes of adding a balanced budget amendment (BBA); repeal federal laws and regulations (Repeal Amendment); that all laws passed by Congress must also equally apply to members of Congress; and, lastly, to "preserve the energy security of the country by increasing domestic hydrocarbon production by directing the federal government to open up all federal onshore and offshore lands for energy exploration and production if geological survey data indicates the possible presence of economically recoverable hydrocarbon resources."

However noble these proposed amendments to the U.S. Constitution may be in their attempts to restore fiscal restraint by requiring a balanced budget, repealing needless or harmful federal laws and regulations, stop Congress from exempting itself from its own laws, and ending the nation’s dependency on foreign oil by opening all federal onshore and offshore lands for drilling, the calling of a general Article V convention is not the proper route that should be taken to make or propose such amendments to the Constitution.

The last time that such a convention was convened was in Philadelphia in 1787 when General George Washington, James Madison, and the various delegates from the thirteen United States assembled to propose amendments to the Articles of Confederation -- the law of the land at the time.

Although called to strengthen and centralize the national government, the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 was convened to amend the Articles of Confederation rather than replace them. We were lucky then, seeing as the convention resulted in such an excellent Constitution. We were also fortunate to have had enlightened statesmen and drafters, such as James Madison, who understood the Lockean virtues and principles of individual liberty and limited government. Looking back, who among us today comes close to exemplifying the virtues of our Founding Fathers?

The answer is too few and far between, if any at all. The proposal for a second Constitutional Convention (Con-Con) promoted by so-called conservatives, would likely result in a runaway convention in which extremist or revolutionary elements could highjack the convention and alter the Constitution to include harmful amendments, such as “second generation” or “positive” socialist rights while curtailing our nation’s traditional negative rights that protect our liberties from the government.

What we need is not for the States to revise the Constitution, but rather to restore and enforce it as our Founding Fathers originally intended (for more information, click here for a free PDF article download).

Although pending in the Committee on Rules and Operations of the Senate, we should not risk the passage of a Con-Con call no matter how appealing it may be. You now have the ability to help stop North Carolina from calling upon Congress to authorize such a convention. Contact your State Senator now and urge him or her to oppose the passage of S 610, S 634, S 637, and S 680, and if they do come to a vote on the floor to vote NAY on these bills.

Thanks.

From Your Friends at The John Birch Society