by Helen Sabin, Corvallis
Words matter! Do you know the difference?
“…I think by far the most important bill in our whole code is that for the diffusion of knowlege among the people. no other sure foundation can be devised for the preservation of freedom, and happiness.” ~Thomas Jefferson to George Wythe August 13, 1786 (spellings are from original text)
Too many Americans today do NOT know the difference between a “Constitutional Convention” or “Con-Con” or a “Convention of States.” And that includes our own state legislators. Let’s learn the differences.
Black’s Law Dictionary (online) defines a Constitutional Convention (Con-Con) as … “an official meeting of representatives of the people of a “state or nation” for the purpose of framing, writing, or amending, “its” constitution.
A Convention of States (COS) is defined by the Founding Fathers, (shortened for length)…”The Congress, …on the application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several states, 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.”
The Convention of States (COS) is simply a “proposing convention.” It can change nothing, it cannot write a new constitution like the Founding Fathers did in 1787, and it cannot amend “this” Constitution as it gets its power “from” the Constitution and the 38 states that must ratify any proposals passed at the convention. It only takes 13 states to say NO and any amendment or proposal is “dead.”
Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Lincoln, Hamilton, Eisenhower, Reagan, Trump, Governor Ron DeSantis, and even Justice Scalia specifically advocated the use of Article V to restore the government of, by, and for the people.“…By the fifth article of the plan, we may safely rely on the disposition of the state legislatures to erect barriers against the encroachment of the national authority.”
Therefore, as a citizen of the state of Montana, I direct our state legislators to please vote for a COS. It provides a safe, non-violent, peaceful, constitutional, and efficient way to solve our problems with no downside.