Research Director Testifies In Missouri Con Con Hearings

Dear Fellow Eagles,

I had the wonderful opportunity to spend today at the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City to testify for informational purposes on a proposed Article V Constitutional Convention. Since both the House and Senate would need to pass a resolution for a Con Con, hearings were held in both the Senate Committee on Rules, Joint Rules, Resolutions, and Ethics and the House Special Committee on Government Oversight.

In the Senate, legislators were clearly concerned about the implications of calling a Con Con, which hasn’t happened since the Constitution was written in 1787. Although supporters of Senate Concurrent Resolution 14 claimed that a convention would have the power to limit Congress, they failed to point out that Article V specifically says that Congress has the power to “call” a Con Con, which gives them the inherent authority to set up the convention as they see fit. As I told them in my testimony, at best, a Con Con would be ruled by Congress and their friends in the federal judiciary. At worst, a Con Con could lead to a completely runaway convention. As Justice Scalia put it in 2014: “I certainly would not want a Constitutional Convention. I mean whoa. Who knows what would come out of that?”

I was also able to share the facts of the issue in the House hearing on HCR 10. Proponents claimed that a Con Con would have built-in safeguards against a runaway convention, but I was quick to point out that the Constitution makes no such guarantees. In fact, the short portion of Article V allowing for a convention leaves all kinds of unanswered questions that should have any supporter of our Constitution concerned.

In addition to the committee hearings, I was also able to speak one-on-one with legislators and their staff about the dangers of calling for a Con Con. We have a lot of smart people in Jefferson City who know not to fall for the “silver bullet solution” of a Con Con, but we need to continue the fight to protect our great Constitution. If you are a Missourian, please keep a close eye on bills to call for an Article V Constitutional Convention, including SCR 4, SCR 14, HCR 5, and HCR 10. The written remarks I submitted to the committees are below.

Thanks,

Jordan T. Henry

Director of Research

Eagle Forum Education & Legal Defense Fund

Con Con Testimony 2-28-17 from PhyllisSchlaflyEagles