By Julie Brogan
On Wednesday, Sept. 16 at 7:00 p.m., citizens of Lincoln will read the U.S. Constitution aloud to honor the ratification of the U.S. Constitution on September 17, 1789. I am pleased to be scheduled to read the text of Article V, the Amendment Clause. In her Pulitzer Prize-winning book We the People, Jill LePore referred to Article V as a “sleeping giant.” I agree. Article V is a viable way to make enduring change.
Since 2018, I have been working with American Promise, a cross-partisan group begun in Concord, which — like the shot heard round the world — has grown into a nationwide movement. We are uniting Americans to win the For Our Freedom Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to address the issue of money in politics. Why an amendment? The problem of money in politics is constitutional. For decades, Supreme Court decisions have limited the ability of Americans and their elected representatives to set reasonable rules for money in elections. The For Our Freedom Amendment will restore that authority.
Half of all states are now on record urging Congress to propose an amendment on election spending. The most recent states to join Massachusetts in passing a resolution were Idaho and Oklahoma. Bills calling for an amendment have been introduced in Congress by members of both parties, increasing the chances that the two-thirds majority required by Article V will be met. Read about American Promise on our website, Americanpromise.net, and join us. The framers of the Constitution gave We the People the ultimate say over how we are governed with Article V. It’s time to wake up that giant!
Brogan lives on Old Sudbury Road.
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Looking forward to our community read of the Constitution tomorrow night (Wednesday) at 7:00 PM in the Lincoln School auditorium! There will be another National Constitution Day event on Tuesday, Sept. 22 at 7:00PM in the Hartwell multipurpose room on the school campus. This is an Art&Conversation event focused on the Preamble.