Article V Records Transparency Act of 2016

Article V Records Transparency Act of 2016

This bill directs the Archivist of the United States to make and transmit to Congress an organized compilation of all applications and rescissions of applications ever made by states under article V of the Constitution to call a convention for proposing amendments to the Constitution.

The Archivist: (1) in complying with such requirement, shall use the records contained in the National Archive and Records Administration and attempt to obtain an official copy of any application or rescission that may not be in such records; (2) submit a report on the extent of suspected missing applications or rescissions not included in the compilation; and (3) catalog the applications and rescissions by year of submission and state.

The committees on the judiciary in each chamber shall make the applications and rescissions contained in such compilation available on a publicly accessible website and update the compilation as specified.

In order to simplify and make uniform the process by which state legislatures make such an application or rescission, Congress recommends that after adoption of an application or rescission by a state legislature, the secretary of state or other state official should submit at least two copies of the measure containing the application or rescission to Congress, one copy addressed to the President of the Senate and one copy to the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5306 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5306

     To require the Archivist of the United States to compile all 
applications, and rescissions of applications, made to the Congress to 
   call a convention, pursuant to article V of the Constitution, and 
 certain related materials, and to transmit them to Congress, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 23, 2016

Mr. Messer (for himself, Mr. Byrne, Mr. Stivers, Mr. Franks of Arizona, 
  Mrs. McMorris Rodgers, Mr. Polis, Mr. Lipinski, and Mr. Ratcliffe) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
   the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and 
Government Reform and Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined 
 by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as 
        fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To require the Archivist of the United States to compile all 
applications, and rescissions of applications, made to the Congress to 
   call a convention, pursuant to article V of the Constitution, and 
 certain related materials, and to transmit them to Congress, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Article V Records Transparency Act 
of 2016''.

SEC. 2. COMPILATION AND TRANSMISSION TO CONGRESS OF APPLICATIONS AND 
              RESCISSIONS OF APPLICATIONS TO CALL A CONVENTION FOR 
              PROPOSING AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION AND RESCISSIONS 
              OF THOSE APPLICATIONS.

    (a) Compilation and Transmission.--The Archivist of the United 
States (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the ``Archivist'') 
shall, in accordance with this Act--
            (1) make an organized compilation, to the extent feasible, 
        of all applications and rescissions of applications, ever made 
        by States under article V of the Constitution, to call a 
        convention for proposing amendments to the Constitution; and
            (2) transmit to Congress that compilation, together with 
        both physical and electronic copies of each such application 
        and rescission.
    (b) Sources for Compilation.--In complying with subsection (a) the 
Archivist shall use the records contained in the National Archive and 
Records Administration and make all efforts feasible to obtain an 
official copy of any application or rescission that may not be in such 
records.
    (c) Timing of Transmittal.--
            (1) Not later than one year after the date of the enactment 
        of this Act, the Archivist shall transmit the first part of the 
        compilation, containing all the known applications or 
        rescissions made after 1950.
            (2) Not later than two years after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act, the Archivist shall transmit the second 
        part of the compilation, containing all the known applications 
        and rescissions made in 1950 or earlier.
    (d) Report on Extent of Missing Applications or Rescissions.--Not 
later than two years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Archivist shall submit to Congress a report detailing the extent of 
suspected missing applications or rescissions not included in the 
compilation under subsection (a).
    (e) Cataloging Applications.--The Archivist shall, in compiling the 
applications and rescissions, catalog them by year of submission and 
State, and include that information in the material transmitted to 
Congress.

SEC. 3. DUTIES OF THE COMMITTEES ON THE JUDICIARY.

    (a) Applications Included in Compilation.--Upon receipt by Congress 
of the compilation described in section 2(a), the respective committees 
on the judiciary in each House of Congress shall make the applications 
and rescissions contained in such compilation available on a publicly 
accessible website.
    (b) Applications and Rescissions Not Included in Compilation.--The 
respective committees on the judiciary in each House of Congress shall 
update the compilation in the public websites maintained by them under 
subsection (a) to reflect the receipt of any application or rescission 
submitted under article V of the Constitution to call a convention for 
proposing amendments to the Constitution that--
            (1) was not included in the initial compilation as 
        transmitted under section 2; and
            (2) is a new application or rescission or otherwise comes 
        to the attention of the committee.

SEC. 4. APPLICATIONS AND RESCISSIONS ARRIVING AFTER THE TRANSMISSION 
              UNDER SECTION 2.

    The Congress recommends the following procedures to make uniform 
and simplify the process by which State legislatures make an 
application, or a rescission of an application, under article V of the 
Constitution to call a convention for proposing amendments to the 
Constitution:
            (1) Officers to transmit and receive applications.--After 
        the adoption by the legislature of a State of an application or 
        rescission, the secretary of state of the State, or if there be 
        no such officer, the person who is charged by the State law 
        with such function, should submit to Congress at least two 
        copies of the resolution or other measure containing the 
        application or rescission, one copy addressed to the President 
        of the Senate, and one copy to the Speaker of the House of 
        Representatives.
            (2) Contents of resolution or measure.--Each copy of the 
        resolution or measure should contain--
                    (A) its exact text, with the authenticating 
                signature of the relevant officer of the legislature; 
                and
                    (B) the date on which the legislature adopted the 
                resolution or measure.
            (3) Incomplete application or rescission.--If a State 
        submits an application or rescission in a manner that is 
        inconsistent with this section, the Clerk of the House or the 
        Secretary of the Senate shall so notify the appropriate State 
        official. That State official may then resubmit the 
        application.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act--
            (1) the terms ``transmit to Congress'' and ``submit to 
        Congress'' mean transmission or submission, as the case may be, 
        to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President 
        of the Senate, the Clerk of the House of Representatives, the 
        Secretary of the Senate, and the Chairmen and Ranking Minority 
        Members of the Committees on the Judiciary of the House of 
        Representatives and the Senate;
            (2) the term ``application'' means any resolution or other 
        measure, agreed upon by a State legislature, that contains a 
        request to Congress to call a convention pursuant to article V 
        of the Constitution; and
            (3) the term ``rescission'' means any resolution or other 
        measure, agreed upon by a State legislature, that has the 
        purpose of making null and void an application previously 
        submitted by the State legislature.

SEC. 6. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED.

    No additional funds are authorized to carry out the requirements of 
this Act. Such requirements shall be carried out using amounts 
otherwise authorized.
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