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



                   CONSTITUTIONALISTS ORGANIZE

     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 Society 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 Society 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 Society, 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.