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[Your Name] [Address] [City, State, Zip Code] The Honorable [Insert Representative’s Name] [Address] [City, State, Zip Code] [Insert Date] Re: [your State] to Join League for Federal Reform. End ‘Taxation without Representation’ - Eliminate Equal Suffrage in the Senate Dear Representative/Senator/Governor [Name], My name is [Insert Your Name] and I reside at [Insert Your Address] in [Insert Your City, State], and I vote. I am writing to ask that you take an active part in defending the interests of the citizens of [your State] in Federal legislation and spending, by supporting efforts to establish a new Federal America in which the power and importance of States and local government shall be reinforced. As a citizen of a State that has a population which is significantly larger than the average, I am disenfranchised in the Senate of the United States. The Senate, by design, is the keystone of our government. It limits each of the other branches of government. It controls all appointments to the Executive, to the Supreme Court and the Federal Judiciary. It has veto power over all legislation, which originates in the House of Representatives. But in the Senate my vote counts for far less than the vote of a citizen of a small State. In 1787, a mere 30% of the population could form a majority in the Senate. Today, that number is down to 18%. Residing in a large State, I have become a second class citizen. Voting in the Senate is apportioned based on a 227 year old rule which was instituted as part of a bargain between small States and slaveholding States, in which equal suffrage in the Senate was supported as a quid prop quo for constitutional provisions further strengthening slavery. It was an integral part of the original sin of the American constitution - the legal consolidation of slavery. Virtually every individual considered a ‘Founding Father’ was opposed to equal voting in the Senate, including the first 4 Presidents, the first Chief Justice and the first Secretary of the Treasury. I ask you to support legislation authorizing and funding the participation of [your State] in a League for Federal Reform, whose membership shall consist of the 12 largest States, whose populations are 30% greater than the average, and who together constitute 60% of the population and GDP of the United States - while holding only 24% of the voting power in the Senate. The explicit objective of the League shall be apportionment of voting in the US Senate based on State population. The League’s members would be: California, Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Georgia, North Carolina, New Jersey and Virginia. While it is true that there is only one provision of the constitution which is not subject to amendment: (Article 5) “…no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate” - that is no reason to passively accept a pernicious and unjust situation. An aggressive battle of public opinion needs to be fought. The league would engage in research, policy development and legal challenges. For example it would support research documenting the disenfranchisement of their citizens, as evidenced by payment deficits due to federal spending transfers to small States. The league would fund policy development designed to show how federalism could work in the context of a ‘union of large States’ capable of substantial independence. It would investigate topics such as banking regulation, government mandated pensions, health and safety regulations, regional transport funding, health insurance regulation, etc. within a more purely federal design. Legal challenges could be raised jointly by States in the league in cases directly tied to current questions of the distribution of powers between States and the national government, as a way of highlighting issues. Most importantly [your State] will raise its voice loudly in protest. I appreciate your help and ask that you please send me a response letting me know if you are willing to fight to eliminate equal suffrage in the Senate, and to support legislation providing for participation of [your State] in a League for Federal Reform as outlined above. Thank you for your time and consideration of my request. Sincerely, [Insert Your Name]