Federalism

Correcting the Record on the Amendments Convention: Rob Natelson and Karla Jones in the Colorado Times Recorder

ALEC Scholar Rob Natelson and ALEC Federalism & International Relations Task Force and Homeland Security Task Force Senior Director Karla Jones wrote an op-ed responding to inaccuracies in the Colorado Times Recorder’s recent piece on Article V of the Constitution.

Many Americans believe that the federal government has become dysfunctional — sometimes even abusive. Popular remedies include campaign finance reform, restraints on federal debt, and term limits for Congress and other federal officials.

But these reforms would require constitutional amendments. And Congress is not about to propose amendments to reform itself.

Fortunately, the Constitution offers another option. This is to convene a drafting task force the Constitution calls a “convention for proposing amendments.” As the name suggests, this task force can only propose. Any of its proposals would be void unless approved by 38 states.

Our Founders established the amendments convention procedure so the American people could fix problems that Congress refuses to address.

This is an important constitutional right. Don’t let the “disinformers” take it away from you.

If you want more factual information on the amendment process, visit the website of the Article V Information Center.

Read the full op-ed.


In Depth: Federalism

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