Alabama 2023 Regular Session

Alabama House Bill HJR104 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	HJR104INTRODUCED
2	2	Page 0
3	3	75T3VV-1
4	4	By Representative Harrison
5	5	RFD: RULES
6	6	First Read: 20-Apr-23
7	7	1
8	8	2
9	9	3
10	10	4
11	11	5 75T3VV-1 04/19/2023 EVP (L)evp 2023-1600
12	12	Page 1
13	13	HJR___ RESCINDING ALL PREVIOUS RESOLUTIONS OF THE ALABAMA
14	14	LEGISLATURE WHICH REQUEST CONGRESS TO CALL A CONVENTION
15	15	PURSUANT TO ARTICLE V OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION.
16	16	WHEREAS, the Federal Constitution Convention of 1787
17	17	was called for the sole and express purpose of revising the
18	18	Articles of Confederation, yet this convention decided
19	19	instead to discard the Articles of Confederation and draft a
20	20	new constitution which created a new system of government;
21	21	and
22	22	WHEREAS, the Articles of Confederation provided that
23	23	an amendment to the Articles had to be approved by the
24	24	Continental Congress and all of the then 13 states before
25	25	the amendment would be effective; the new constitution
26	26	drafted at the Federal Constitutional Convention of 1787
27	27	provided that an amendment would be ratified when only nine
28	28	of the states approved the amendment; and
29	29	WHEREAS, the United States Constitution has served as
30	30	the cornerstone of American liberty since its creation in
31	31	1787; it was the first written national constitution to set
32	32	forth a system of separation of powers into three branches
33	33	and to enumerate the powers delegated to each of the
34	34	branches; and
35	35	WHEREAS, the powers delegated by the Constitution of
36	36	1787 to the federal government are few and defined, and our
37	37	1
38	38	2
39	39	3
40	40	4
41	41	5
42	42	6
43	43	7
44	44	8
45	45	9
46	46	10
47	47	11
48	48	12
49	49	13
50	50	14
51	51	15
52	52	16
53	53	17
54	54	18
55	55	19
56	56	20
57	57	21
58	58	22
59	59	23
60	60	24
61	61	25
62	62	26
63	63	27
64	64	28 HJR104 INTRODUCEDHJR104 INTRODUCED
65	65	Page 2
66	66	problems arise from not knowing and not enforcing those
67	67	existing limitations on the federal government; and
68	68	WHEREAS, James Madison wrote in The Federalist No. 43
69	69	that the purpose of amendments to the United States
70	70	Constitution are to repair discovered constitutional faults
71	71	or for amendments of constitutional errors, and that no
72	72	framer said the purpose of amendments are to rein in the
73	73	federal government when it usurps powers not delegated; and
74	74	WHEREAS, James Madison showed in The Federalist No.
75	75	49 that a convention is neither proper nor effective to
76	76	retrain government when it encroaches; and
77	77	WHEREAS, Article V of the United States Constitution
78	78	provides for two methods of amendment, Congress proposes
79	79	amendments and sends them to the states for ratification, or
80	80	upon the applications of the legislatures of two-thirds of
81	81	the states, Congress calls a convention for proposing
82	82	amendments; and
83	83	WHEREAS, James Madison trembled at the prospect of
84	84	another convention; Alexander Hamilton dreaded one; and four
85	85	former Justices of the United States Supreme Court warned
86	86	that another convention would run "extravagant risques" and
87	87	that delegates to a convention cannot be controlled; and
88	88	WHEREAS, if delegates to a convention called by
89	89	Congress pursuant to Article V decide to discard our
90	90	Constitution of 1787 and create a new constitution with a
91	91	new system of government, the new constitution will have its
92	92	own new mode of ratification; and
93	93	WHEREAS, each of the existing 27 Amendments to the
94	94	29
95	95	30
96	96	31
97	97	32
98	98	33
99	99	34
100	100	35
101	101	36
102	102	37
103	103	38
104	104	39
105	105	40
106	106	41
107	107	42
108	108	43
109	109	44
110	110	45
111	111	46
112	112	47
113	113	48
114	114	49
115	115	50
116	116	51
117	117	52
118	118	53
119	119	54
120	120	55
121	121	56 HJR104 INTRODUCEDHJR104 INTRODUCED
122	122	Page 3
123	123	United States Constitution were proposed by Congress and
124	124	submitted to the states for ratification; we have never had
125	125	a convention called under Article V of our Constitution; and
126	126	WHEREAS, Article V of the United States Constitution
127	127	delegates to Congress the power to call a federal
128	128	constitutional convention; Article I, Section 8, last
129	129	clause, delegates to Congress the power to make all laws
130	130	necessary and proper for carrying out all powers vested by
131	131	the Constitution in Congress; and
132	132	WHEREAS, the Congressional Research Service Report,
133	133	dated April 11, 2014, shows that in Congress' preliminary
134	134	preparations for Article V conventions in the past, Congress
135	135	has traditionally laid claim to broad responsibilities in
136	136	connection with a convention, including determining the
137	137	number and selection process for its delegates, setting
138	138	internal convention procedures, including formulae for
139	139	allocation of votes among the states; and
140	140	WHEREAS, the states have no constitutional authority
141	141	to determine the rules of order or operational aspects of a
142	142	constitutional convention called by Congress pursuant to
143	143	Article V of the Constitution; and
144	144	WHEREAS, nothing in Article V of the Constitution
145	145	provides for, nor can any state application guarantee, equal
146	146	suffrage or equal franchise to each state at a
147	147	constitutional convention; and
148	148	WHEREAS, the states have no authority to impose any
149	149	penalty, sanction, or limitation on convention delegates,
150	150	for the delegates represent the people and the sovereign
151	151	57
152	152	58
153	153	59
154	154	60
155	155	61
156	156	62
157	157	63
158	158	64
159	159	65
160	160	66
161	161	67
162	162	68
163	163	69
164	164	70
165	165	71
166	166	72
167	167	73
168	168	74
169	169	75
170	170	76
171	171	77
172	172	78
173	173	79
174	174	80
175	175	81
176	176	82
177	177	83
178	178	84 HJR104 INTRODUCEDHJR104 INTRODUCED
179	179	Page 4
180	180	right of the people to alter or abolish their government and
181	181	to institute a new government; and
182	182	WHEREAS, the Alabama Legislature has at various times
183	183	since at least as early as 1833 passed resolutions
184	184	requesting Congress to call a convention, pursuant to
185	185	Article V of the Constitution, to propose amendments to the
186	186	Constitution relating to a variety of subjects; and
187	187	WHEREAS, nothing in Article V of the Constitution
188	188	permits Congress or the states to limit the convention to
189	189	any specific topic or topics; and
190	190	WHEREAS, over the course of time, the will of the
191	191	people of the State of Alabama may have changed relating to
192	192	these previous resolutions; and
193	193	WHEREAS, a constitutional convention called by
194	194	Congress could result in the imposition of a new
195	195	constitution with its own new mode of ratification, which
196	196	could fundamentally transform our country by establishing a
197	197	new system of government which denies the existence of
198	198	unalienable, God-given rights and establishes a tyranny,
199	199	thereby denying liberty to future generations of Alabama
200	200	residents; and
201	201	WHEREAS, the Alabama Legislature is aware that other
202	202	state legislatures have made applications requesting that
203	203	Congress call a constitutional convention; and
204	204	WHEREAS, the Alabama Legislature no longer supports
205	205	its previous resolutions which request that Congress call a
206	206	constitutional convention, many of which were adopted many
207	207	decades ago, and does not wish for these resolutions to be
208	208	85
209	209	86
210	210	87
211	211	88
212	212	89
213	213	90
214	214	91
215	215	92
216	216	93
217	217	94
218	218	95
219	219	96
220	220	97
221	221	98
222	222	99
223	223	100
224	224	101
225	225	102
226	226	103
227	227	104
228	228	105
229	229	106
230	230	107
231	231	108
232	232	109
233	233	110
234	234	111
235	235	112 HJR104 INTRODUCEDHJR104 INTRODUCED
236	236	Page 5
237	237	included with applications made by other state legislatures;
238	238	now therefore,
239	239	BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA, BOTH
240	240	HOUSES THEREOF CONCURRING, That the members of the Alabama
241	241	Legislature hereby rescind, repeal, cancel, void, nullify,
242	242	and withdraw each and every previous resolution passed by
243	243	the Alabama Legislature which requests or urges the Congress
244	244	of the United States to call a constitutional convention
245	245	pursuant to Article V of the United States Constitution.
246	246	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the members of the
247	247	Alabama Legislature urge each state legislature which has
248	248	requested Congress to call a constitutional convention to
249	249	withdraw those requests.
250	250	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State
251	251	shall transmit certified copies of this resolution to the
252	252	President and Secretary of the United States Senate, to the
253	253	Speaker and Secretary of the United States House of
254	254	Representatives, the members of the Alabama Congressional
255	255	Delegation, and to the presiding officers of each house of
256	256	the several state legislatures attesting the adoption of
257	257	this resolution by the Alabama Legislature.
258	258	113
259	259	114
260	260	115
261	261	116
262	262	117
263	263	118
264	264	119
265	265	120
266	266	121
267	267	122
268	268	123
269	269	124
270	270	125
271	271	126
272	272	127
273	273	128
274	274	129
275	275	130
276	276	131
277	277	132
278	278	133