Coburn Addresses Kansas Legislature On Article V Constitutional Convention
Coburn: Nation needs constitutional convention to restrain federal encroachment
By Austin Fisher and Amelia Arvesen, Topeka Capital-Journal
Former U.S. Sen Tom Coburn pressed Kansas legislators Thursday to join other states in compelling Congress to call a constitutional convention to adopt limits on power of an “out-of-control” federal government.
Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican who resigned in January from the Senate, told the House Federal and State Affairs Committee that state lawmakers needed to flex their authority under Article V of the U.S. Constitution to rein in the “irresponsible, unaccountable and unrestrained” federal government in Washington, D.C.
“I have read the Federalist Papers 10 times,” he said. “I know what our founders intended. But, today, we have an out-of-control federal government that diminishes the relevance of the Constitution daily.”
He said the founders established the “convention of the states” mechanism to ensure citizens would be equipped to resist federal encroachment upon states’ rights and individual liberty.
Members of the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee conducted a hearing on House Concurrent Resolution 163 — a mirror of House Concurrent Resolution 5010. The measure has 14 sponsors in the Senate and there were 41 in the House. A two-thirds majority in both sides of the Legislature would be required for passage.