HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1935        FILED ON: 1/19/2017

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1929

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Bradford R. Hill

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying resolution:

Resolutions calling on Article V of the United States Constitution for the convening of a convention of the states.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1935        FILED ON: 1/19/2017

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1929

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninetieth General Court
(2017-2018)

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Resolutions calling on Article V of the United States Constitution for the convening of a convention of the states.

WHEREAS, Executive Orders by the President of the United States have become a vehicle through which the President may overstep the limits of his constitutional authority; and

WHEREAS, the concentration of power at the federal level has had the effect of making federal officials less responsive to the will of the people and more readily influenced by lobbyists, wealthy corporations, and special interests in Washington, D.C.; and

WHEREAS, much of federal law is now enacted by federal bureaucrats who were never chosen by the people and have no accountability to the people whatsoever; and

WHEREAS, policy decisions made at the state level tend to be more responsive to the needs and desires of the people; and

WHEREAS, the federal government has created a crushing national debt through improper and imprudent spending; and

WHEREAS, the federal government has invaded the legitimate roles of the states through the manipulative process of federal mandates, most of which are unfunded to a great extent; and

WHEREAS, the States have the ability to restore the responsiveness of government to the people and to restrain abuses of federal power by proposing Amendments to the Constitution of the United States through a limited Convention of States under Article V; therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the legislature of the State of Massachusetts hereby applies to Congress, under the provisions of Article V of the Constitution of the United States, for the calling of a convention of the states limited to proposing amendments to the Constitution of the United States that impose fiscal restraints on the federal government, limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government, and limit the terms of office for its officials and for members of Congress; and be it further

RESOLVED, that the Secretary of State is hereby directed to transmit copies of this application to the President and Secretary of the United States Senate and to the Speaker and Clerk of the United States House of Representatives from this State; also to transmit copies hereof to the presiding officers of each of the legislative houses in the several States, requesting their cooperation; and be it further

RESOLVED, that this application constitutes a continuing application in accordance with Article V of the Constitution of the United States until the legislatures of at least two-thirds of the several states have made applications on the same subject.