Last Thursday House Rep. Briscoe Cain, a freshman, objected to a House floor motion to suspend the Rules that notice be posted for 5 days prior to a bill being heard in a committee hearing (HJR 56).
The irony!
I bet Rep. Cain is starting to understand how politics is conducted – notwithstanding the “rules”. Rep. Cain is author and coauthor of no less than 3 bills that support an Article V convention to propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution. One of those bills, HB 506 proposes to place limitations on Texas delegates to a convention called under Article V of the U.S. Constitution. Perhaps now Rep. Cain can see why opponents to the Article V convention don’t buy the lie that Texas can control delegates to such a convention. A modern day constitutional convention has the same inherent ability as the 1787 constitutional convention to suspend rules, throw out the press, meet in secret, and work with George Soros-supported-delegates to propose an entirely new constitution.
The Texas Legislature and Congress suspend rules on a daily basis. Texas can’t limit what an Article V convention does once convened, no more than Texas can limit what Congress does when they conduct business.
Putting words to paper with a penalty for Texas delegates that “violate” instructions from the Texas Legislature, as HB 506 proposes, has no realistic power.
• Delegates can vote to make the proceedings secret – that’s what they did on May 29, 1787 at the federal “amendments” convention where our present Constitution was drafted.
• If the proceedings are secret, the States won’t know what is going on – and can’t penalize Texas delegates, nor stop the convention.
• And if Delegates vote by secret ballot – the States would NEVER know who did what.
Not to mention that penalties are for votes “taken”. How can the Texas Legislature rescind a vote once the damage is done? They can’t do that when Congress votes. And an Article V convention will operate under the US Constitution (Art V), not the Texas Constitution. An Art. V convention being only one of two bodies granted authority to propose amendments; they will enjoy all the immunities and privileges that Congress does. Well, not only Congress but also the Texas Legislature, County Commissioners, and Texas City Councils. [see US Const. Art I, sec. 6 / Texas Const. Art. 3, Sec 14.]
It would be impossible for States to prosecute Delegates who ignore State instructions.
This is why James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and Supreme Court Justices Arthur J. Goldberg, Warren Burger, and Antonin Scalia warned AGAINST an Article V convention.
Rep. Cain, we hope to inspire you to do the right thing. When an honest man finds he is wrong, he either stops being wrong, or stops being honest. It’s good to do that which is honest.
BTW, Rep Cain is not the only House Rep that should take note of his actions supporting an Article V convention. 49 of the 70 authors of HJR 39 (an application for an Art. V convention) voted to suspend rules for HJR 56. We hope these 49 Reps will head the warnings that opponents to a constitutional convention have been sounding.
Article VI is the solution to federal overreach, not Article V.
#Article6not5