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ONE HUNDRED SIXTH LEGISLATURE
FIRST SESSION
LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION 2
Introduced by Blood, 3.
WHEREAS, the Constitutional Convention of 1787 was initially convened to
make revisions to the Articles of Confederation and this Convention decided instead to discard the Articles of Confederation entirely and create a new system of government; and WHEREAS, the Constitution of the United States has served as the cornerstone of American liberty since its creation in 1787 and was the first written national constitution to set forth a system of separation of powers and to ensure that the rights of minority groups could not be easily trampled upon by the will of the majority; and WHEREAS, despite turmoil and grave political and economic concerns,
including, without limitation, the contested presidential elections of 1800,
1876, and 2000, the Civil War, and the Great Depression, a subsequent constitutional convention has not been held since 1787; and WHEREAS, the Constitution has proven to be resilient and has been amended only twenty-seven times during the course of its two-hundred-thirty-year history; and WHEREAS, Article V of the Constitution requires the Congress of the United States to convene a constitutional convention upon the application of two-
thirds of the several states; and WHEREAS, in 1893, the Legislature passed a joint resolution to make an
application to Congress to call a convention to propose specified amendments to
the Constitution; and WHEREAS, in 1903, the Legislature passed House Roll No. 167 to make an
application to Congress to call a convention to propose specified amendments to
the Constitution; and
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WHEREAS, in 1907, the Legislature passed Senate File No. 313 to make an
application to Congress to call a convention to propose specified amendments to
the Constitution; and WHEREAS, in 1911, the Legislature passed a joint resolution to make an
application to Congress to call a convention to propose specified amendments to
the Constitution; and WHEREAS, in 1949, the Legislature passed Legislative Resolution 32 to make an application to Congress to call a convention to propose specified amendments to the Constitution; and WHEREAS, in 1965, the Legislature passed Legislative Resolution 42 to make an application to Congress to call a convention to propose specified amendments to the Constitution; and WHEREAS, in 1978, the Legislature passed Legislative Resolution 152 to make an application to Congress to call a convention to propose specified amendments to the Constitution; and WHEREAS, in 1979, the Legislature passed Legislative Resolution 106 to make an application to the Congress to call a convention to propose specified amendments to the Constitution; and WHEREAS, in 2010, the Legislature passed Legislative Resolution 538 to make an application to Congress to call a convention to propose specified amendments to the Constitution; and WHEREAS, a Legislature may not bind a future Legislature for the very reason that in the course of human events new priorities emerge, what represented positive adaptation at a particular time ceases to do so, and the will of the people of the State of Nebraska changes; and WHEREAS, nearly all the members of the Legislature who voted for the foregoing resolutions are deceased and over ninety-five percent of the members of the current Legislature have not had an opportunity to consider or take a position on any of the foregoing resolutions, indeed may not even be aware of
their contents; and WHEREAS, a litany of such resolutions have been passed by the legislatures
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of the several states and are currently pending, awaiting in some cases only the action of a few states;
WHEREAS, action by the current legislature of a small number of states could, in a very short period of time, irrevocably trigger one or more conventions to be convened, perhaps concurrently, without the concurrence of
two-thirds of the current legislatures; and WHEREAS, the powers and limitations on a convention of the states or
multiple conventions being held simultaneously or jointly are unclear and uncertain; and WHEREAS, a constitutional convention convened by Congress could make sweeping changes to the Constitution and threaten the liberty of future generations of Nebraskans; and WHEREAS, the Legislature is aware that other state legislatures have made applications requesting that Congress convene a constitutional convention; and WHEREAS, the issues raised and contents of the respective resolutions may no longer be germane to the present times; and WHEREAS, the Legislature no longer supports its previous resolutions which requested that Congress convene a constitutional convention, most of which were adopted over three decades ago, and does not wish for these resolutions to be included with similar applications which were made by other state legislatures.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MEMBERS OF THE ONE HUNDRED SIXTH
LEGISLATURE OF NEBRASKA, FIRST SESSION:
1. That each resolution passed by the Legislature described in this resolution and any additional resolutions previously passed by the Legislature petitioning Congress to call for a constitutional convention under Article V of the Constitution of the United States shall be rescinded upon passage of this resolution.
2. That the members of the Legislature urge each state legislature which has previously requested Congress to convene a constitutional convention to
withdraw such applications.
3. That the Clerk of the Legislature prepare and transmit a copy of this
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resolution to the Vice President of the United States as the presiding officer of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of
Representatives, and each member of Nebraska's congressional delegation.
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