We have great news from Louisiana! House Concurrent Resolution 2 has passed the House and Governmental Affairs Committee by a vote of 6-3! That is a big thanks to YOU. YOU were the one who called and emailed these representatives and told them to stand for liberty and the Constitution. YOU were the one who pressured them to take action. And we couldn't have done it without you!
A big thanks also goes to Michael Farris, co-founder of the Convention of States Project, who testified at the hearing. His testimony was important to answer the more technical, constitutional questions posed by legislators. Here's a bit of what he said:
There are two fundamental reasons that our federal government has far exceeded its legitimate authority granted by the terms of the Constitution. First, it is the nature of man to want to expand his own power. Second, the several states have never employed their constitutional authority to limit the size of the federal government. We should not be surprised that the federal government has continually expanded its power. When there are no checks on its power, not even the need to spend only the money that it has on hand, abuse of power is inevitable.
We start with Article I Section 1 of the Constitution which requires that all legislative authority be vested in the Congress of the United States. This means that only Congress can make law. Yet the people and legislature of Louisiana—just like the people and government in every other state—are being told daily that they must obey regulations enacted by administrative agencies not by Congress. The EPA is the best know rule-emitting source, but it is not the only administrative agency that imposes its will on Louisianans in blatant violation of the rule that only our elected legislators can enact law.
The Supreme Court has ruled that Congress may delegate its power to the agencies. The Founders would disagree because they understood that Congress cannot give away the right of the people. And it is the right of the people to elect legislators to make the law. We have this right so that we may throw the rascals out if we do not approve of the laws they make. Congress isn’t giving away its power; it is giving away our rights.
The federal government will continue to expand and abuse its power until the states demand a halt. Nothing else has worked. Nothing else will work. Article V is the tool that the Founders gave the State legislatures to rein in the abuse of power by the federal government. You have the authority and the duty to stop the abuse and protect our liberty.
While we can celebrate this as a victory, we also need to understand that we are not done yet. It still needs to be go up for a vote on the floor of the Louisiana House of Representatives AND THEN go to the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee AND THEN to the floor of the Louisiana Senate. And we will need you each of those times to call AND email your Representatives or Senators to urge them to vote for HCR2. When you receive the next call to action, it will be to call YOUR OWN REPRESENTATIVE. I will send out an email blast to let you all know when that is!
Remember, we are fighting for the restoration of our Founding Principles; that our Creator has granted us inalienable rights; that government's sole purpose is to secure these rights; that government derives it's just powers from the consent of the people. We are fighting for our children, grandchildren and your children's children and grandchildren. Thank you all and stay tuned for more in the next few days!
In Liberty,
Bryce Barras
Louisiana State Director
http://www.conventionofstates.com/
