AUSTIN, TX—Texas Public Policy Foundation President and CEO Brooke Rollins and Director of the Center for Tenth Amendment Action Dr. Thomas Lindsay issued the following statements on the Tennessee General Assembly's passage of Senate Joint Resolution 67, calling for a convention of states to propose amendments under Article V of the United States Constitution:
“An historic movement toward a Convention of States is well underway,” said Brooke Rollins, president and CEO of the Texas Public Policy Foundation. “An Article V Amendments Convention to revive Constitutional fidelity and restore the promises of liberty, individual rights, and due process in the face of an aggressively expanding federal government is exactly what this country needs in order to preserve and protect freedom.
“Texas Governor Greg Abbott's 'Texas Plan,' announced at our annual Policy Orientation for the Texas Legislature, has energized the national movement for an Article V convention. It builds upon longstanding efforts like the Convention of States project, active across America and instrumental in today’s victory in Tennessee.”
“Chief Justice John Roberts reminded the country in 2012 that, ‘The States are separate and independent sovereigns. Sometimes they have to act like it,’” said Dr. Thomas Lindsay, Director of the Center for Tenth Amendment Action at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. “Last month, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that Texas was going to act on the sovereignty granted it by the U.S. Constitution and apply for an Article V Convention of States for the purpose of shrinking our Leviathan-like federal government and returning power to the states and their citizens. Washington, D.C., has proven itself unable or unwilling to extricate our country from the abyss into which its profligate spending has thrust us. Fortunately, the Founders of this country anticipated the grow-at-all-costs agenda that drives federal politicians. For this reason, our Constitution provides in Article V the process by which We The People can restore our liberties. The time for action is now.”
At the Texas Public Policy Foundation 14th Annual Policy Orientation, Texas Governor Greg Abbott called for an Article V Convention of States to amend the Constitution for the purpose of limiting the power and jurisdiction of the federal government.
Brooke Rollins is president and CEO of the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
Dr. Tom Lindsay is director of the Centers for 10th Amendment Action and Higher Education at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin, Texas.