Dear editor:

During the recently concluded Wyoming state legislative session, Senate Joint Resolution 5, which sought to make application for Wyoming to become the 21st state to call for an Article V Convention of States, was introduced. This was somewhat surprising, since only a limited number of non-budget bills can be brought up during budget sessions. The bill sailed through the Senate and a House committee, but then stalled on the House floor.

The text of Article V is clear: Either Congress or state Legislatures can legitimately propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The Founding Fathers were very clear-headed when they declared that there would be two separate avenues for such proposals, and that in either event there must be ratification by 38 states. They understood human nature, vested interests, and the reality of power and corruption. 

Some House members feared that Congress would not comply with the call for a Convention of States and would usurp the process. Some feared a runaway convention with no rules or the suspension of rules. Others did not trust the states and the people or the method of selecting delegates. There was a palpable atmosphere on one side of the chamber that no further amendments should be contemplated, since some already proposed by Congress and ratified by the states were less than desirable. Another common thread was that no one follows the existing Constitution, so that further amendments would be similarly ignored.

All these fears are exaggerated by legislators and constituents who have not read deeply into the history and law of similar meetings among the states to solve problems. In order for such a convention to take place, the applications from 34 states must be identical. This supermajority has every motivation to adhere to the rules it selects for the meeting to proceed.

Americans have traditionally been daring rather than risk-averse and overly cautious. We now find ourselves at a crossroads, at which we can either rein in a too-powerful federal government and return to the states their rightful authority, or we can simply refuse to do anything and blindly hope for the best.

Sheila Leach

Cody