FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
INFO: JON ROLAND 210/224-2868

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, APRIL 2, 1994 -- A number of persons dedicated to the strict enforcement of the U.S. and State Constitutions has formed three new organizations. The first two are the Constitution Research and the Constitution Foundation. The purposes of the Constitution Foundation, which will seek tax-deductible status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, are:

1. To practice the secular religion variously known as constitutionalism, republicanism, liberal humanism, or democratic libertarianism, being the body of political belief which embraces the principles on which the Constitution of the United States was founded.
2. To conduct research and public education on how to interpret these principles and apply them to the development and administration of law and the operations of government, and to ordinary life, whether in the United States of America, or in any other country whose political institutions are organized on similar principles.
3. To cultivate and practice the skills of republican self-government, including parliamentary procedure, legal due process, executive administration, political campaigning, investigative reporting, militia operations, law enforcement, disaster management, and community organization.
4. To promote skill in the use of, and proper respect for, the principal articles of devotion in this secular religion, namely the arms suitable for defense of the community, the individual, and the Constitution against all enemies, foreign or domestic.
5. To formulate, but not advocate, amendments to the Constitution of the United States, and to the constitutions or charters of other nations, which meet the needs of changing circumstances while preserving the principles and protecting the natural rights which are the basis for any well- written constitution.

The Constitution Research has the same purposes, plus three others:

6. To resist and oppose any laws, administrative practices, executive actions, court decisions, or political or social customs, which violate constitutional principles in the United States or any other country, and in particular the Constitution of the United States as it was intended by its Framers.

7. To offer support for any persons who may be the victims of tyranny or political oppression, and to seek justice for them and for their causes.

8. To promote and support the celebration of April 19 of each year as Militia Day, in commemoration of those brave patriots who have served in their militias in defense of freedom and the principles of constitutional law.

However, such purposes shall not include advocacy of any particular social or economic policy, other than adherence to constitutional principles.

The founders of these organizations felt that although there are other organizations dedicated to the restoration of constitutional governance, most of them had other economic or social agendas which distracted them from the primary mission. In the words of one of the founders, Jon Roland, "We want a set of organizations where people of all political persuasions can feel comfortable, not just libertarians and conservatives, but also liberals and environmentalists. The only thing they need agree on is that if there is some power that government needs to solve some problem, then the Constitution needs to be amended first to give it that power, and amended in a way that does not infringe on our natural rights. For the past 60 years it has been a great temptation, when faced with difficult problems, and when advocates of solutions to those problems could muster only enough support to pass laws but not enough to adopt constitutional amendments, to simply go ahead and pass the laws, then count on compliant judges to ignore the Constitution and allow those laws to stand. The result is a legal mess. It is time to go back and clean up the mess."

One of the projects of the Constitution Foundation and Constitution Research, Roland said, will be to systematically review the entire United States Code, identifying all those sections and clauses that violate the Constitution as it was intended by the Framers, regardless of whether we may agree with them or not.

Also formed at the same time is the Texas Militia Correspondence Committee. It's purposes are:

1. When the Texas Militia is not called to duty by the President of the United States or the Governor of Texas, to coordinate the activities of independent local militia units throughout the State of Texas with one another and with military, law enforcement, disaster control, and other public service organizations, and with similar coordinating organizations in other states.
2. When the Texas Militia is called to duty by the President of the United States or the Governor of Texas, to assist in the coordination of Militia activities in accordance with laws of the United States Congress, and under the direction of officers appointed by the Governor of Texas, under the authority of Article I Section 8 of the Constitution of the United States, and in accordance with any laws of the Texas Legislature, under the authority of provisions of the Constitution of the State of Texas governing the Texas Militia.
3. In the absence of the organization, arming, and disciplining of the Militia as provided in Article I Section 8 of the Constitution of the United States, to do such of that as is feasible to voluntary efforts by patriotic citizens.

In explaining the Texas Militia Correspondence Committee, Roland said, "The only federal law on the Militia is 10 USC 311, which defines it but does not mandate the States to carry out the organization and training provided for in Article I Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, nor require able-bodied citizens to keep and bear arms as did the Militia Act of 1792, which required each able- bodied male citizen to keep a musket or firelock. That Act needs to be brought up to date. In the absence of federal or state leadership, it is up to citizens to organize and train themselves in each local community." Roland went on to explain that the Framers of the Constitution envisioned the maintenance of a Militia system something like that of Switzerland. "Such a Militia system," said Roland, "serves not only to prepare the people to resist invasion or cope with disasters, but to bind the people together into communities for all kinds of civic activities. In this age in which too many people don't know their own next door neighbors, it is time to break down the barriers of anonymity and rebuild the community spirit on which our society depends. Able-bodied citizens should be expected to perform regular civic duties in much the way the perform jury duty. The Constitutional framework for doing that is the Militia." Roland explained that he hoped that similar correspondence committees would be set up in other states.

These organizations will be sponsoring Militia Day, to be celebrated on April 19 of each year in commemoration of the Battle of Lexington and Concord, in which local militias resisted an attempt by British troops to disarm them, and thereby started the American Revolution.