Opinion Column: Convention of States by Elizabeth Irizarry de Toro
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Republic LIGHT is the first Latino Coalition in Davidson County, NC backed by the Republican GOP. LIGHT stands for: Latinos In Government Honorary TeamElizabeth Irizarry de Toro, M.Ed. – Founder and Host.
There is a certain enthusiasm in liberty, that makes human nature rise above itself, in acts of bravery and heroism. ~Alexander Hamilton
On June 8th , at the grounds of the NC Legislative buildings in Raleigh an event took place not only very important to all North Carolinians, but very needed in this hour for this nation. It’s called a “Convention of States” or Freedom Rally as it was advertised. This is one of the fastest growing movements by the “People” to take Federal government power and place it back where it belongs, with the States and its citizens.
You might be asking yourself what is the Convention of States and how does it relate to me? I’m glad you asked. Michael Farris stated in an interview on Levin TV, how the states call a Convention of States and how the Constitution can be amended through that process. Michael is the constitutional lawyer and co-founder of the Convention of States Project, he explains:
“The Founders gave us two ways to repose structural changes to the Federal government if it exceeds its power or there are other problems that arise through experience. The first way is for Congress to repose amendments and the States ratify. The second way was given to us by George Mason who said, “Look guys, someday this government is going to abuse its power and there won’t be anything for you ever to ratify if it’s counting on Congress to reduce the power of the Federal government, so we need to give the States the ability to reduce the power of the Federal government through the Article V Convention process. In Article V of the Constitution, they gave us the solution. The States have the power under Article V to call a Convention of States for the purpose of proposing amendments to the Constitution” ~ Levin TV, How Article V Works, 2016
This year’s COS at Raleigh, NC was organized by Mark Meckler who is the Convention of States Action President. There was also a very diverse group of speakers this year featuring retired Lt. Col. Allen West, Rick Green, Jonathan Uzcategui and video messages from Pete Hegseth and former Senator Rick Santorum.
The most impactful speaker of the day was Jonathan who was born in Venezuela, but he states he is an American citizen by choice. As the newest of the COS speakers, he went into some details of how Hugo Chaves flipped Venezuela which was a Republic into the communist country that it is today. He warned of the similarities of Venezuela and the United States of America and told us that history tends to repeat itself if we are not careful. (Go to https://republiclight.org/interviews-entrevistas for a detailed video on the topic)
The crowd of over 500 people came to listen to all the speakers in 91-degree weather that day with tremendous enthusiasm and patriotism. People of all walks of life were present with Caucasian, Blacks, Asians and Latino races respectfully learning how to get this country back to where it should be, in the hands of its citizens. However, each state must be willing to join in and North Carolina has yet to join the 19 already active states. See the states below in chronological order:
Georgia March 6, 2014
Alaska April 19, 2014
Florida April 21, 2014
Alabama May 22, 2015
Tennessee February 4, 2016
Indiana February 29, 2016
Oklahoma April 25, 2016
Louisiana May 25, 2016
Arizona March 13, 2017
North Dakota March 24, 2017
Texas May 4, 2017
Missouri May 12, 2017
Arkansas February 14, 2019
Utah March 5, 2019
Mississippi March 27, 2019
Wisconsin January 25, 2022
Nebraska January 28, 2022
West Virginia March 4, 2022
South Carolina March 29, 2022
States where the Convention of States Application has passed in one chamber but not
the other (all time): New Mexico, Iowa, South Dakota, Virginia, North Carolina, New Hampshire.
States considering the Convention of States Resolution in 2022: Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois,
Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New
Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Vermont,
Virginia, Washington, Wyoming
If you are interested in becoming a part of the movement, look up events, become a member of the Convention of States, or simply want to send a signed petition to NC legislation you can go to their website, sign up as a member or sign the petition found at the bottom of this webpage: https://conventionofstates.com/states-that-have-passed-the-convention-of-states-article-v-application
For more information on how to join Republic LIGHT’s monthly meetings, go to www.republiclight.org.
