Requesting appropriate action by the Congress, either acting
by consent of two-thirds of both houses thereof or, upon the
application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several
states, calling a constitutional convention therefor to pro-
pose an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to
require, with certain exceptions, that the total of all fed-
eral appropriations may not exceed the total of all estimated
federal revenues in any fiscal year.

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I certify that the at- STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA,
tached Resolution originated ss.
in the
SENATE Office of the
as SENATE Secretary of State

Joint Resolution No. 1

/ Vaz bf rited Gare 3/
Secretary of the Senate. 1977 Fat 7D

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ecreta State.
President of the Senate.

Attest:

By

Asst. Sec'y of State

Secretary of the Senate.

EERE E ESE ESSE

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y [Speaker of the’ House. ~
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Chief Clerk.

SECRETARY OF STATE

Senate Joint Resolution No. 1
File No. 2

Chapter No.


to the Constitution identical in subject matter to that contained in
this Joint Resolution then this petition for a Constitutional Conven-
tion shall no longer be of any force or effect; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this Legislature also proposes that
the legislatures of each of the several states comprising the United
States apply to the Congress requesting the enactment of an appropri-
ate amendment to the Federal Constitution, or requiring the Congress
to call a constitutional convention for proposing such an amendment to
the Federal Constitution; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that copies of this Joint Resolution be
sent by the Secretary of State to each member of the South Dakota Con-
gressional Delegation; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Secretary of State is directed
to send copies of this Joint Resolution to the presiding officers of
both Houses of the Legislature of each of the other states in the
Union, the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, Wash-
ington, D.C. and the Secretary of the United States Senate, Washing-

ton, D. C.


BOB GOODLATTE, Virginia
CHAIRMAN

F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR., Wisconsin

LAMAR S. SMITH, Texas.

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio

DARRELL E. ISSA, California

STEVE KING, lowa

TRENT FRANKS, Arizona

LOUIE GOHMERT, Texas

JIM JORDAN, Ohio

TED POE, Texas

JASON CHAFFETZ, Utah

TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania

TREY GOWDY, South Carolina

RAUL R. LABRADOR, Idaho

BLAKE FARENTHOLD, Texas

DOUG COLLINS, Georgia

RON DeSANTIS, Florida

KEN BUCK, Colorado

JOHN RATCLIFFE, Texas

MARTHA ROBY, Alabama

MATT GAETZ, Florida

MIKE JOHNSON, Louisiana

ANDY BIGGS, Arizona

ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS

Congress of the Wnited States

House of Representatives
COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY

2138 RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING
WASHINGTON, DC 20515-6216
(202) 225-3951

http://www. house.gov/judiciary

April 24, 2017

The Honorable Karen Haas
Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives
U.S. Capitol, Room H154

Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Madam Clerk,

JOHN CONYERS, JR., Michigan
RANKING MEMBER

JERROLD NADLER, New York
ZOE LOFGREN, California

‘SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas

STEVE COHEN, Tennessee

HENRY C. “HANK” JOHNSON, JR., Georgia
TED DEUTCH, Florida

LUIS V. GUTIERREZ, Illinois

KAREN BASS, California

CEDRIC L. RICHMOND, Louisiana

HAKEEM S. JEFFRIES, New York

DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island

ERIC SWALWELL, California

TED LIEU, California

JAMIE RASKIN, Maryland

PRAMILA JAYAPAL, Washington

BRAD SCHNEIDER, Illinois

Pursuant to section 3(c) of House Resolution 5 (1 14 Congress), I hereby designate the attached
Memorial from the State of South Dakota, received by the House of Representatives in the year 1979, as
purporting to be an application of the State legislature calling for a convention for proposing amendments
to the Constitution of the United States pursuant to Article V, and request that you make it publicly

available.

Sincerely,

Jp bolls

Bob Goodlatte
Chairman


A JOINT RESOLUTION, Requesting appropriate action by the Congress,
either acting by consent of two-thirds of both houses thereof or,
upon the application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the
several states, calling a constitutional convention therefor to
propose an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to
require, with certain exceptions, that the total of all federal
appropriations may not exceed the total of all estimated federal
revenues in any fiscal year.

WHEREAS, with each passing year this nation becomes more deeply
in debt as its annual expenditures frequently exceed annual available
revenues, so that the public debt also steadily increases to a size of
inordinate proportions; and

WHEREAS, unified budgets do not necessarily reflect actual spend-
ing because of the exclusion of special spending outlays which are not
included in the budget nor are subject to the statutory legal public
debt limit; and

WHEREAS, knowledgeable planning, fiscal prudence, and plain good
sense require that the budget reflect all federal spending and be in
balance; and

WHEREAS, we believe that fiscal irresponsibility at the federal
level, with the inflation which results primarily from this policy, is
the greatest threat which faces our nation, and that constitutional
restraint is necessary to bring the fiscal discipline needed to
restore financial responsibility; and

WHEREAS, under Article V of the Constitution of the United
States, amendments to the Federal Constitution may be proposed by Con-
gress whenever two-thirds of both houses deem it necessary, or on the
application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several states
the Congress shall call a constitutional convention for the purpose of

proposing such amendments:


BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA, THE HOUSE
OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN:

That the Legislature does hereby make application to the Congress
of the United States that procedures be instituted in the Congress to
add a new article to the Constitution of the United States, and that
the Legislature of the state of South Dakota hereby requests the Con-
gress to prepare and submit to the several states an amendment to the
Constitution of the United States, requiring in the absence of a
national emergency, as defined by law, that the total of all federal
appropriations made by the Congress for any fiscal year may not exceed
the total of all estimated federal revenues for that fiscal year; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that alternatively, this Legislature
hereby makes application under said Article V of the Constitution of
the United States and with the same force and effect as if this Reso-
lution consisted of this portion alone and requests that the Congress
of the United States call a constitutional convention for the specific
and exclusive purpose of proposing an amendment to the Constitution of
the United States requiring in the absence of a national emergency, as
defined by law, that the total of all federal appropriations made by
the Congress for any fiscal year may not exceed the total of all esti-
mated federal revenues for that fiscal year; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this application and request be
deemed null and void, rescinded, and of no effect in the event that
such convention not be limited to such specific and exclusive purpose;
and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this application by this Legislature
constitutes a continuing application in accordance with Article V of
the Constitution of the United States until at least two-thirds of the
legislatures of the several states have made applications for similar

relief pursuant to Article V, but, if Congress proposes an amendment