Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), who announced in January his decision to retire at the end of the current session of Congress, plans to devote some of his time out of public office pushing for a constitutional convention so states can ratify an amendment that would limit the scope of the federal government.
“I’m going to be involved with the Convention of States. I’m going to try to motivate so that that happens. I think that’s the only answer,” he told the Huffington Post. “I’m just going to go around and talk about why it’s needed, and try to convince state legislatures to do it.”
States can pass resolutions to call for a Convention of the States. The Georgia state senate passed a resolution on Tuesday, and movements are underway in a few other states, according to the Huffington Post.
In order to hold a national convention, 34 states must pass resolutions calling for one, and 38 states would then need to ratify any amendment proposed.
“Washington isn’t going to fix itself,” he said. “We need a balanced budget amendment, we need term limits, we need the oversight capability to limit the bureaucracy in terms of its impact on the private sector. … We need to have that discussion. And I want to tell you, the country’s tuned for it.”
Coburn announced last year that he would undergo treatment for a recurrence of prostate cancer.
