House Joint Resolution 2001 - Introduced HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 2001 BY SALMON HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION A Joint Resolution rescinding all previous requests by the 1 general assembly of the state of Iowa for the United States 2 Congress to call a federal constitutional convention 3 pursuant to Article V of the United States Constitution. 4 WHEREAS, the constitutional convention of 1787 was initially 5 convened to make revisions to the Articles of Confederation 6 and that convention decided instead to discard the Articles 7 of Confederation entirely and create a new system of 8 government; and 9 WHEREAS, the United States Constitution has served as the 10 cornerstone of American liberty since its creation in 1787 and 11 was the first written national constitution to set forth a 12 system of separation of powers and to ensure that the rights of 13 minority groups could not be easily trampled upon by the will 14 of the majority; and 15 WHEREAS, the United States Constitution has proven to be 16 resilient and a subsequent constitutional convention has not 17 been held since 1787; and 18 WHEREAS, Article V of the United States Constitution 19 requires the Congress of the United States to convene a 20 constitutional convention upon the application of two-thirds of 21 the several states; and 22 WHEREAS, the general assembly of the state of Iowa has, at 23 various times, previously made applications to the Congress of 24 the United States of America to call a convention to propose 25 amendments concerning specific subjects to the United States 26 Constitution, pursuant to Article V; and 27 WHEREAS, over the course of time, the will of the people of 28 the state of Iowa may have changed relating to these previous 29 resolutions; and 30 WHEREAS, the general assembly of the State of Iowa is aware 31 TLSB 5152YH (5) 88 ec/jh
House Joint Resolution 2001 - Introduced that other state legislatures have made applications requesting 32 that Congress call a constitutional convention; and 33 WHEREAS, the general assembly of the state of Iowa no 34 longer supports its previous resolutions which request that 35 Congress call a constitutional convention, all of which 36 were adopted many decades ago; and does not wish for these 37 resolutions to be included with applications made by other 38 state legislatures; NOW THEREFORE, 39 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 40 TLSB 5152YH (5) 88 ec/jh
H.J.R. 2001 That the general assembly of the state of Iowa rescinds 1 all prior applications to the Congress of the United States 2 of America to call a convention pursuant to Article V of the 3 United States Constitution, including but not limited to all of 4 the following: 5 1. Joint resolution no. 3 of the 30th general assembly 6 (1904). 7 2. Senate joint resolution no. 2 of the 32nd general assembly 8 (1907). 9 3. House joint resolution no. 9 of the 33rd general assembly 10 (1909). 11 4. House concurrent resolution no. 15 of the 49th general 12 assembly (1941). 13 5. House concurrent resolution no. 26 of the 50th general 14 assembly (1943). 15 6. Senate concurrent resolution no. 11 of the 54th general 16 assembly (1951). 17 7. Senate concurrent resolution no. 13 of the 63rd general 18 assembly (1969). 19 8. House joint resolution no. 1 of the 64th general assembly, 20 1971 Acts, chapter 289. 21 9. Senate joint resolution no. 1 of the 68th general 22 assembly, 1979 Acts, chapter 172; and 23 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the general assembly of the 24 State of Iowa urges each state legislature which has requested 25 Congress to call a constitutional convention to withdraw such 26 applications; and 27 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be 28 sent to the President and the Secretary of the United States 29 Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk of the United States House 30 of Representatives, and members of the Iowa congressional 31 delegation. 32 EXPLANATION 33 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 34 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 35 -1- LSB 5152YH (5) 88 ec/jh 1/ 2
H.J.R. 2001 This joint resolution rescinds all prior applications by the 1 Iowa general assembly to the Congress of the United States to 2 call a constitutional convention pursuant to Article V of the 3 United States Constitution. 4 -2- LSB 5152YH (5) 88 ec/jh 2/ 2