House Joint Resolution 2008 - Introduced HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 2008 BY HEARTSILL , SCHULTZ , and SHEETS HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION A Joint Resolution requesting the call of a constitutional 1 convention, or in the alternative requesting the United 2 States Congress, to propose an amendment to the Constitution 3 of the United States repealing the Seventeenth Amendment 4 to the United States Constitution relating to the direct 5 election of senators. 6 WHEREAS, the original intent of the authors of the United 7 States Constitution with regard to the legislative branch was 8 to divide the legislature into two different branches, and both 9 of these branches were to have different modes of election and 10 different principles of action; and 11 WHEREAS, in the Federalist Papers No. 45, James Madison 12 stated, “The Senate will be elected absolutely and exclusively 13 by the State legislatures”; and 14 WHEREAS, the original purpose of the United States 15 Senate was to protect the sovereignty of the states from 16 the federal government and to give each individual state 17 government representation in the federal legislative branch of 18 government; and 19 WHEREAS, the Seventeenth Amendment has resulted in a large 20 federal government with power and control that cannot be 21 checked by the states; and 22 WHEREAS, with the repeal of the Seventeenth Amendment, no 23 law or resolution could be passed without the concurrence of a 24 majority of the representatives of the people and a majority of 25 the representatives of the states; and 26 WHEREAS, the repeal of the Seventeenth Amendment would 27 restore the provision of the United States Constitution that 28 the United States Senators be accountable to their respective 29 state legislatures by whom they were elected; and 30 TLSB 5180YH (3) 85 aw/rj

House Joint Resolution 2008 - Introduced WHEREAS, since the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment 31 in 1913, the size and scope of the federal government has grown 32 exponentially and severely weakened the powers held by the 33 individual states and the people as acknowledged by the Tenth 34 Amendment to the United States Constitution; and 35 WHEREAS, the United States Senate was designed to protect 36 the rights and interests of the individual states, and the 37 repeal of the Seventeenth Amendment would help to prevent the 38 many unfunded mandates passed onto those states by the federal 39 government; NOW THEREFORE, 40 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 41 TLSB 5180YH (3) 85 aw/rj

H.J.R. 2008 That pursuant to Article V of the Constitution of the United 1 States, the general assembly, as the legislature of the state 2 of Iowa, makes application to the Congress of the United States 3 to call a convention for the specific and exclusive purpose 4 of proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United 5 States, for submission to the states for ratification. 6 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That if, within sixty days after 7 the legislatures of two-thirds of the states make application 8 for such convention, Congress proposes and submits to the 9 states for ratification an amendment to the Constitution of 10 the United States to repeal the Seventeenth Amendment to the 11 Constitution of the United States, in a manner substantially 12 similar to the manner contained in this Joint Resolution, then 13 this application for a convention shall no longer be of any 14 force and effect. 15 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That if the convention is not 16 limited to the specific and exclusive purposes of this Joint 17 Resolution, this application and request shall be null and 18 void, and shall be rescinded and of no effect. 19 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this application constitutes 20 a continuing application in accordance with Article V of the 21 Constitution of the United States, until at least two-thirds 22 of the legislatures of the several states have made application 23 for a similar convention under Article V, or the Congress has 24 proposed the amendment called for by this Joint Resolution, or 25 the general assembly acts to withdraw this application. 26 “ARTICLE 27 SECTION 1. The seventeenth article of amendment to the 28 Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed. 29 SEC. 2. This amendment shall not be so construed as to 30 affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it 31 becomes valid as part of the Constitution.”; and 32 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the secretary of state 33 shall transmit certified copies of this Joint Resolution 34 to the president and secretary of the United States 35 -1- LSB 5180YH (3) 85 aw/rj 1/ 3

H.J.R. 2008 senate, the speaker and clerk of the United States house of 1 representatives, the presiding officer in each house of the 2 legislature in each of the states in the union, and each member 3 of the Iowa congressional delegation. 4 EXPLANATION 5 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 6 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 7 This joint resolution constitutes a petition requesting the 8 United States Congress to call a constitutional convention to 9 repeal the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution of the 10 United States. 11 The joint resolution also provides that it shall serve as 12 a continuing application to call a constitutional convention, 13 until at least two-thirds of the legislatures of the several 14 states have made application for a similar convention or 15 the Congress has proposed the amendment called for by this 16 joint resolution. The joint resolution requires that if 17 Congress proposes and submits to the states for ratification an 18 amendment to the Constitution of the United States to repeal 19 the Seventeenth Amendment within 60 days after the requisite 20 number of legislatures make application for a constitutional 21 convention, then this state’s application for a convention 22 shall no longer have any force and effect. The joint 23 resolution provides that the general assembly may withdraw this 24 application. 25 The joint resolution provides that if the constitutional 26 convention is not limited to the specific and exclusive 27 purposes of the resolution, that the application and request 28 shall be null and void, and shall be rescinded and of no 29 effect. 30 The proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United 31 States contained in the joint resolution would repeal the 32 Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, 33 but would require that such repeal not be so construed to 34 affect the election or term of any senator chosen before the 35 -2- LSB 5180YH (3) 85 aw/rj 2/ 3

H.J.R. 2008 amendment becomes a valid part of the Constitution. 1 The Seventeenth Amendment requires that the senate of 2 the United States be composed of two senators from each 3 state, elected by the electors of the respective states. The 4 amendment also requires United States Senate electors have the 5 same qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous 6 chamber in that state legislature. The amendment requires 7 that when a vacancy occurs in a state’s representation in the 8 senate, that the governor of the state call an election to fill 9 the vacancy, however, the amendment further provides that the 10 state legislatures may empower the governor to make temporary 11 appointments until an election is held to fill the vacancy. 12 With the repeal of the Seventeenth Amendment, Article I, 13 Section 3 of the Constitution of the United States would govern 14 the election of United States senators and the filling of 15 vacancies in that chamber. Article I, Section 3, requires that 16 the two senators from each state be chosen by the legislature 17 of that state. Article I, Section 3, also requires that if 18 senate vacancies occur while the respective state legislature 19 is in recess that the governor may make a temporary appointment 20 to the senate until the state legislature has reconvened. 21 The joint resolution requires the Secretary of State to 22 transmit certified copies of this resolution to the President 23 and Secretary of the United States Senate, the Speaker and 24 Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, the 25 presiding officer in each house of the legislature in each 26 of the states in the union, and to each member of the Iowa 27 congressional delegation. 28 -3- LSB 5180YH (3) 85 aw/rj 3/ 3