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JOINT RESOLUTION MAKING APPLICATION TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES FOR CALLING A CONVENTION TO PROPOSE AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES TO LIMIT THE POWER OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
WHEREAS, executive orders by the President of the United States have become a vehicle through which the President may overstep the limits of the President's constitutional authority; and
WHEREAS,  the concentration of power at the federal level has had the effect of making federal officials less responsive to the will of the people and more readily influenced by lobbyists, wealthy corporations and special interests in Washington, D.C.; and
WHEREAS,  much of federal law is now made by federal bureaucrats who were never chosen by the people and have no accountability to the people whatsoever; and
WHEREAS,  policy decisions made at the state level tend to be more responsive to the needs and desires of the people; and
WHEREAS,  the Federal Government has created a crushing national debt through improper and imprudent spending; and
WHEREAS,  the Federal Government has invaded the legitimate roles of the states through the manipulative process of federal mandates, many of which are unfunded to a great extent; and
WHEREAS,  the states have the ability to restore the responsiveness of government to the people and to restrain abuses of federal power by proposing amendments to the United States Constitution through a limited convention of the states under Article V; and
WHEREAS,  under the United States Constitution, Article V, the Congress of the United States, whenever two-thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to the United States Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments that, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of the United States 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; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED: That the Legislature of Maine hereby applies to the Congress of the United States, under the provisions of Article V of the United States Constitution, for the calling of a convention of the states limited to proposing amendments to the United States Constitution that impose fiscal restraints on the Federal Government, limit the power and jurisdiction of the Federal Government and limit the terms of office for its officials and for members of Congress; and be it further
RESOLVED: That this application constitutes a continuing application in accordance with Article V of the United States Constitution until the legislatures of at least 2/3 of the several states have made applications on the same subject; and be it further
RESOLVED: That suitable copies of this resolution, duly authenticated by the Secretary of State, be transmitted to the Secretary of the Senate and presiding officers of both houses of the legislatures of each of the several states in the nation, the Speaker and Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, the President and Secretary of the United States Senate and each member of the Maine Congressional Delegation.