(Riverton, WY) – On March 1st, the Convention of States (COS) Veterans Coalition Director Vance McGahey held a public presentation on their mission at the Riverton City Hall.
“My goal tonight,” he said, “was to inform the public about Article V. I want to remind them that the U.S. Constitution gives the people, through their state legislatures, the power to limit and reform the federal government through this process. The turnout tonight in Riverton shows that interest is strong and the questions were great. I only wish there had been some deeper questions so we can bring out the full importance of this critical subject.”
COS Action, Vance explained during the presentation, is a grassroots organization of over 5 million citizens and an organized team of volunteer leaders in every state. Its mission is to restore a culture of self-governance in America and to curtail federal overreach through a limited Article V Convention.
The goal of this convention is to propose constitutional amendments that impose limitations on the federal government that include term limits on federal officials and Congress, impose fiscal restraint on the federal government and reduce the power and jurisdiction of the federal government – a check on federal overreach.
Article V allows two routes for amending the constitution: one through Congress and the other through the state legislatures.
What the COS is not is a Constitutional Convention that could rewrite the Constitution and redefine our government. It can only propose amendments to the existing Constitution that will do what is already described in the application previously approved by two-thirds of the state legislatures. No other topics of discussion or amendments can be added.
Over 40 folks attended the Riverton meeting, which was more than expected, Vance noted. Due to the level of interest here, he hopes to do another one in a few weeks.
Kevin Broemer, of Riverton, is also a Veterans Coalition Director. A U.S. Army veteran with 35 years of service, he was also in attendance. “I’m here to provide my neighbors in Riverton a chance to hear about what we in COS Action are doing and why we do it,” he said. “I also wanted to learn for myself what issues are important to them and tell them what can be done here to address those issues.”
Vance is a USMC veteran and one of the 30-ish COS volunteers around Wyoming. He has been on a four-day presentation tour this week starting in Kemmerer where he currently resides. He works by day as a Relief Operator at the Ciner trona mine.
You can learn more about COS on their website here and on the Convention of States Wyoming Facebook page.