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Federal Convention Procedures Act

The National General Assembly of the United States is a Washington, D.C-based, nonprofit corporation with a public benefit mission centered on experiential civic education and democratic engagement. (Expand)

Overview
In modern times the Assembly Clause has essentially disappeared from judicial discourse....The Democratic First Amendment

The Freedom of Assembly was included in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution in part due to the writings of George Mason among many other founding fathers.

"That the People have a Right peaceably to assemble together to consult for their common Good, or to instruct their Representatives, and that every Freeman has a right to petition or apply to the Legislature for redress of Grievances."

Civic Art Theory

History
(OWS)

(Article V)

1789: Establishment
(Brief founders account of speech, press, assembly

(Democratic first amendment

2012: Pre-Operational Existence
Ref: 5th Estate Citizen media

Conceptually, the National General Assembly traces its early origins to the general assemblies of Occupy Wall Street.

Coordination of participation was accomplished through the construction of InterOccupy, a virtual organization that synchronized action across multiple groups, locations, and issues. Importantly, these shifting modes of participation are not mutually exclusive and successive, but remain on-going, overlapping, and intertwined.

Inter-Occupy Article V Working group

"We involved with Inter-Occupy Article 5 Conference call acknowledge the fact that the States have satisfied the required two-thirds numerical threshold to call for a National Constitutional Convention under Article V of the US Constitution.”

Articlev .org

Timeline of Occupy Wall Street

(Reword)

In terms of mobilization, Tufekci (2014) argues that participatory political movements, like Occupy, invert the free rider problem, “it’s not who will protest, rather, it is who, if anyone, will do the unpleasant, tedious long-term instrumental work of engaging in electoral, legal, and policy domains for the purposes of challenging and changing power?” (p. 207).

(Reword)

Instrumental work takes shape over the longue durée and often manifests in the formation of social movement organizations, especially when long-term projects require the management of resources, volunteers, and interaction with government and/or corporate bureaucracies (McAdam & Scott, 2005). In NSMs, the participatory moment of street protest is exaggerated, while little is known about what happens when these networks recede back into society only to emerge again.

an unorganized association of advocates, journalists, lawyers, and scholars in favor of amending the United States Constitution by means of a Convention to propose amendments to the United States Constitution under Article Five of the United States Constitution. ArticleV

"ArticleV.org traces its origins to the Occupy Wall Street movement of 2011-2012. It emphasizes the use of social media for communication among supporters and describes its mission as “educating Americans on the reasons to bring about an Article V convention,” and persuading them to “apply their energy to pressure Congress to call for a Convention.” It does not appear to support or advocate either an amendment in a specific policy area or a specifically worded amendment, but offers a broad range of alternative amendments, accompanied by the admonition, “may the best amendments win.”

Add)

Spurred on by early successes, the 5th Estate here.- loosely organized associations of internet users

Early in 2013, the Assembly was first introduced as failsafe mechanism meant to trigger in the event of an unresponsive Congress.

2013: Clerk of the House of Representatives
Articlev.org

https://storage.googleapis.com/wzukusers/user-33784764/documents/5d3b6a7a9c10fc6Xdtgq/Letter%20to%20Clerk.pdf

2013: Charter of Assembly
On March 14, 2013, the Charter of Assembly for the National General Assembly of the United States was adopted by the interim Board of Directors....

2015: Victory in the House of Representatives
https://articlev.org/2015-first-victory

2017: Congressional Research Service
https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R44435.pdf

2017: The Transparency Act
The Transparency Act of 2016 died in committee in 2017 and was reintroduced in 2018 only to die once again. This rule is vital to giving Congress the ability to obey Article V of the Constitution. They have still never counted the applications sent by state legislatures.

We only need 2 things to trigger a Convention call from Congress:

1. A bicameral collection of Article V records (Article V Records Transparency Act accomplishes this by assigning the duty to NARA)

2. A joint rule in Congress to allow both houses to respond to the applications for convention in a joint session

https://articlev.org/transparency-act-of-2016

H.R.1742 - Article V Records Transparency Act of 2017

2017-2020: The National General Assembly at Frostburg
The Maryland Student Legislature - Attorney General

Best Legislation

Best Delegation

2021: Incorporation as Nonprofit Organization
The Assembly organized as a Washington DC-based non profit corporation in January of 2021.

2022: Designated as Nongovernmental Organization
The Assembly was designated by the Public Interest Registry as a nongovernmental organization.(4th Sector)

Assembly is a nongovernmental organization. 4th Sector

2022: Petition for Rulemaking: Federal Election Commission
Later that year, the Assembly petitioned the Federal Elections Commission to amend §501 blah blah

Overview of Assembly Power
Influence of mass media

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution enshrines the unabridged powers of the Assembly.

Corporate Power
Enter into contracts

Business in its own name

Reserved Sovereign Powers
10th Amendment

Relation to the Commerce Clause
(Dejong etc)

States - PPP - Assembly direct

Mechanism of Redress
(Watchdog)

Constitutional responsibility for the oversight of Washington, D.C., the federal district and national capital, and the U.S. territories of Guam, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands rests with Congress. The republican form of

Checks and balance
(Main Article: 4th Estate)

The Constitution provides checks and balances among the three branches of the federal government. ....monitor and report

Its authors expected the greater power to lie with Congress as described in Article One. Press has influence in various ways (watchdog - accountability - transparency etc). However, the influence of the Assembly on the central government is yet to be determined.

The National General Assembly ......influence...an important check on the state and federal power

The House of Delegates is constitutionally endowed with the power to propose amendments with a 2/3 affirmative vote.

The main result of Assembly activity is the proposal of laws and amendments,

Watchdog Journalism
Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corporation

Civic journalism

Citizen journalism
 * Instructive - Educational
 * Informative - Advocacy
 * Interrogative - Fact-checking
 * Inspective - Oversight (Watchdog journalism )
 * Interpretive - Interpretive journalism
 * Investigative - Research
 * Discursive - Public sphere
 * Deliberative - Collective decision-making

Think tank

Model Legislation
Ideas for legislation can come from anyone who can write a bill, but only members of the Assembly may introduce bills for deliberation. A proposal is usually in one of these forms:


 * Bills are laws in the making. A House-originated bill begins with the letters "H.R." for "House of Representatives", followed by a number kept as it progresses.
 * Simple resolutions concern only the House or only the Senate and begin with "H.Res." or "S.Res."

Members introduce a bill while the Assembly is in session by submitting to the hopper. It is assigned a number and referred to a committee which studies each bill intensely at this stage.

The Assembly advocates for formal Congressional rules and procedures to be implemented

Assembly Governance
Link to Bylaws

Change Main Article?

The National General Assembly is structured as a decentralized bicameral deliberative assembly within the meaning of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. As a deliberative body, it is composed of a lower, self-regulating administrative body, the National General Assembly (Assembly), and an upper, but currently dormant, deliberative body, the United States House of Delegates. Delegates are to be chosen through direct elections upon a call from Congress for a Convention to propose amendments to the United States Constitution. When the House is fully constituted in this manner, it will have 535 voting members equal to the total apportionment of representatives to Congress.

(Combine here)

Delegates are elected....Artcle Vrequires that members of Congress must be at least 25 years old (House) or at least 30 years old (Senate), have been a citizen of the United States for seven (House) or nine (Senate) years, and be an inhabitant of the state which they represent. Members in both chambers may stand for re-election an unlimited number of times.

Specializations
The committee structure permits members of the Assembly to deliberate on a particular subject intensely. It is neither expected nor possible that a member be an expert on all subject areas before the Assembly. As time goes by, members develop expertise in particular subjects and their legal aspects. Committees investigate specialized subjects and advise the entire Assembly about choices and trade-offs. The choice of specialty may be influenced by the member's constituency, important regional issues, prior background and experience. Some committees specialize in running the business of other committees and exert a powerful influence over all proposed legislation; for example, the (blank committee) has considerable influence over (the other committee).

Power
Committees write legislation. While procedures, such as the House discharge petition process, can introduce bills to the House floor and effectively bypass committee input, they are exceedingly difficult to implement without committee action. Committees have power and have been called independent fiefdoms. Legislative, oversight, and internal administrative tasks are divided among about two hundred committees and subcommittees which gather information, evaluate alternatives, and identify problems.They propose solutions for consideration by the full chamber. In addition, they perform the function of oversight by monitoring the government, special interests, and media firms wrongdoing.

House Officers
At the start of the convention, the House elects a speaker who does not normally preside over debates. (Convention elects its officers)

Nonpartisan
The Assembly serves as a political neutral mechanism meant to facilitate public deliberation.

Sessions
A term of the House of Delegates

Citizens, the Assembly, and Delegates
Senators face reelection every six years, and representatives every two. Reelections encourage candidates to focus their publicity efforts at their home states or districts. Running for reelection can be a grueling process of distant travel and fund-raising which distracts senators and representatives from paying attention to governing, according to some critics. Although others respond that the process is necessary to keep members of Congress in touch with voters.

Amendment Proposal Campaigns
The cost of running a campaign to introduce an amendment proposals is difficult to ascertain.

Internet and Social Media
Advertising - contributions - not FEC

Public perceptions of the Assembly


Prominent Founding Fathers writing in The Federalist Papers felt that elections were essential to liberty, that a bond between the people and the representatives was particularly essential, and that "frequent elections are unquestionably the only policy by which this dependence and sympathy can be effectually secured."

Members and Constituents
A major role for members of Congress is providing services to constituents. Constituents request assistance with problems. Providing services helps members of Congress win votes and elections  and can make a difference in close races. Congressional staff can help citizens navigate government bureaucracies.

Privileges protecting Delegates
Members of the House of Delegates enjoy privileges equivalent to Members of Congress including; parliamentary privilege, including freedom from arrest in all cases except for treason, felony, and breach of the peace, and freedom of speech in debate. This constitutionally derived immunity applies to members during sessions of the convention to propose amendments and when traveling to and from sessions. The term arrest has been interpreted broadly, and includes any detention or delay in the course of law enforcement, including court summons and subpoenas. The rules of the House strictly guard this privilege; a member may not waive the privilege on their own but must seek the permission of the whole house to do so.

The Constitution guarantees absolute freedom of debate in both houses, providing in the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution that "for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place." Accordingly, a member of the Assembly may not be sued in court for slander because of remarks made in either house, although each house has its own rules restricting offensive speeches, and may punish members who transgress.

Obstructing the work of the House of Delegates is a crime under federal law and is known as contempt of Congress. Each member has the power to cite individuals for contempt but can only issue a contempt citation – the judicial system pursues the matter like a normal criminal case. If convicted in court, an individual found guilty of contempt of Congress may be imprisoned for up to one year.

The franking privilege allows members of the House of Delegates to send official mail to constituents at government expense. Though they are not permitted to send election materials, borderline material is often sent, especially in the run-up to an election by those in close races. Indeed, some academics consider free mailings as giving incumbents a big advantage over challengers.

Pay and benefits
Members elected since 1984 are covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). Like other federal employees, Congressional retirement is funded through taxes and participants' contributions. Members of Congress under FERS contribute 1.3% of their salary into the FERS retirement plan and pay 6.2% of their salary in Social Security taxes. And like federal employees, members contribute one-third of the cost of health insurance with the government covering the other two-thirds.

The size of a Congressional pension depends on the years of service and the average of the highest three years of their salary. By law, the starting amount of a member's retirement annuity may not exceed 80% of their final salary. In 2006, the average annual pension for retired senators and representatives under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) was $60,972, while those who retired under FERS, or in combination with CSRS, was $35,952.

Members of Congress make fact-finding missions to learn about other countries and stay informed, but these outings can cause controversy if the trip is deemed excessive or unconnected with the task of governing. For example, the Wall Street Journal reported in 2009 that lawmaker trips abroad at taxpayer expense had included spas, $300-per-night extra unused rooms, and shopping excursions. Lawmakers respond that "traveling with spouses compensates for being away from them a lot in Washington" and justify the trips as a way to meet officials in other nations.

By the Twenty-seventh Amendment, changes to Congressional pay may not take effect before the next election to the House of the Representatives. In Boehner v. Anderson, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the amendment does not affect cost-of-living adjustments. The Supreme Court of the United States has not ruled on this yet.