HJR3 applies to Congress for a convention for proposing amendments under Article V of the U.S. Constitution to limit the number of terms that an individual may serve in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate.
The Indiana State House of Representatives passed HJR3 on January 30, 2024 by a vote of 59 to 33. We have assigned pluses to the nays because a so-called “Convention of the States” would not be of “limited” purpose. The vague and contradictory text contained in this joint resolution dangerously permits what Article V of the U.S. Constitution describes as a “Convention for proposing Amendments” or second constitutional convention. Notably, Article V of the U.S. Constitution was designed to correct structural deficiencies in the federal government, not the behavior of its elected officials. HJR3 should be opposed in favor of less risky, more precise, and immediate solutions that would restore power back to the states and to the people, such as clear-cut proposals in Congress to repeal bad amendments or state nullification of specific unauthorized federal laws.