Proposed by: National General Assembly
Type: Public Statement
The National General Assembly
1ST Session
NGA RES. 2012A1
IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
February 22, 2012
RESOLUTIONS FOR THE ASCENSION OF THE GENERAL CONVENTION AND ECONOMIC BRANCH OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
[Report No. 1] Invoking the Constitutional authority of the natural-person citizens of the several states, pursuant to Article V of the United States Constitution, by organizing and developing a sustainable infrastructure for the General Convention of the United States and eliminating all possibilities or argument that the numerical threshold required has not been achieved.
The General Assembly,
HOLDS, that the ultimate strength in the United States Constitution lies in its ability to change in response to the needs of the nation that created it; and
ACKNOWLEDGES, that WE, as a sovereign people may only retain certain rights if we are able to defend them; and that defending the right to alter or abolish the federal government, is now and will remain, pursuant to the 9th Amendment, a cornerstone of our rights as citizens of the United States. This will be the case for the duration of the existence of the central government; and
WHEREAS, the authority to effect such changes rests solely within the constitutional mandates of two amendatory entities, the United States Congress and a United States General Convention. Article V of the United States Constitution states that whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, OR, on the application of the legislatures of TWO THIRDS of the several states (34), SHALL CALL A CONVENTION FOR PROPOSING AMENDMENTS, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article; and that no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate, and
NOTING, that Article V specifically states that a singular application submitted by the required two-thirds of state legislatures will induce a predefined action by Congress;
NOTING AGAIN, that a Convention is required on the application of two-thirds of the states by numerical threshold alone, and these applications must be considered as an expression of intent by the states, to organize and conduct a General Convention, not to offer an amendment to Congress for its potential rejection by any means Congress might devise; and
RECOGNISING, that there is currently ample and indisputable evidence that the United States Congress has failed in executing this ceremonial but mandated obligation to call for the General Convention despite the fact that Article V conditions have been met; and
RECOGNISING, that the extremely limited role in the General Convention process allotted to Congress by the Framers of the Constitution arose out of the desire of a majority of the Framers to provide a safeguard against an abusive or recalcitrant national legislature. The “call” is a means to effectuate the commencement of a convention to propose amendments. It is an immediate action constitutionally mandated upon Congress, it is not discretionary. It is no more that a procedural, ceremonial step of a process designed by the founders to allow redress even if the National Government does not desire redress. Once called, Congress consumes it’s only amendatory power, the miniscule authority to effectuate a convention to propose amendments by a call.
RECOGNISING, that it has been clearly and repeatedly demonstrated that a Petition for Redress of Grievances accomplishes no significant relief and thus, the ineffectiveness of the Redress of Grievances process fully justifies a citizen’s action to demand transparency and accountability, utilizing the full extent of rights, privileges, and powers expressed, defined, or otherwise provided under the Constitution; and
WHEREAS, the realization of a General Convention has never materialized due primarily to the obscurity of Article V, Congressional interference, and the procedural ambiguities Congress has been able to maintain, and secondly due to a disconnected citizenry and their growing feeling of hopelessness and despair; and
COGNIZANT, of the fact that Congress has not provided in United States Code specific procedures for the ascension of the General Convention because they are constitutional limited from doing so. Any law passed by Congress requires Presidential approval and the President is constitutionally restricted from possessing amendatory powers; and
WHEREAS, Congress has chosen to counter-propose amendments of its own, regarding subjects, of which many states, expressed in their applications, have requested as amendments. This counter-proposing of an amendment itself rather than calling the convention has been the congressional pattern of response in all cases but one and represents a clear violation of Article V and the 9th Amendment, leaving the entire matter ambiguous and vague; and
WHEREAS, that the 10th Amendment provides that the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
UNDERSTANDING, that by evoking the Convention Clause of Article V, an intra-constitutional entity on equal station with the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of government is established; and
UNDERSTANDING, that none of the three existing branches of the central government possess any real or implied powers over the General Convention and may not simply presume to regulate and control, or establish limits and other standards upon the General Convention unless Article V permits it and it does not; and
WHEREAS, the Constitution only empowers the General Convention, to propose amendments as part of this Constitution, which clearly implies and expresses that any proposed amendment must allow for the present Constitution to continue, as it is that document which is being amended. A new constitution cannot be considered an amendment to this Constitution.
WHEREAS, the right of the people to employ a convention to propose amendments to alter or abolish the government by amendatory procedure cannot logically be said to be a power of Congress or of the other branches of the Federal government; and the denial of this right constitutes a clear violation of Article V and the 9th Amendment; and
WHEREAS, Article V does not authorize the states to apply for an amendment; rather it authorizes them to apply for a Convention to propose amendments. The power to propose amendments rests only with the Congress or a General Convention; not even the states may constitutionally impose regulation, control, or any other standards upon the General Convention; full Constitutional authority over the General Convention rests solely and completely with the delegates of the Convention. Thus, even a state does not have the power to limit a convention to a particular subject or duration of operation.
WHEREAS, the Supreme Court has made it clear the provisions of the United states Constitution are to be interpreted so as to effectuate their intent, not obstruct it. These provisions are designed to regulate the various obligations of government, either by direct expressed term or by implied interpretation, in a specific pattern of operation. It follows this principle must extend and apply to executive, judicial, legislative, and amendatory powers defined in Articles I, II, III, and IV of the United States Constitution; and
WHEREAS, no branch of the United States Government is authorized to question the validity of a state application for an Article V Convention because the power to do so does not exist anywhere in the United States Constitution. – Dodge v. Woolsey, 59 U.S. 331 (1855); and
WHEREAS, an attempt to question the validity of a state application for an Article V Convention, either through its contemporaneousness or subject matter, is to attempt to defeat its purpose and allow the mischief at which it’s aimed to suppress. – Jarrolt v. Moberly, 103 U.S. 580 (1880); and
WHEREAS, the Unalienable Rights endowed by our Creator, which are not all-inclusively enumerated within the Constitution cannot be legally taken from us, altered or abridged by any power whatsoever, and we have not ceded to any sovereign power, a right to dispose of these rights, whether implicitly or explicitly stated, without our consent, and
WHEREAS, the Supremacy Clause of Article VI firmly establishes that the Constitution and all federal laws made pursuant to it shall constitute the supreme law of the land; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that WE, assuming among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle us as a sovereign people, taking into our most serious consideration, the best means of assuring our continued constitutional rights of self governance, as our ancestors in like cases have done, for asserting and vindicating our unalienable rights and liberties, do hereby adopt these Resolutions as an official Application of State Legislatures for an Article V Convention; and further
RESOLVED, that amendatory powers defined in the United States Constitution must be interpreted as to effecuate the intent of the Constitution, not obstruct it. It follows that if Congress is constitutionally unable or operationally unwilling to use its powers to effectuate a constitutional provision, the Supreme Court is powerless to effectuate a mandate, the President is expressly prohibited from amendatory involvement, yet still the Constitution commands the provision must be carried out, and that another governmental body must assume that responsibility; and
RESOLVED, that WE, hereby claim and retain specific sovergn reserved powers not specifically delegated to the federal government or prohibited by it to the several states, to the fullest extent and intent, expressed, defined, or otherwise provided for by the 9th Amendment, as well as, any and all applicable provisions of the Constitution; and
RESOLVED, the sole intent and purpose of the General Convention Clause of Article V is to provide a course of action which places the appropriate entity on equal station with the current count of three federal branches, and thus, can provide the basis for the independent operation of a fourth federal branch. This branch is currently mandated within Article V to propose and affect changes within the preexisting system of government, yet the branch has not been defined; and
RESOLVED, that as with all rights of the people, there are two parts: the expressed right and the mechanism of the right. The expressed right is that statement contained or implied in the Constitution. The mechanism of the right is the system (usually a function of government) necessary to effectuate that expressed right. Each part of the right is impotent without the other, thus, the mechanism must have certain powers to effectuate and carry out its duties; and
RESOLVED, that the right to alter or abolish is constitutionally protected; it follows that the mechanism that effectuates that right is also, constitutionally protected; and
RESOLVED, that the mechanism that effectuates that right is a fourth branch of the central government, headed by the General Convention, which derives its constitutional authority from Article V; it is not a component of any of the three branches of government created by the first three articles. It derives its power from a separate and independent grant of authority in the Constitution itself; it cannot be made subservient to any branch of government, as it is its own independent branch in its own right; this function, by its very nature, renders the convention distinct from, if not superior to, the three branches of government as it is meant to alter; further,
RESOLVED, that the historical record clearly indicates that the only true methods of ensuring a federal redress of grievances communicated by means of a petition, is to directly petition the courts, by means of federal lawsuit, for immediate declaratory or injunctive relief, or by means of implementing the mechanism, pursuant to Article V, that provides for the assumption of reserved, restricted or otherwise undelegated powers required to effectuate the redress itself, the latter being unprecedented; and
RESOLVED, these resolutions serve as official intent to provide for the mechanism to effectuate the redress itself, as that power has not been exercised or otherwise claimed by the federal government; and
RESOLVED, that the body of grievances adopted by the General Assembly shall constitute the mechanism’s mandate; and
RESOLVED, that said mandate is entirely within the economic domain, thus the mechanism, shall be the Economic Branch of the central government; and
RESOLVED, that a convention called for the exclusive purpose of proposing and potentially ratifying amendments to the United States Constitution is not required to provide any specificity as to the subject matter of the proposed Amendments but rather, must only explicitly convey that the convention may consider other amendments proposed by elected delegates.
;and
RESOLVED, that the Economic Branch must be defined within Article V, thus the amending of Article V to provide for the mechanism, although not required, provides for the specific subject matter for the application of the several states for the Convention itself; and
RESOLVED, that the General Assembly calls upon the legislatures of the several states to adopt the amending of Article V itself as the primary subject matter for this Application; and
RESOLVED, that the General Assembly does hereby retain, on behalf of the General Convention of the United States, all amendatory powers provided for in Article V of the United States Constitution; and
RESOLVED, that a convention called for the exclusive purpose of proposing and potentially ratifying amendments to the United States Constitution shall possess, pursuant to Article VI, full authority to also amend provisions contained within United States Code; and
RESOLVED, that the best means of assuring our continued constitutional rights of self governance is to emphatically declare and hereby secure our exclusive rights to organize and compel the ascension of the United States General Convention and the Economic Branch of the central government, pursuant to Article V and Article VI, as well as, the 1st, 9th, and 10th Amendments; and furtherly to regulate, control, and apply appropriate operational standards upon the Economic domain, in absence of Congressional oversight or interference, and
RESOLVED, that a committee of conference and correspondence be appointed, who shall have in charge to communicate this body of resolutions to the legislative bodies of and within the several States; and
RESOLVED, that the said committee be authorized to communicate by writing or personal conferences, at any times or places whatever, with any person or persons who may be appointed by any one or more of the several states to correspond or confer with them; and that they lay their proceedings before the next session of Assembly; and that the General Assembly does hereby call upon the legislatures of the several states for an expression of their sentiments regarding this body of resolutions; and
RESOLVED, that the General Assembly does hereby call upon the legislatures of the several states to reject all proposed constitutional amendments originating from the Congress of the United States while the General Convention is organizing or convening; and
RESOLVED, that these resolutions, upon ratification, shall serve as official notice of intent and assumption of Constitutional authority.
RESOLVED, That these resolutions upon adoption by the required thirty-four state legislatures, shall serve as the Application of Legislatures and official notice that the call for a General Convention has been officially requested. It shall be forwarded to the President of the United States, to the Attorney General of the United States, and to Members of both Houses of Congress with the request that it be officially entered by the National Archivist in the Congressional Record as a validated application for a General Convention to propose amendments to the United States Constitution.
RESOLVED, that We, will no longer remain silent.
Initiated by: Dan Marks
Drafted by: Jon Huizer
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Proposed Article V Amendment
The General Convention, whenever two thirds of the several states deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, which, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of those several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be adopted by the General Assembly; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.
Section 1 – The Legislature
All amendatory Powers herein granted shall be vested in a General Convention of the United States, which shall consist of a National General Assembly and a House of Delegates.
Section 2 – National General Assembly
(Election information TBA)
The National General Assembly is the standing chamber of the General Convention. It is charged with the structural organization and operations of the Economic Branch and the General Convention’s second chamber, the House of Delegates.
Section 3 – House of Delegates
(Election information TBA)
Proposed Amendments are presented before the House for Consensus, a 2/3 consensus vote initiates the state ratification process
Section 4 – Membership, Rules, Journals, Adjournment
Both chambers shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business;
Both chambers may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behavior, and, with the Concurrence of two-thirds, expel a Member.
Section 6 – Compensation
Member of both chambers of the General Convention shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States.
They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the National General Assembly or House of Delegates, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.
No member of either chamber shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of the House of Delegates during his Continuance in Office.
Section 7 – Amendatory Processes, Checks and Balances, Separation of Powers
(TBA)
Section 8 – Powers of the General Convention
(Not yet complete)
The General Convention shall have Power:
To exercise exclusive regulatory jurisdiction over all federally chartered corporations,
including assessing, imposing, and collecting federal corporate taxes (State Revenue Sharing)
To exercise exclusive regulatory jurisdiction
To provide for redress of grievances
To employ the power of eminent domain in required instances
Section 9 – Limits on the General Convention
TBA
Section 10 – Powers prohibited of States
TBA
