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Don’t change Constitution

Constitution Day, Sept. 17, celebrates the signing of the Constitution at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787. The Constitution has served our nation well as we have enjoyed the most individual freedom and economic prosperity in the world.

Yet this year a coalition of conservative and liberal groups has introduced resolutions in many state legislatures calling for another constitutional convention. Twenty-three legislatures have passed resolutions applying to Congress to call a constitutional convention to propose a balanced budget amendment. It takes only 34 states to call a convention, so we are dangerously close to a new convention that could propose new amendments or propose a whole new Constitution.

Our nation’s debt problem is not the fault of the Constitution but Congress’s failure to obey the Constitution and limit spending to the specific areas enumerated in it. The Freedom Index monitors how each member of Congress votes based on the constitutionality of each bill. According to the Freedom Index, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers votes in agreement with the Constitution about 63 percent of the time, Sen. Maria Cantwell 12 percent, and Sen. Patty Murray only about 10 percent.

Please contact your legislators and ask them not to support any resolutions calling for a constitutional convention.

Steve Dunham

Spokane



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