[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 6 (Wednesday, January 10, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E25-E27]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  REPORT TO CONGRESS REGARDING THE ARIZONA BALANCED BUDGET AMENDMENT 
                          PLANNING CONVENTION

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. PAUL A. GOSAR

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 10, 2018

  Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, it is with great satisfaction and pride that 
I report the outcome of the first formally authorized national 
Convention of State Legislatures to convene in 156 years. The ``Arizona 
Balanced Budget Amendment (BBA) Planning Convention'' was held 
September 12-15, 2017 in the chamber of the Arizona House of 
Representatives. The purpose of the convention was to discuss and plan 
for an eventual Article V--convention of states to propose a federal 
balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.
  The convention was formally called by the Arizona legislature's 
passage of HCR2022 sponsored by the Arizona Speaker of the House, J.D. 
Mesnard, on March 16, 2017. Pursuant to that resolution, the purpose of 
the convention was to create a proposed set of rules for adoption by 
and to govern a future single subject Article V convention to propose a 
BBA. Additionally, delegates were instructed to address the logistics 
involved in preparing for and participating in an upcoming Article V 
BBA convention. This report is intended to inform the work of the 
Arizona BBA Planning Convention and highlight areas of importance.
  The Arizona BBA Planning Convention has created a roadmap for future 
conventions to draw upon when they convene, and has provided a sense of 
security to those who questioned the ability of State delegates to hold 
a convention that would address solely its single purpose and nothing 
more. It was an important endeavor that deserves proper cataloguing in 
the appropriate annals to include the Congressional Record, the Library 
of Congress, the National Archives, State Libraries, and the 
participating State Legislatures' records. I submit this congressional 
report and ask that you consider the work of the delegates as 
legitimate and pertinent.
  In keeping with the traditions of past national conventions, the 
Arizona BBA Planning Convention has encouraged delegations to create a 
report of the convention to their state. Georgia, Michigan and 
Minnesota, among others, are states whose delegates have provided a 
comprehensive assessment. We encourage them to submit their work to the 
above archives as well, and hope to preserve this work and encourage 
more national conventions on a variety of topics in the future.
  Therefore, I include in the Record a report to Congress in regard to 
Arizona balanced budget amendment:

       It is with great confidence that I believe each member of 
     Congress possesses the same depth of gratitude for the work 
     of our

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     Founding Fathers as those of us who attended this first fully 
     authorized convention of states since the Civil War. We are 
     all tasked with the grand responsibility to govern the 
     people. In doing so, we reach with one hand into the future 
     to focus on protecting the prosperity of our children's 
     children, and with our other hand we reach to the past to 
     learn and explore what happened so that we are better able to 
     protect and preserve the vision of those who built this great 
     Republic.
       One such visionary was Col. George Mason, who insisted that 
     the States should also be able to propose amendments to the 
     Constitution. He imagined that there would come a time when 
     the Legislatures would be called upon to take appropriate 
     action, and that there ought to be a second mechanism to 
     update our founding document should the need arise. This 
     method has recently gained interest and popularity across the 
     country, and for several years State Legislators have been 
     examining the viability of such an exercise.
       It can be legitimately argued that the time George Mason 
     envisioned is before us. The momentum is increasing and the 
     reality of an Article V Convention of States is becoming ever 
     apparent. Greater Legislators than I were aware of the need 
     to prepare the way in advance, and it has been an honor to 
     join them in that effort. We hope to work together with 
     Congress to restore fiscal accountability through the 
     requirement of a balanced budget, and preparing a proposed 
     set of rules for the Balanced Budget Amendment Convention is 
     our gift to future delegates to make that process easier.
       We present this report to you in hopes that you will 
     consider the work that has been accomplished thus far. The 
     Phoenix Correspondence Commission was created as an outgrowth 
     of this convention, and as a founding member of that 
     Commission, I look forward to beginning the conversation 
     needed to prepare for the much-anticipated Article V 
     Convention of States.
       ``We face the most predictable economic crisis in 
     history.'' That was the conclusion of Erskine Bowles, co-
     chair of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and 
     Reform (Simpson-Bowles Commission), to the U.S. Senate Budget 
     Committee on March 8, 2011. At the time of this ominous 
     warning to the nation in 2011, the national debt had just 
     eclipsed $14 trillion. It took 206 years for our nation to 
     amass $1 trillion in debt; it has increased by over $6 
     trillion in the just the last seven years. Had Congress acted 
     on the commission's proposal, it would have reduced the 
     national debt by $4 trillion over a decade and put Social 
     Security solidly on the road to solvency. Congress ignored 
     this unequivocal national wake up call. ``The fiscal path we 
     are on today is simply not sustainable,'' Bowles said. ``This 
     debt and these deficits that we are incurring on an annual 
     basis are like a cancer and they are going to truly destroy 
     this country from within unless we have the common sense to 
     do something about it.'' States are exercising the common 
     sense to do something about it. Acting under Article V of the 
     U.S. Constitution, 28 of the required 34 States have now 
     called for a convention of states to propose a balanced 
     budget amendment to the Constitution in order to avert this 
     ``most predictable economic crisis in history.'' In September 
     of 2016, at the call of the Arizona Legislature, 19 States 
     convened in their official capacity to propose rules for 
     conducting an Article V balanced budget convention of states.
       We call upon Congress, the States, and people of good faith 
     everywhere to extend their utmost efforts to support this 
     constitutional remedy for curing the national fiscal 
     ``cancer'' before the exponentially increasing national debt 
     ``destroy[s] this nation from within.''
       The Phoenix convention was instructive in preparing for a 
     future Article V BBA convention. We learned much about the 
     process of communicating with the state legislatures and the 
     need to continue to educate them on the logistics of a 
     convention. We were encouraged from the manner in which the 
     delegates conducted themselves that any future convention, 
     like Phoenix, will stick to its task and never ``run away'' 
     as Article V naysayers assert. The nature of delegate 
     appointment process and the rules, in addition to numerous 
     other safeguards, simply won't allow for it.
       As a result of the Arizona convention, including the 
     establishment of the Phoenix Correspondence Commission, the 
     states as a group are positioned to assist Congress in 
     counting the number of live Article V BBA applications in 
     place, in assisting with identifying a time and location for 
     a future BBA convention to be held, in addressing any legal 
     issues which may arise concerning the calling of such a 
     convention, in preparing language for an appropriate 
     resolution to be passed by Congress fulfilling its mandatory 
     obligation to call the convention when the threshold number 
     of states have applied and to otherwise assist Congress in 
     performing its duties pursuant to Article V of the United 
     States Constitution.
       At present, twenty-eight (28) states have passed (and not 
     rescinded) Article V applications calling for a convention to 
     propose a balanced budget amendment. As we approach the two-
     thirds threshold triggering the call of a convention, we 
     stand ready to work cooperatively with Congress in moving 
     forward with this historic endeavor.
       I authored the resolution calling for a Balanced Budget 
     Amendment Planning Convention in Phoenix because I love this 
     country. I believe it to be the greatest nation that has ever 
     existed, but I am greatly concerned that our country is not 
     on a sustainable fiscal path. Contrary to what some would 
     like us to believe, the responsibility to get our fiscal 
     house in order does not just rest with Congress, nor is 
     Congress the end-all-be-all for governing this country.
       In fact, a critical responsibility of the states in this 
     great Union is in helping to keep our federal government in 
     check. That value of Federalism was a bedrock principle that 
     our Founding Fathers captured in the design of government put 
     forth in the Constitution of the United States, over two 
     centuries ago. I believe it is time for the states to start 
     flexing our constitutional muscles, just as our Founding 
     Fathers envisioned. And one vital tool for facilitating that, 
     was instilled by our Founders in Article V of the 
     Constitution. That is, the power of the states to propose 
     amendments, especially as a means of constraining the power 
     of the federal government. In 1798, then Vice President 
     Thomas Jefferson, in correspondence with a state legislator, 
     wrote, ``I wish it were possible to obtain a single amendment 
     to our Constitution. I would be willing to depend on that 
     alone for the reduction of the administration of our 
     government; I mean an additional article taking from the 
     Federal Government the power of borrowing.'' While it might 
     be more than two centuries late, I hope that soon we will be 
     able to give President Jefferson his wish--for our own sake
       All fifty state legislatures were invited to attend the 
     Arizona BBA Planning Convention. The Arizona planning 
     committee actively sought a delegation from each state and 
     was fully inclusive in their efforts to host a bi-partisan 
     event. HCR2022 specifically required that the delegations be 
     chosen by resolution of the legislature or by formal joint 
     appointment by the leadership in both houses of their 
     respective state legislatures. This was to ensure that the 
     delegation was authorized to speak and vote on behalf of 
     their state Legislature. Delegates who were not listed on 
     their State's approved delegation list were not seated. The 
     meeting consisted of officially approved delegates from 19 
     state legislatures, with delegates from three additional 
     states observing. Committees established to fulfill the 
     requirements of HCR2022 were as follows: The Rules Drafting 
     Committee; The Planning Committee, which was divided into two 
     sub-committees: A Subcommittee on Ethics which was formed to 
     address the impact and management of outside influence on the 
     convention process and A Subcommittee on Delegates and 
     Correspondence to assist in planning for a future BBA 
     convention. A synopsis of the product of the Rules Committee 
     is as follows: Produced a model set of rules for an Article V 
     convention to propose a BBA. Some components of the set of 
     model rules were as follows: The Article V convention shall 
     be limited in scope to the balanced budget amendment. 
     Governing rules provide for appropriate order and conduct 
     during a BBA Article V convention which include, but are not 
     limited to, the following: Duties of the officers. A quorum 
     is a majority of the states in attendance. Each state shall 
     be given only one vote, as has been the precedent in all 
     preceding state conventions. Order of business and names of 
     committees. The cost of the convention to be divided equally 
     among the states in attendance.
       A synopsis of the Planning Committee is as follows: 
     Recommendations for protecting the integrity of an Article V 
     Convention. Non-delegates should not be permitted on the 
     Chamber Floor, Members' Lounge, etc., and should only be 
     permitted in public areas. Any interaction of Convention 
     leadership and staff with non-delegate individuals or 
     organizations that pertains to Convention business or process 
     should be strictly prohibited, with the exception of the 
     press. Convention communications should only include official 
     activities. States should consider extending their ethics 
     restrictions (i.e. lobbying, food, gifts, etc.) to delegates 
     serving within a convention, in addition to any ethics 
     standards imposed by Convention rules. Sub-Committee on 
     Delegates and Correspondence reported the following: In 
     anticipation of the call for a convention for proposing 
     amendments, states are strongly encouraged to enact delegate 
     selection legislation at the earliest opportunity. The 
     Phoenix Correspondence Commission (PCC) was created. The PCC 
     will consist of commissioners appointed by the states to 
     carry out the following functions to organize a convention 
     for proposing amendments: Creating a single point of contact 
     to act as a liaison with Congress. Track all applications for 
     a convention for proposing amendments. Create a process to 
     suggest to Congress a time and place for a convention for 
     proposing amendments. Provide a process for legal 
     representation, if necessary. Perform tasks as needed to 
     organize the convention. Each state is strongly encouraged to 
     appoint a commissioner to the PCC to communicate on all 
     matters associated with a convention for proposing amendments 
     with any or all of the following: State Legislators, United 
     States Citizens, Convention Organizers, State Congressional 
     Delegations, and Congress. The members of the PCC will be 
     initially comprised of one member appointed from each 
     delegation present at this Arizona Balanced Budget Amendment 
     Planning Convention, until such time as each commissioner's 
     state formally appoints a commissioner to the PCC or declines 
     to do the same.

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