Proposed Constitutional Amendment #2
(As promised (threatened?) in a previous article, I intend to submit a number of proposed amendments to our Constitution that, in my own judgment, would help restore a Constitutional Republic in our nation. Some of these are my own, some are based on Mark Levin’s The Liberty Amendments and some have been suggested by others).
Repeal of the 17th Amendment
The 17th amendment the the United States Constitution is hereby repealed. Future election of Senators will be made by the Legislatures of the several States as prescribed by the original Constitution. Senators serving at the time this amendment is ratified may complete the current terms to which they were elected.
Any Senate seats vacated by resignation, recall, death or other means will be filled by an election of the applicable State Legislature, or, by the Chief Executive of the applicable State should the State Legislature not be in session.
The Framers intended the Senate to be representative of the governments of the several States. This amendment reinstates that original intent.
This is also one of the amendments suggested by Mark Levin in The Liberty Amendments
Please offer constructive comments as you see fit.
Troy L Robinson
Probably one of the most effective ways to restore some level of sovereignty to the States. It would also make it much more difficult for the federals to pass legislation expanding central government control.
Combine that with the likelihood that lobbyist influence would then be necessarily diffused by forcing focus on the State legislatures,
I would also suggest consideration of limiting the time Senators could be in session and applying some kind of per diem payment with a limit in housing allowance so that they would be less likely to live in DC. Maybe we could have barracks at Mt. Vernon or something like that.
When our own Governor, Rick Perry, was running for the GOP nomination, he suggested that the national legislature meet every other year as is done in several States (including Texas).
Aside from that, I see no problem whatever with a requirement that all people in positions of representation be required to reside most of the time in the place they presume to represent. For instance, by what logic can Harry Reid claim to represent the State of Nevada when he is a full-time resident of D.C.?
Troy
I would also recommend a right of recall for any state legislature not satisfied with the performance of their senator. A loose guideline of like a 2/3 vote to replace a senator before his or her term was complete leaving the procedural particulars to the states themselves.
This is by far the most effective thing that could be done to reign in an out of control central government. Return the senate to actually operating in the best interest of their states. Things like Obamacare wouldn’t have a chance if that were the case. State governments wouldn’t have to beg for federal government largess because they wouldn’t be sending money to the feds in the first place. Unfunded mandates would be a thing of the past.
There are two entities intended to be represented in federal congress. The senate was the house of the states representatives which were supposed to be the voice of the state legislators in the federal government. The house represents the people. There was a reason for that. In part as a check to save the state from the people, and to save the people from each other, themselves, and the state.
This would also insure that the senate would always consist of experienced legislators from each state. Being that they would be chosen by the legislatures one would expect that the elected would be a senior member of their own ranks. That is as it was intended. That is also why the senate needs less representatives and was in unofficial terms considered the “upper house”. Although it would pretty much eliminate rowdy eye doctors there’s plenty of room in the house.
Chris,
I was inclined to have the proposed amendment contain a law to the effect that the person chosen (by the State legislature) to be Senator should come from the upper or only chamber of the State Legislature. (I included “or only” because Nebraska has a unicameral legislature.)
Troy