to each House on the nature and number of petitions received would be advisable, as well. Each House then determines whether the recitation of the report is correct. Upon such determination it is the constitutional duty of each House under article V to agree to a concurrent resolution calling for the convening of a constitutional convention. The resolution shall set forth the nature of the amendment the convention is to consider and designate the time and place for the convention. Copies of the resolution are to be sent to the State Governors and to each House of each State legislature. The convention must be convened within 1 year of the adoption of the resolution. Section 7 provides that each State shall elect two delegates-at-large and one additional delegate from each congressional district in the State, in accordance with its usual procedures for the election of Senators and Representatives. Vacancies are filled by appointment of the State Governor. The secretary of state of each State or equivalent officer shall certify to the Vice President of the United States the name of each delegate. Delegates will enjoy the same privileges as do members of Congress under article I, section 6. Delegates are to be compensated for service and travel and related expenses as provided for in the convening resolution. Section 8 provides that the Vice President of the United States is to convene the convention and administer the oath of office. Each delegate is required to take an oath not to propose or vote in favor of any proposed amendment relating to a subject other than that named or described in the concurrent resolution. This is consistent with the position that the convention's authority is limited by the States' conferral of authority. Names of the officers of the convention are to be transmitted to the Speaker of the House and President of the Senate. The convention may adopt rules of procedure not inconsistent with this act. Congress is authorized to appropriate funds for the expense of the convention: the Administrator of the General Services Administration is directed to provide the required facilities; and Congress, executive departments. and agencies are required to provide information required by the convention, except as otherwise provided by law. Section 9 provides that each delegate to the convention has one vote. A daily verbatim record of proceedings must be kept, and the vote of each delegate must be recorded. The convention shall terminate within 1 year of the first meeting unless extended by resolution of Congress. Records of the convention's proceedings are to be transmitted to the Archives within 30 days of the termination of the convention. Section 10 provides that amendments may be proposed by a majority of delegates to the convention. No amendments with respect to a subject different from that stated or described in the resolution calling the convention may be proposed and any questions relating to this point are to be determined solely by Congress. Section 11 provides that within 30 days of the end of the convention the exact text of any amendments proposed by the Convention must be transmitted to Congress. Upon receipt of a valid proposed amendment, Congress must adopt a concurrent resolution directing the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate to send the proposed amendment to the Administrator of the General Services . Administration. The resolution shall also prescribe the time and manner of ratification by the States. Congress may adopt a concurrent resolution disapproving the submission of the proposed amendment to the States, but only on the grounds (1) that it relates to or includes a subject different from that stated or described in the resolution calling the convention, or (2) that the procedures used by the convention were not in substantial conformity with the provisions of this act. This conforms to the fact that, under article V, Congress has no power to review or veto any action of the convention because of doubts or disapproval on the grounds of policy. Congress' sole function is ministerial. Of course, Congress is under no obligation to transmit an amendment if the convention has exceeded its authority by proposing amendments on subjects other than those designated, or if there were procedural irregularities at the convention of a substantial nature so as to make the actions of the convention ineffective. If Congress has not adopted a concurrent resolution either transmitting or disapproving the transmission of the proposed amendment within 90 days of continuous session following its receipt, the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House nonetheless are obligated to transmit the proposed amendment to the Administrator of the General Services Administration. This is to assure that Congress may not impede or block the transmittal to the States for the reasons of disapproval of the wisdom of the proposal. The Administrator of the General Services Administration must submit to the States a certified copy of the proposed amendment and any concurrent resolution adopted by Congress setting forth the time and manner for ratification along with a copy of this act. Section 12 provides that amendments submitted in accordance with this act are valid as a part of the Constitution when ratified by threefourths of the States within the time and according to the manner, by State legislature or State convention, as Congress directs by concurrent resolution. If the transmittal is made in the absence of a concurrent resolution, ratification is by State legislature and within 7 years of transmittal. Ratification by a State legislature shall be according to its own rules for such actions, but does not require the approval of the Governor. Certified copies of State ratifications must be sent promptly to the Administrator of the General Services Administra tion. Section 13 provides that States may rescind by the same procedure as that used for ratification, but no rescission may be made after valid ratification by three-fourths of the States. States may ratify after a previous rejection. Any questions concerning ratification or rejection are determined solely by Congress. Section 14 provides that the Administrator of the General Services Administration shall issue a proclamation that the amendment is part of the Constitution when three-fourths of the States have ratified. Section 15 provides that the effective date of a constitutional amendment shall be that specified in the amendment or, if none, on the date of the ratification by the last State necessary to constitute three-fourths of the States. SEPARATE VIEWS OF MESSRS. BAYH, BURDICK, HART, KENNEDY, AND TUNNEY We are basically in accord with the purpose and framework of this bill, and we supported a favorable report to the Senate. We wholeheartedly agree that the groundrules for a constitutional convention should be established before à convention is called to deal with a specific topic, lest views on the substantive issue color decisions about fair procedure. We also agree with the Committee's goal of avoiding both those procedures which make constitutional change too easy and those which stifle needed reform. And we agree that the convention must not be permitted to roam the Constitution at will; it must instead be limited to considering only that constitutional issue which led to its creation. There are two specific provisions of this bill, however, which hinder rather than further the Committee's intentions: First, Section 10, which permits the convention to propose amendments by a bare majority vote should be amended to r quire a two-thirds majority. As presently written, it undermines the traditional safeguard which has protected the integrity of the Constitution since 1789. That safeguard, of course, is Article V's requirement that amendments be proposed by two-thirds of the Congress. All Senators know very well the difference between persuading half and persuading two-thirds of our colleagues of the wisdom of a course of action. Article V's requirement guaran tees that a decisive majority of the members of not one but two deliberative bodies agree that the amendment is the wisest means of dealing with a fundamental national problem, and that they come to that agreement before the amendment is submitted to the States. We should require that the convention act through the same decisive majority of its delegates. Only if such a broad con sensus is reached at the time the amendment is drafted-a time when viable alternative amendments are still under consideration can we be confident that there is widespread agreement that the specific language of the amendment proposed best fulfills its purpose. By allowing a bare majority of the convention to propose an amendment, the bill opens the door to the submission of a proliferation of amendments to the States. It is true that three-quarters of the States must ratify any proposed amendment. But during ratification the States cannot make any changes in the proposal. It is presented to them in final form on a take it or leave it basis. In each State, only a majority of the legislature need be convinced that the particular amendment proposed is better than no amendment at all. Ratification, therefore. is simply not a substitute for the reasoned deliberation and the building of a substantial consensus which ought to precede the proposal of change in the basic framework of our political sys 19 tem. It is for this reason, we feel, that the founding fathers wisely required in Article V a two-thirds vote by each House before the Congress could propose an amendment, even though such an amendment, too, must subsequently be ratified by three-quarters of the States. Our own constitutional history demonstrates this principle. Since 1927, 28 constitutional amendments have been voted on by one or both Houses of Congress. Of those debated, only 7 finally won support from enough members of Congress to be proposed to the States. But of those 7, not one was rejected by the States. In fact, since 1789 only 5 proposed amendments two of them part of the original Bill of Rights-have been rejected by the States. For these reasons, proposals should be sent to the States for ratification only if approved by two-thirds of the delegates to the convention. Second, we believe that a State's call for a convention should not remain effective for seven years, as Section 5 of the bill now provides. The call for a convention, as Professor Paul A. Freund has said, should reflect "a contemporaneously felt need." Of course, enough time must be provided to give the State Legislatures an opportunity to consider joining the request. However, in our view, four years would be a sufficient length of time. The vast majority of the legislatures 33 at latest count-now meet annually. Even the 17 legislatures which meet only in alternate years would have two sessions in which to act. BIRCH BAYH, QUENTIN N. BURDICK, |