SJR 15: Making application to the United States Congress to call a convention of the states to propose a countermand amendment to the Constitution of the United States as provided under art. V, Constitution of the United States; and urging the legislatures of the other 49 states to make the same application.
00 SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 15 01 Making application to the United States Congress to call a convention of the states to 02 propose a countermand amendment to the Constitution of the United States as provided 03 under art. V, Constitution of the United States; and urging the legislatures of the other 04 49 states to make the same application. 05 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 06 WHEREAS the state's sovereignty has been infringed upon by the federal 07 government, including by the federal government's recent denial of and refusal to work with 08 state officials on the construction of a lifesaving road from King Cove to Cold Bay; and 09 WHEREAS the state's access to a fair permitting process for projects that will 10 develop the state's natural resources and provide revenue streams to the state, including oil 11 exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and large-scale mining projects throughout 12 the state, has been continually denied by the United States Environmental Protection Agency 13 and other agencies of the federal government; and 14 WHEREAS the United States Congress has, at times, exceeded its delegated powers, 15 the President of the United States has, at times, exceeded the constitutional authority of the
01 office of the President of the United States, and the federal courts have, at times, exceeded 02 their authority by issuing decisions on public policy matters reserved to the states in violation 03 of the principles of federalism and separation of powers, all of which have adversely affected 04 the state and its people; and 05 WHEREAS, under the authority of art. V, Constitution of the United States, the 06 several states should apply to the United States Congress to call a convention of the states to 07 amend the United States Constitution and adopt a countermand amendment to authorize the 08 states, upon a vote of three-fifths of the state legislatures, to nullify and repeal a federal 09 statute, executive order, judicial decision, regulatory decision by a federal government 10 agency, or government mandate imposed on the states by law that adversely affects the 11 interests of the states, in order to properly exercise the states' constitutional authority to check 12 federal power, preserve state sovereignty, and protect the rights of the states and the people; 13 and 14 WHEREAS the states have the authority to define and limit the agenda of a 15 convention to a single-issue "countermand amendment convention" called for by the states as 16 provided under art. V, Constitution of the United States; and 17 WHEREAS the delegates sent by the states to a countermand amendment convention 18 shall have the limited authority to deliberate on and decide whether the countermand 19 amendment, as preapproved by state legislatures, should be sent back to the state legislatures 20 for ratification; 21 BE IT RESOLVED that, under art. V, Constitution of the United States, the Alaska 22 State Legislature directs the United States Congress to call a single-issue convention of the 23 states, called a "countermand amendment convention," for the sole purpose of deciding 24 whether the proposed countermand amendment should be sent back to the state legislatures 25 for ratification; and be it 26 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature directs the United States 27 Congress to convene the countermand amendment convention within 60 days after the date it 28 receives the 34th call for that convention from state legislatures; and be it 29 FURTHER RESOLVED that this application constitutes a continuing application in 30 accordance with art. V, Constitution of the United States, until at least two-thirds of the 31 legislatures of the several states have applied for a similar convention of the states; and be it
01 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the legislatures of 02 the other 49 states to apply to the United States Congress to call a single-issue countermand 03 convention of the states under art. V, Constitution of the United States. 04 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of 05 the United States; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and 06 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable John Boehner, Speaker of the U.S. House of 07 Representatives; the Honorable Mitch McConnell, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the 08 Honorable Nancy Erickson, Secretary of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Karen L. Haas, Clerk 09 of the U.S. House of Representatives; the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Dan 10 Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the 11 Alaska delegation in Congress; and the presiding officers of the legislatures of each of the 12 other 49 states.