[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 157 (Wednesday, September 28, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S5247]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 5765. Mr. BRAUN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to
amendment SA 5745 proposed by Mr. Schumer to the bill H.R. 6833, to
amend title XXVII of the Public Health Service Act, the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986, and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act
of 1974 to establish requirements with respect to cost-sharing for
certain insulin products, and for other purposes; which was ordered to
lie on the table; as follows:
At the end, add the following:
DIVISION H--CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF THE UNITED STATES
SEC. 101. DEFINITION.
In this division:
(1) Archivist.--The term ``Archivist'' means the Archivist
of the United States.
(2) Article v convention.--The term ``Article V
Convention'' means a convention as described in Article V of
the Constitution of the United States that is called by
Congress and organized by the Archivist on the application of
the legislatures of \2/3\ of the several States for proposing
amendments that shall be valid to all intents and purposes as
part of the Constitution of the United States when ratified
by the legislatures of \3/4\ of the several States, or by
conventions in \3/4\ thereof, as one or the other mode of
ratification may be proposed by Congress.
SEC. 102. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Article V of the Constitution of the United States
requires that ``The Congress . . . on the Application of the
Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call
a Convention for proposing Amendments'' to the Constitution
of the United States.
(2) Since the first application approved by a State for an
Article V Convention in 1788, 42 States in total have
submitted applications.
(3) The Constitution of the United States states that an
Article V Convention shall be called upon the active
application of \2/3\ of the States. Such application occurs
when a State, through its legislature, approves a petition
for an Article V Convention. The threshold of applications
from \2/3\ of the States to require an Article V Convention
has been met several times, as--
(A) in 1979, there were 39 active applications;
(B) in 1983, there were 40 active applications; and
(C) not less than 34 States have filed active applications
as recently as 2021.
(4) Alexander Hamilton in The Federalist No. 85 stated that
``The Congress `shall call a convention'. Nothing in this
particular is left to the discretion of that body''.
(5) Beginning in 1979, the Federal Government failed in its
constitutional duty to count applications and organize an
Article V Convention. Since that time, the debt of the United
States has increased to more than $30,000,000,000,000 from
$830,000,000,000.
(6) The unanimous opinion of the United States Supreme
Court in Chiafalo v. Washington, 140 S. Ct. 2316, 2328 (2020)
stated, ``electors . . . have no ground for reversing the
vote of millions of its citizens. That direction accords with
the Constitution--as well as with the trust of the Nation
that here, We the People rule.''.
SEC. __3. DUTIES OF ARCHIVIST RELATING TO STATE APPLICATIONS
FOR CALLING FOR CONVENTIONS OF STATES FOR
PROPOSING CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS.
(a) Duties Described.--Chapter 2 of title 1, United States
Code, is amended by inserting after section 106b the
following:
``Sec. 106c. Duties relating to State applications calling
for Article V Conventions
``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Archivist.--The term `Archivist' means the Archivist
of the United States.
``(2) Article v convention.--The term `Article V
Convention' means a convention as described in Article V of
the Constitution of the United States that is called by
Congress and organized by the Archivist on the application of
the legislatures of \2/3\ of the several States for proposing
amendments that shall be valid to all intents and purposes as
part of the Constitution of the United States when ratified
by the legislatures of \3/4\ of the several States, or by
conventions in \3/4\ thereof, as one or the other mode of
ratification may be proposed by Congress.
``(b) Certification and Notification.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than 30 days after receiving
an application of a State calling for an Article V
Convention, the Archivist shall authenticate, count, and
publish, on a publicly available website, such applications,
together with any resolution of any State to rescind any such
previous application submitted by that State.
``(2) Existing applications.--Not later than 180 days after
the date of enactment of this section, the Archivist shall
authenticate, count, and publish all applications of a State
calling for an Article V Convention received before the date
of enactment of this section.
``(c) Certification and Notification Requirements.--Upon
receipt and authentication by the Archivist under subsection
(b) of applications calling for an Article V Convention of
the legislatures of \2/3\ of the several States which have
not been rescinded, the Archivist shall publish in the
Federal Register a certification that \2/3\ of the several
States have called for the Article V Convention, together
with a list of the States submitting applications calling for
the Article V Convention.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter
2 of title 1, United States Code, is amended by inserting
after the item relating to section 106b the following:
``106c. Duties relating to State applications calling for Article V
Conventions.''.
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