FOAVC - Judicial Reform; Term-Limits; Balanced-Budget; Inititive-Referendum Recall; Repeal of Federal Income Tax; One Purpose-per-Bill;
Subjects Inside: Article V Applications  FAQ, Application Counts By Congress, Articles, AVC Legislative Report, CRS Reports, Convention of State, Compact for America, COS, CFA--Which States are Which?, The Historic Record of COS, COS, CFA Laws, COS Articles, CRS Reports on COS/CFA, COS, CFA Financial Records, CFA Financials, COS Financials, COS/CFA Financial Conclusions, John Birch Society, Con-Con, Runaway Convention, Who Called the Convention, Congressional Vote on a "Runaway" Convention, "Obey the Constitution, Only Two More States", Illegal Rescissions, The Phony Burger Letter, The Madison Letter, Fotheringham Exchange, JBS Articles, Sibley Lawsuit, General Interest, Article V.org, Robert Natelson, History of Article V, Counting the Applications, The Numeric Count History, Congressional Decision of May 5, 1789, Development of Article V, The Committee of the Whole, The Committee of Detail, August 30, September 10, Committee of Style, September 15, Official  Government Documents, History of FOAVC, Founders, Audio/Visual, Links, Contact Us, Legal Page, 14th Amendment, The Electoral Process, Packets, Definitions, Numeric, (Applications grouped by numeric count as required by the Constitution),  Same Subject (Applications grouped by amendment subject, not required by the Constitution for a convention call).
    

Page 8--General Interest Page

In some instances information about an Article V Convention does not require an web page and thus falls into the general interest catagory. This information will be published on our General Interest Page usually in the form of an article. Other articles may be found on our Articles page and we encourage all to take time and read them.

Proposed Rules Submitted for AVC Applications

UPDATE: May 10, 2015: In a letter dated April 30, 2015 word was received the petition for updating NARA rules in regards to Article V Applications is now in process. In other news Mr. John Simms, legal counsel to the office of the Inspector General of the NARA indicated they had no idea on how to proceed regarding a request within the petition for an inspection of the records. Mr. Simms suggested a FOIA request be made to the office of Legislative Affairs in NARA but was unsure if this would cause any response from NARA.

UPDATE: April 24, 2015: In a brief conversation with NARA Inspector General James Springs, Mr. Springs stated that the request for an inspection of the convention records in the custody of the NARA is being studied by the counsel to the NARA Inspector General's office.
Congress recently revised the law regarding inspection of federal records to remove the GSA from the process. The new law is so new even GSA officials were unaware of it until a few weeks ago. The law places inspections of all federal records under the responsibility of the NARA.

A petition for the commence of rule making activities by the National Records and Archives Administration (NARA) related to the compilation, display and presentation of state Article V applications currently in the custody of the NARA was recently submitted by Bill Walker of Friends of the Article V Convention (FOAVC) to the office of the Federal Register. Submission of the proposed regulations to the Federal Register is the first step in adopting the proposed rules for the NARA.

In addition, other government officials were sent copies of the petition which is intended to establish a series of federal regulations regarding state applications currently held by the NARA. The government officials were requested to use their offices to facilitate and resolve other
problems associated with state applications that lie outside the jurisdiction of the NARA.

In addition, Mr. Walker sent a proposed convention call to these officials. “In combination,” said Mr. Walker, “the proposed NARA regulations and proposed call emphatically disproves the tired argument that no rules exist regarding a convention or that they cannot be written.” Walker went on to point out that the basis of this call and proposed regulations are supported by numerous Supreme Court rulings as well as numerous federal statutes and regulations. “The fact is that those who say no regulations can be written fail to understand a fundamental point—that in any question regarding the Constitution, all the Constitution must be satisfied and therefore all the Constitution must be applied to any constitutional question,” said Walker.

Walker stated too often those who have not properly studied the issue of an Article V Convention simply assume because operational issues such as election of delegates, convention agenda and so forth are not mentioned in Article V, that the Constitution simply does not supply any answer about these questions. “This is entirely false,” said Walker. “The courts have repeatedly ruled on many issues regarding the operational aspects of a convention. It simply requires a little bit of digging on the part of the individual to locate the answers. Most people do not this. Therefore they are susceptible to false statements by convention opponents or political groups who rely on this ignorance to further their political agenda.”

The overall purpose of the proposed regulations is to establish a reliable, verifiable catalogue of state applications available for constitutional use by Congress in calling conventions as well as being available for public review.
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A letter from Tomas E. Brennan, co-founder of FOAVC
Dear Friend of the Constitution:

Like so many other Americans, you believe that our government is not working the way the Founders intended. You have expressed interest in a convention to propose amendments, just as Washington, Madison and Hamilton expected us to do.
   
At this very moment there are literally dozens of proposals for constitutional amendments circulating on the Internet. Each one has its own supporters. Most of them want a convention for the only purpose of proposing the amendment they support.
   
Now at last there is one single clearing house where all ideas for constitutional amendments can be examined, debated, refined and voted up or down by people of the United States.
 
It is called Convention USA. It’s not being held in any one city or any one convention center. It’s being held on the Internet at http:/www.ConventionUSA.org. 
 
Every registered voter in every state is invited to become a delegate, and participate in the work of the convention. There is no cost and no obligation, except to vote on proposals and share your opinions.
  
We will call the convention to order when we have two thirds of the states represented.
 
If you have any questions, I can be reached at thosbrennan@aol.com.
 

Sincerely,
  
Thomas E. Brennan ,
Former Chief Justice of Michigan
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The First Set of Applications by the States
Since the beginning of this nation the states have applied for an Article V Convention at an average rate of one application every four months. The Supreme Court has repeatedly stated that amendment subject has no bearing on the amendment process. The Constitution only specifies one standard for a convention call--an application from each of two-thirds of the state legislatures. You can view the first application submitted by each state at this link. As the evidence proves by 1911 two-thirds of the states had submitted applications for an Article V Convention. The Constitution does not permit nor allow so-called rescissions of the applications. Even if it did, long before a single rescission was submitted (1947 state of Maine to correct a textual error) the states had satisfied the single requirement of the Constitution.

You may also read a summation created by long time convention supporter John Guise showing in sequence of application the state, its date of application, the number of states in the union at the time of the application and the number of states needed to cause a convention call. Accordingly, it can be stated that as of Friday, March 13, 1908 with the application of the state of Washington Congress has been obligated to call an Article V Convention as mandated by the United States Constitution.

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COS Convention Proposals Face Ratification

 Unencumbered by the requirements for electoral selection or participation by the people the Convention of States Project held a convention for proposing amendments in Williamsburg, Virginia September 21-23, 2016 billed as a "simulated" convention but in fact, was a "real" convention. Official state representatives from all 50 states overwhelmingly approved six amendment proposals far in excess of the required two thirds approval vote mandated by the Constitution. More....

Page Last Updated: 23-JULY 2017