Pennsylvania Members Stop COS
by Dave Giordano, Field Coordinator for South Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania, and Delaware
With so many important issues facing our members, it’s sometimes hard to decide which ones to prioritize. But Convention of States (COS) is targeting our Constitution, and without our Constitution, we can’t solve the other problems we’re facing.
Pennsylvania was one of the states targeted by COS in 2022, so we made stopping an Article V constitutional convention a priority. It was necessary for us to get ahead on this issue, so JBS members used their influence with other patriot groups to get me in front of them to discuss the dangers of a Con-Con. The work of our members allowed me to crisscross the state, and once these groups heard our side, they seldom turned back — and we gained many new members in the process. We combined this with letter-writing campaigns during chapter meetings. The Philadelphia/Lower Bucks County Chapter mailed a copy of the July 11, 2022 “Article V Convention: Will It Work?” TNA Special Report to every member of the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Other chapters followed up with letters, JBS pamphlets and slim jims, and phone calls.
In the fall of 2022, local chapters brought in Robert Brown and Publius Huldah (Joanna Martin) to speak. Joanna Martin addressed two groups over three days in central Pennsylvania and embarrassed Kenn Quinn of U.S. Term Limits during a debate hosted by Grassroots Unite PA. On September 20, Robert Brown addressed a group in Telford, Pennsylvania, while Joanna Martin addressed legislators in the state Capitol in Harrisburg during three separate sessions. When COS brought in their lobbyist, former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, on September 26 to push his organization’s agenda, he walked into a buzzsaw. JBS members even went back to Harrisburg on September 25 and 26 to prepare legislators for Santorum’s visit.
COS’s appeal to a quick fix of our problems can be addressed by building understanding of the dangers of a Con-Con. The importance of education is explained well in the article “The Key to Freedom” in the January 30, 2023 issue of The New American. The John Birch Society provides the research and tools to combat those looking to abolish our Constitution to make room for the New World Order. Our Pennsylvania JBS members, with assistance from our friends at FreePA, kept ahead of COS in Pennsylvania — and for 2023, members’ focus is rescinding existing Con-Con applications.