The Dangers of an Article V Convention

At this year’s Eagle Forum Collegians Summit, college students from around the country came to Washington, D.C. to hear conservative leaders speak on the country’s current issues. Among the topics discussed was the danger of a new Constitutional Convention—or “Con Con”—also called a Convention of States, or Article V convention.

Students heard from me through a series of our archive videos, in which I dismantle the pro-Con Con arguments. They learned that Article V provides no grounds for limiting a convention to only one or a few amendments. Instead, it simply says Congress “shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments,” in the plural.

They also learned that the only rule for the convention is that Congress chooses the guy with the gavel, and he makes the rules! The liberal media will absolutely pressure a convention into destroying any good that might have come out of it.

My son Andy then led a lively round of discussion with the students about Article V and a new Constitutional Convention. He explained the differences between professional politicians and the Founding Fathers, who risked their lives for independence from Great Britain. No George Washingtons or James Madisons are to be found today as they were in 1787.

Andy explained how liberals from both parties in Congress would use the power of the “call” to hijack any good intentions of the states. Even any conservative delegates would be hounded into betraying their states’ trust. He also showed that the requirement for the states’ ratification would not block bad amendments.

Instead, the media would drive the state legislatures to support it, as they did with the 17th amendment. At Eagle Forum Collegians Summit, you can rest assured that these students learned about the con in “Con Con.”

Phyllis Schlafly has been a national leader of the conservative movement since the publication of her best-selling 1964 book, A Choice Not An Echo. She has been a leader of the pro-family movement since 1972, when she started her national volunteer organization called Eagle Forum. In a ten-year battle, Mrs. Schlafly led the pro-family movement to victory over the principal legislative goal of the radical feminists, called the Equal Rights Amendment. An articulate and successful opponent of the radical feminist movement, she appears in debates on college campuses more frequently than any other conservative.