Governor Abbott’s recent op-ed on the why he is calling for an Article V Convention of States appeared in The Dallas Morning News on May 3rd, 2017.
By Governor Greg Abbott
The Dallas Morning News in its recent editorial would have you believe that a Convention of States is a radical departure from the intent of our Founders. They are clearly wrong.
Calling for a Convention of States to restrain a runaway federal government is the intended avenue of citizens’ redress offered by Alexander Hamilton and James Madison and other authors of the U.S. Constitution.
In fact, the Founders envisioned that an Article V Convention of States would be the primary avenue for amending the Constitution. There is nothing radical about using that avenue. To the contrary, it would be radical to ignore it.
The Dallas Morning News brought up concerns in the editorial that the penalties on convention delegates for introducing “whatever hot-button issue is in fashion at the time” might not ultimately protect the project from “mission creep.” Again, they are wrong.
The Convention of States can and must be limited. It will propose specific amendments like term limits, a balanced budget amendment and restoring the 10th Amendment to prevent any president from dictating laws.
And no matter what a Convention of States proposes, it will not be part of the Constitution until it is approved by three-fourths of the states.
To get 38 states to agree to anything will be difficult, as it should be. We should not take lightly the seriousness of this task or the threats posed by our inaction.
While the ruling elite may object, hardworking Americans are leading this movement and fighting to restore the balance of power between the federal government and the states.
The Dallas Morning News also suggests in the editorial that the proper avenue for amending the Constitution is first through Congress, which would require a two-thirds agreement of both houses.
For decades, the federal government has grown too big, too costly and too intrusive into our lives. The federal courts continue to overreach their constitutional authority. And Americans can no longer count on Congress to fix what is broken in Washington. Congress is part of the problem.
That’s why I’ve called on the Texas Legislature to approve a resolution authorizing Texas to call for a Convention of States, joining the nine other states that have already acted.
A Convention of States is not a cloaked campaign as the Dallas Morning News wrongly opines.
We proudly wear the conservative mantle of our Founders.
We demand that the federal government fulfill important — but limited — responsibilities as written in the Constitution.
Together, states can do what the Founders intended us to do.
We must do what is necessary to fix what’s broken in Washington, D.C.
To dismiss the solutions the Founders gave us in Article V would ignore the Constitution they authored and would disregard our historical rooting in liberty.
We will have been conquered from within, submitting ourselves to the whims of men by abandoning the rule of law.
We the people are the coauthors of the future of this great nation.