Draft Memorial in Support of the Article V Records Transparency Act of 2016

Summary

This Resolution will offer state legislatures the opportunity to express support for the Article V Records Transparency Act of 2016. The Article V Records Transparency Act of 2016 requires the Archivist of the United States to compile all applications and rescissions of applications made to Congress to call a convention pursuant to Article V of the U.S. Constitution and to transmit them to Congress. Currently, there is no federal government entity that archives, counts and aggregates Article V applications. The high level of activity on Article V applications combined with the gravity of convening a convention for proposing amendments to the U.S. Constitution demands that applications be carefully archived and meticulously counted and aggregated.

Draft Memorial in Support of the Article V Records Transparency Act of 2016

WHEREAS, Article V of the U.S. Constitution establishes a procedure for states to propose constitutional amendments; and,

WHEREAS, our Founding Fathers included this mechanism to maintain the originally-intended balance of power between the federal and state governments; and,

WHEREAS, for decades many states have adopted resolutions applying to Congress for an amendments convention pursuant to Article V to advance a variety of proposed amendments that span the political spectrum; and,

WHEREAS, the high level of activity on Article V applications combined with the gravity of convening a convention for proposing amendments to the U.S. Constitution demands that applications be carefully archived and meticulously counted and aggregated; and,

WHEREAS, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the entity that would be expected to compile the applications has no authority to archive the applications because they are considered Congressional records; and,

WHEREAS, the receipt of applications from 34 states for the calling of a convention of states is the sole trigger for Congress to call a convention for proposing amendments; and,

WHEREAS, there is no official count of how many applications exist certified by any federal government entity; and,

WHEREAS, the Article V Records Transparency Act of 2016 would require the Archivist of the United States to separate all the applications and rescissions from all other Congressional records housed at the Archives and transmit them to Congress; and,

WHEREAS, the Article V Records Transparency Act of 2016 would require the Archivist to organize copies of applications and rescissions and submit a report to Congress detailing the extent of suspected missing applications or rescissions not found in the compilations; and,

WHEREAS, the Article V Records Transparency Act of 2016 would require Congress to post the applications and rescissions on a publicly accessible website to ensure maximum transparency for the process;

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the [LEGISLATIVE BODY] of the state of [STATE] urges passage in both houses of the U.S. Congress of the Article V Records Transparency Act of 2016.