Article V Records Transparency Act of 2017
This bill directs the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to make and transmit to Congress an organized compilation of all applications and rescissions of applications ever made by states under article V of the Constitution to call a convention for proposing constitutional amendments.
NARA must: (1) use NARA records and outside sources to obtain an official copy of any application or rescission that may not be in such records, (2) submit a report on the extent of suspected missing applications or rescissions not included in each compilation, and (3) catalog the applications and rescissions by year of submission and state.
The committees on the judiciary in each chamber shall designate the applications and rescissions contained in such compilation for public availability on a website and update the compilation as specified.
In order to simplify and make uniform the process by which state legislatures make such an application or rescission, Congress recommends that after adoption of an application or rescission by a state legislature, the secretary of state or other state official should submit at least two copies of the measure containing the application or rescission to Congress, one copy addressed to the President of the Senate and one copy to the Speaker of the House of Representatives.