Texas has become the 11th state officially to join an effort to limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government by amending the U.S. Constitution.
On May 4, the Texas House voted 94-51 to pass SJR2, a resolution to apply to the U.S. Congress to call a convention of states under Article V of the Constitution.
The Texas Senate passed the resolution in February.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott lent his bully pulpit to the effort, endorsing the Convention of States movement in January 2016 and declaring passage of the convention resolution an emergency legislative issue during his State of the State address in January. Rep. Rick Miller, R-Sugar Land, sponsored the resolution and played a leading role in building support in the House, where 79 members signed on as co-sponsors.
But perhaps most important were the many grassroots activists from the Convention of States Project.
Launched in 2013, COS is attempting to get the necessary two-thirds of state legislatures to pass an identical resolution asking Congress to call a convention of states under Article V of the Constitution. The stated purpose of the convention would be to propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution to impose fiscal restraints on the federal government, limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government, and impose term limits on members of Congress and other federal officials.
More than 240 COS activists representing 78 Texas House districts watched from the gallery as the resolution passed, the organization noted.
Mark Meckler, co-founder of the Convention of States Project, told WND passage of the resolution was no easier in Texas than it was in any of the previous 10 states. In fact, COS ran into many of the same hurdles it faces everywhere.
“I would say the number one obstacle is just ignorance of the process,” Meckler said. “The second clause of Article V is something that’s never been used before in American history, and there’s a lot of bad information and fearmongering floating around out there that’s spread primarily by the radical left, and people have bought into it. So overcoming that history of fearmongering is definitely not easy.”
Article V of the U.S. Constitution provides two methods by which constitutional amendments can be proposed.
First, Congress can propose amendments approved by two-thirds of the members of both chambers. This is the method that has been used for all 27 amendments passed to date.
The second method, which has never been used, allows two-thirds of state legislatures to ask Congress to call a convention at which amendments may be proposed. All of the state applications must agree on what types of amendments will be proposed at the convention.
Roughly 125,000 COS activists worked for more than three years to pass the COS Article V Convention resolution in Texas. They conducted more than 400 meetings around the state to educate citizens and legislators about the Article V Convention process and the power they have to keep the federal government in check.
The nationwide COS movement enjoys the support of a high-profile ally, former Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who serves as a senior adviser to the Convention of States Project.
Coburn laid out the necessity of an Article V Convention in his brand-new book, “Smashing the DC Monopoly: Using Article V to Restore Freedom and Stop America’s Runaway Government.”
Meckler said he first heard about Coburn’s interest in working for COS while watching the news.
“I was sitting home one day and my wife started shouting from the living room that Tom Coburn had said something amazing, and it was on Greta Van Susteren’s show at the time,” Meckler recalled. “She said, ‘Tom says he’s coming to work for Convention of States.’ And I honestly didn’t believe it. It sounded so silly. And we rewound it, and certainly that’s what he said his plan was when he left the Senate.”
Meckler called Coburn’s communications director and asked if there was something he should know, but the communications director said he had just found out about Coburn’s plan as well.
“I knew Tom supported the project and was a believer, but I had no idea that he intended to commit his life to it,” Meckler said. “When you get a guy like Tom Coburn who’s been willing to stand against both parties, against wasteful spending, fraud and abuse, and a guy like that with that kind of credibility says he’s going to dedicate the rest of his life to calling a Convention of States, it is a very big deal.”
With 11 states down, there are still 23 more to go before an Article V Convention can be called. Meckler said Missouri is the next state likely to pass a resolution.
“We have passed the Senate in Missouri, we’re pending in the House,” he said. “We have a committee hearing [Tuesday] and hopefully a floor vote by Thursday and that would make Missouri No. 12. That’s next on the agenda.”
