MacIver News Service | December 17, 2013
Article V
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article; and that no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.
[Madison, Wisc…] State lawmakers from around the country gathered at Mount Vernon in Virginia on December 7, 2013 for an historic event that began laying the ground rules to utilize an obscure provision from our founding fathers that allows states to bypass the federal government to propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Wisconsin Rep. Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield) kicked off this movement when he began contacting lawmakers in other states last year to work with him on the structure of a national convention. He recently sat down with the MacIver News Service’s Bill Osmulski to talk about his work and the need to amend the constitution.