Former Sen. Tom Coburn urges Oklahomans to call for convention to amend U.S. Constitution
JENKS — Show some courage, former U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn told about 250 people at the Jenks Performing Arts Center on Monday night.
Show some courage, he said, and do something that’s never been done in the history of the United States — or at least the United States as we know it.
Since leaving Congress in January, Coburn has been lending his considerable reputation to promoting what supporters call an Article V convention of the states. The purpose of this convention would be to amend the U.S. Constitution, something that has been done 27 times since the document was ratified in 1788, but never by a convention of the states.
Coburn and longtime conservative activist Michael Farris, head of an organization called the Convention of the States Project, made their pitch to a mostly receptive audience. Their argument is that the federal government is so fouled up, so overweening, so entrenched, that it can only be restrained through a state-led endeavor to amend the Constitution.
The national powers that be, said Coburn, “are never going to fix the real problems because they’re co-opted. They’re co-opted to get re-elected.”
Coburn described the convention of the states movement as a way to apply pressure to decision-makers.
“I am convinced this is a hard slog to ever get a convention of the states,” he said. “But I’m also convinced of two other things. One is that it’s the only thing Washington will understand in terms power, and No. 2, it’s the only thing that will re-establish our liberty and also secure our future.”
The downside to such a convention, and the reason the idea has split liberals and conservatives alike, is that such a meeting could produce unexpected results.
A few rather circumspect challenges were lobbed at Coburn and Farris on Monday, and a man at the back of the auditorium passed out reprints of a John Birch Society magazine article warning of the potential for dire consequences from a convention.
Outside, fliers tucked under windshield wipers said Coburn and Farris were leading the nation down a dangerous path that “could erase the Second Amendment entirely!”
The two men scoffed at the notion — and at the idea — that the “Washington power cabal,” as Farris called it, can be changed from within.
Doing that, he said, would require “us to win a majority of the American public to go elect people to go to Washington, D.C., to win in Washington, D.C. We’re not strong there. I’ve been trying my entire lifetime to win there.
“We are strong in the state legislatures. There are 99 legislative chambers in this country. Republicans control 69 of those. Democrats control 11 states right now.”
Farris said that means Democratic-led efforts could not put together the 34 states needed to call a convention.
But Republicans can, at least in theory. The trick is getting 34 states to agree on the wording for the petition to Congress.
And then getting 38 states to agree on any amendments that come out of the convention.
Coburn and Farris’ group focuses on budget limitations, regulatory restraint, and term limits for both elected and nonelected federal officials, including judges.
Two Article V resolutions are under consideration by the Oklahoma Legislature.
Senate Joint Resolution 4, by Sen. Rob Standridge, R-Norman, essentially would add Oklahoma to the states backing Farris’ group.
House Resolution 1018, by Rep. Gary Banz, R-Midwest City, would commit Oklahoma to a convention limited to a budget-control amendment.
“The only reason this is difficult in Oklahoma is fear-mongering by a very small number (of people),” Farris said. “This is a time for bravery.”
Randy Krehbiel 918-581-8365
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