| R 327 |
| 2016 -- S 2589 Enacted 06/17/2016 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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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