Senate Joint Resolution 5 - Introduced
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 5
BY GREEN
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
1 A Joint Resolution calling for an Article V convention in order
2 to propose amendments to the Constitution of the United
3 States that impose fiscal restraints, limit the power and
4 jurisdiction of the federal government, and limit the number
5 of terms that a person may serve in Congress, and requesting
6 Congress to similarly propose such amendments.
7 WHEREAS, the founders of the Constitution of the United
8 States empowered state legislators to be guardians of liberty
9 against future abuses of power by the federal government; and
10 WHEREAS, the federal government has created a crushing
11 national debt through improper and imprudent spending; and
12 WHEREAS, the federal government has invaded the legitimate
13 roles of the states through the manipulative process of federal
14 mandates, most of which are unfunded to a great extent; and
15 WHEREAS, the federal government has ceased to live under
16 a proper interpretation of the Constitution of the United
17 States; and
18 WHEREAS, it is the solemn duty of the states to protect
19 the liberty of our people, particularly for the generations
20 to come, by proposing amendments to the Constitution of the
21 United States through a convention of the states under Article
22 V of the Constitution of the United States for the purpose of
23 restraining these and related abuses of power; NOW THEREFORE,
24 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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1 That, pursuant to Article V of the Constitution of the
2 United States, the General Assembly, as the legislature of the
3 state of Iowa, hereby applies to Congress for the calling of a
4 convention for the specific and exclusive purpose of proposing
5 amendments to the Constitution of the United States that impose
6 fiscal restraints on the federal government, limit the power
7 and jurisdiction of the federal government, and limit the
8 number of terms that a person may serve in the Congress of the
9 United States; and
10 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this application constitutes
11 a continuing application in accordance with Article V of the
12 Constitution of the United States until the legislatures of at
13 least two-thirds of the several states have made applications
14 for a similar convention under Article V, or the General
15 Assembly resolves to withdraw this application; and
16 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State shall
17 transmit certified copies of this resolution to the President
18 and Secretary of the United States Senate, the Speaker and
19 Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, each
20 member of the United States Senate and the United States House
21 of Representatives, and to the presiding officer of each house
22 of the legislature of each of the several states.
23 EXPLANATION
24 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
25 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
26 This joint resolution constitutes an application requesting
27 the United States Congress to call a constitutional convention
28 in order to propose amendments to the Constitution of the
29 United States to impose fiscal restraints on the federal
30 government, limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal
31 government, and limit the number of terms that a person may
32 serve in the Congress of the United States. The resolution
33 constitutes a continuing application to call a constitutional
34 convention and states the intention of the General Assembly
35 that the application be aggregated with the prior and
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1 subsequent applications of other states limited to the purposes
2 identified in the resolution.
3 The resolution requires the Secretary of State to transmit
4 certified copies of this resolution to the President and
5 Secretary of the United States Senate, the Speaker and Clerk
6 of the United States House of Representatives, each member
7 of the United States Senate and the United States House of
8 Representatives, and to the presiding officer of each house of
9 the legislature of each state.
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