State Director’s letter to the editor published on AberdeenNews.com.
Letter: Our Constitution is not up for grabs
Are you willing to put our U.S. Constitution at risk during a “convention” to revise or replace our founding document? Unelected delegates of mixed ideology would reign at such a bargain-making event. George Washington called our founding document “a miracle.” It is the longest-surviving constitution of any nation.
We are all familiar with the 27 times amendments (including the Bill of Rights) have been proposed by Congress and ratified by the states. Article V provides a never-been-used method initiated by the states to apply for a constitutional convention to propose Constitutional amendments.
The Convention of States and other like-minded groups certainly could undermine the Constitution by exercising Article V. Our Founders recommended the Article V process to correct potential “errors” in the Constitution, but warned that a constitutional convention would be “a dangerous opportunity of sapping the very foundations of the fabric” of our country.
Proponents of an Article V convention claim that our government is so out-of-control that we need to “do something,” and they regard Article V as the cure-all. However, simply reading the Constitution, one can see that the powers of our elected officials for fiscal restraint, limited control and limited jurisdiction are clearly enumerated. The Constitution is not the problem. Officials simply need to obey their oath to support and defend the Constitution as written.
Repeal of the Second Amendment and the Electoral College have been proposed. Obviously, it is dangerous and risky to open our Constitution to the mischief forewarned by our Founders. Former Justice Scalia called it a “horrible idea.”
In all 20 state legislatures where Convention of States’ resolutions have been proposed this year, those resolutions have been defeated. Hopefully, this legislative rejection continues. Our Constitution is too treasured to be tinkered with; it is not up for grabs.
LINDA D. SCHAUER
State Director
Concerned Women for America of South Dakota
Leola