On Wednesday, former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pennsylvania, and North Carolina House Republicans held a press conference supporting a bill making North Carolina the 20th state to call for a Convention of States. Two-thirds of the states, or 34, must sign on before a convention can be held.

The House passed a resolution calling for a Convention of States by a narrow margin last year, but the resolution did not move when it reached the Senate. Republicans voted 58-10 in favor, while Democrats voted 47-2 against. House Democratic supporters were Reps. Michael Wray, D-Northampton, and Cecil Brockman, D-Guilford.

Reps. Dennis Riddell, R-Alamance, and Jason Saine, R-Lincoln, along with N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, and Santorum, all spoke in support of the Convention of States resolution at the press conference.

“A million seconds ago was February 19th; a billion seconds ago was 32 years ago; a trillion seconds ago was 32,000 years ago,” said Riddell. “Our federal debt is nearly $32 trillion, and there is no plan anywhere to begin addressing that. If you consider the off-budget future liabilities and obligations the federal government is under, you have an additional over $100 trillion in unfunded liabilities. And again, there is no plan anywhere in Washington D.C. to fix it.”

Santorum speaks to N.C. press corps about Convention of States. Image courtesy of David Cobb, Office of House Rules Chairman Destin Hall.

Moore said he’s spoken with Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, and that the Convention of States resolution would be one of the House’s priorities during negotiations.

“A couple of months from now, when we actually start negotiating these Senate bills and these house bills, I suspect that this conversation will come up,” said Moore.

Santorum, Senior Advisor for the Convention of States organization, was the keynote speaker of the press conference.

“I became convinced a few years ago that Washington [D.C.] is never going to fix itself,” said Santorum. “I left Congress in 2007, and the deficit at that point was around $9 trillion. It is now $32 trillion… The idea that we can continue to do this is just unrealistic, and yet there is no movement by either party in Washington D.C. to fix this.”

Moore advocated for term limits for the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, differentiating their full-time legislative roles from part-time state legislators making “$13,000 a year.”

“The difference between us state legislators and folks in Congress is this is not our full-time vocation,” said Moore.

“Many folks make a career out of it,” Moore said, referring to members of Congress. “It’s like food in the refrigerator. You can reach a point where it’s just been there too long.”