2016 -- S 2589

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LC004908

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2016

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

RESPECTFULLY URGING CONGRESS TO RESTORE FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS IN

THE UNITED STATES

     Introduced By: Senator Joshua Miller

     Date Introduced: February 25, 2016

     Referred To: Senate Special Legislation and Veterans Affairs

     WHEREAS, The 1st President of the United States George Washington stated, "The

basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their Constitutions of

Government"; and

     WHEREAS, It was the stated intention of the framers of the Constitution of the United

States of America that the Congress of the United States of America should be "dependent on the

people alone." (James Madison, Federalist 52); and

     WHEREAS, That dependency has evolved from a dependency on the people alone to a

dependency on those who spend excessively in elections, through campaigns or third-party

groups; and

     WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal

Election Commission, 558 U.S. 310 (2010) removed restrictions on amounts of independent

political spending; and

     WHEREAS, The removal of those restrictions has resulted in the unjust influence of

powerful economic forces, which have supplanted the will of the people by undermining our

ability to choose our political leadership, write our own laws, and determine the fate of our state;

and

     WHEREAS, Article V of the United States Constitution requires the United States

Congress to call a convention for proposing amendments upon application of two-thirds of the

legislatures of the several states for the purpose of proposing amendments to the United States

Constitution; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

hereby sees the need for a convention to propose amendments in order to address concerns such

as those raised by the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Citizens United v. Federal

Election Commission and related cases and events including those occurring long before or

afterward or for a substantially similar purpose, and desires that said convention should be so

limited; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That this Senate hereby respectfully requests that the delegates to said

convention be comprised equally of individuals currently elected to state and local office, or be

selected by election, in each Congressional district for the purpose of serving as delegates, though

all individuals elected or appointed to federal office, now or in the past, be prohibited from

serving as delegates to the Convention, and furthermore requests the ability to restrict or expand

the power of its delegates within the limits expressed above; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That this Senate hereby intends that this be a continuing application

considered together with applications calling for a convention passed in the 2013-2014 Vermont

legislature as R454, the 2013-2014 California legislature as Resolution Chapter 77, the 2013-

2014 Illinois legislature as Senate Joint Resolution No. 42, the 2014-2015 New Jersey legislature

Senate concurrent Resolution No. 132, and all other passed, pending, and future applications, the

aforementioned concerns of Rhode Island notwithstanding until such time as two-thirds of the

several states have applied for a Convention and said Convention is convened by Congress; and

be it further

     RESOLVED, That the citizenry of the State of Rhode Island, speaking through this

Senate, and pursuant to Article V of the United States Constitution, hereby petitions the United

States Congress to call a Convention for the purpose of proposing Amendments to the

Constitution of the United States of America as soon as two-thirds of the several states have

applied for a Convention; and be it further

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     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the President of the United States; the Vice

President of the United States in his capacity as President of the United States Senate and

addressed to him at the office he maintains in the United States Capitol; the Speaker of the United

States House of Representatives, the Minority Leader of the United States House of

Representatives, the President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate, and the Rhode Island

Congressional Delegation.

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LC004908

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