Minutes of the America First National Committee

Saturday, April 20, 2002

BE IT REMEMBERED that the America First National Committee met on Saturday, April 20, 2002 at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, pursuant to the Resolution of April 15, 2002 adopted at the Founding Meeting of the America First Party.

The meeting was called to order by Mr. Charles at 8:15 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

The Secretary called the roll of National Committee members as registered by their state chairmen:

Present:

• Patrick Dolan, Marcel Dietze, and Wanda Weatherford of Colorado
• O. Gene Lovell and Phil Anderson of Georgia
• David Doyle of Iowa
• John Wassenaar, Guadalupe Lynch, and Maureen McHugh of Illinois
• Ryan Walters of Mississippi
• James Edwards, John Fey, and James D. Jones of Tennessee
• Dan Charles of Colorado, Treasurer
• John Pittman Hey of Mississippi, Secretary

Absent:

• John Verser, Billie Deeter, and Allan Hampton of Arkansas
• Dianne Lovell of Georgia
• Jay Gardner of Iowa
• Phillip Carnaggio of Mississippi
• Francis Winters, Jean Martha Groves, and Ted Maravelias of New Hampshire

Mr. Trey Golmon of Mississippi joined the meeting shortly after its call to order.

There were also in attendance additional guests by invitation of the Committee.

There being a quorum present, the floor was opened for nominations for a party spokesperson and public relations chairman.

Mr. Lovell nominated Romelle Winters of New Hampshire. Her nomination was seconded by Mr. Jones.

Mrs. Weatherford nominated Dan Charles of Colorado. His nomination was seconded by Mr. Fey.

Mr. Edwards moved that nominations be closed. His motion was adopted unanimously.

Mr. Charles withdrew his name from consideration.

Mrs. Winters was elected by unanimous vote as the party spokesperson and public relations chairman.

The floor was opened for nominations for a party chairman.

Mr. Fey moved to table the selection of a chairman. Mr. Charles seconded the motion. After some discussion, the vote was taken by roll call:

Yeas - Dietze, McHugh, Lynch, and Fey.
Nays - Dolan, Weatherford, Lovell, Anderson, Doyle, Wassenaar, Golmon, Edwards, Jones, Walters, Hey.
Abstention - Charles.

The motion to table selection of a chairman was not sustained.

Mr. Jones nominated Mr. Charles for the position of party chairman.

Mr. Lovell nominated Mr. Doyle, who declined the nomination.

Mrs. Weatherford and Mrs. Lynch moved to close nominations, and the motion was adopted unanimously.

Mr. Charles was elected chairman by unanimous vote.

Mr. Hey delivered the report of the members of the National Committee as registered by the chairmen of the founding state parties:

• Patrick Dolan, Marcel Dietze, and Wanda Weatherford of Colorado
• O. Gene Lovell, Dianne Lovell, and Phil Anderson of Georgia
• David Doyle and Jay Gardner of Iowa
• John Wassenaar, Guadalupe Lynch, and Maureen McHugh of Illinois
• Ryan Walters, Trey Golmon, and Phillip Carnaggio of Mississippi
• James Edwards, John Fey, and James D. Jones of Tennessee
• John Verser, Billie Deeter, and Allan Hampton of Arkansas
• Francis Winters, Jean Martha Groves, and Ted Maravelias of New Hampshire
• Dan Charles of Colorado, Chairman and Treasurer
• John Pittman Hey of Mississippi, Secretary

Mr. Lovell moved that the Secretary's report be adopted as the Certified List of National Committee Members. His motion was seconded by Mr. Doyle, and adopted by unanimous vote.

Mr. Fey moved that the members set an adjournment time of 10 o'clock p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. His motion was seconded by Mr. Jones. Mr. Fey argued that the committee needed a deadline for the meeting so that time would not be wasted by the members in prolonged and unproductive debate.

A roll-call vote was taken as follows:

Yeas - Dolan, Dietze, Weatherford, McHugh, Edwards, Fey, and Jones.
Nays - Lovell, Anderson, Doyle, Wassenaar, Lynch, Walters, Golmon, Charles, and Hey.

The motion was not agreed to.

Mr. Edwards moved that the National Committee adopt the rules as presented to the body; the text of the proposed rules is set forth in Appendix A to these minutes. His motion was seconded by Mr. Jones. After some discussion, the Rules were adopted by unanimous vote.

Mrs. Lynch moved that a Rules Committee be created. Her motion was seconded by Mr. Dietze, and adopted by unanimous vote.

Mr. Lovell nominated Mr. Hey to chair the Rules Committee. His nomination was seconded by Mrs. Lynch.

Mr. Edwards and Mr. Fey moved to close nominations. The motion was approved by unanimous vote.

Mr. Hey was elected as Rules Committee Chairman by unanimous vote.

Mr. Jones moved that a Convention Committee be created. His motion was seconded by Mr. Fey, and adopted by unanimous vote.

Mr. Fey nominated Mr. Jones as Convention Committee Chairman. His nomination was seconded by Mrs. Lynch.

Mrs. Weatherford moved that nominations be closed. Her motion was seconded by Mrs. Lynch and adopted by unanimous vote.

Mr. Jones was elected as Convention Committee Chairman by unanimous vote.

A discussion was had regarding a time range for holding a founding convention. Mr. Lovell moved that the convention be held during the first or second weekend in August. Mrs. Weatherford seconded the motion.

Mr. Fey moved to amend the motion to include the third weekend in August. Mrs. Lynch seconded the amendment, which was adopted by unanimous vote.

The motion to hold the founding convention during the first three weeks of August was adopted by unanimous vote.

There were three proposed Mission Statements circulated to the members, one each offered by Mr. Charles, Mr. Fey, and Mr. Lovell.

Mr. Charles moved that the committee adopt the following method for selection of the party's Mission Statement: that each member be permitted to cast a vote for one of the three proposals, with that proposal receiving the majority vote being selected as the Mission Statement, provided that in the event that no proposal received a majority vote, the top two proposals be submitted to a run-off vote for final selection of the Mission Statement. Mr. Charles' motion was seconded by Mr. Hey and adopted by unanimous vote.

A vote by roll-call was taken:

For Mr. Charles' proposal - Dolan, Dietze, Weatherford, Doyle, Wassenaar, Walters, and Hey.
For Mr. Fey's proposal - Edwards, Fey, and Jones.
For Mr. Lovell's proposal - Lovell, Anderson, and Lynch.
Abstentions - Charles and Golmon.

The proposal by Charles was therefore selected as the party's official Mission Statement. It reads as follows:

Mission Statement

We, the members of the America First Party, pledge ourselves to restore and revitalize the great American Experiment for the benefit of our nation and all its people. We commit ourselves to elect honest people to public office who adhere to principles based on the wisdom of the Founders and expressed in the United States Constitution and our party platform.

We hold to the steadfast beliefs that the means to revitalizing our nation is to revitalize our people and the means to restore our nation is to restore just and Constitutional governance. To this end, we obligate our party:

• To preserve and protect our people and our sovereignty
• To promote economic growth and independence
• To encourage the traditional values of faith, family, and responsibility
• To ensure equality before the law in protecting those rights granted by the Creator
• To clean up our corrupted political system

Mr. Dietze moved the adoption of the proposed Founding Principles of the party. His motion was seconded by Mr. Edwards.

Several amendments were proposed which were made without objection and with the consent of Mr. Dietze and Mr. Edwards.

Mr. Lovell moved to amend the Principles to include the statement, "Promote a Buy American Policy." His amendment was seconded by Mrs. Weatherford and adopted by unanimous vote.

Mr. Wassenaar moved to amend the Principles to strike both alternative items under the third section of the proposed Principles. His amendment was seconded by Mr. Lovell and adopted by unanimous vote.

There being no further amendments, the vote was called to adopt the Founding Principles of the party. These Principles read as follows:

FOUNDING PRINCIPLES OF THE AMERICA FIRST PARTY

PRESERVE AND PROTECT OUR PEOPLE AND OUR SOVEREIGNTY

• Support a military whose mission is to protect our nation, not police the world
• Strengthen our borders and promote rational immigration policies
• Protect English as our common language
• Seek friendship with all nations, but avoid entangling alliances
• Work to maintain our nation's sovereignty and oppose all attempts to make our nation subservient to the precursors of global government
• Apply American values to our foreign policy

PROMOTE ECONOMIC GROWTH AND INDEPENDENCE

• Restore accountability and Constitutionality to budgets and taxes
• Promote tax policies that adhere to the Constitution, enhance individual freedom, encourage savings and investment, and promote the family
• Eliminate unconstitutional portions of the federal government
• Rebuild our manufacturing base and protect American workers
• Protect our right to fair trade and oppose free trade, exit NAFTA and the WTO
• Help American businesses stay in America
• Promote a Buy American policy
• End taxpayer bailouts of corporations and foreign governments
• Implement a self-sufficient energy policy

ENCOURAGE THE TRADITIONAL VALUES OF FAITH, FAMILY, AND RESPONSIBILITY

• Protect and recognize the sanctity of all human life
• Defend the traditional family unit based on one man and one woman
• Promote the primacy of parents in the lives and education of their children
• Respect the free exercise of religion
• Recognize the Judeo-Christian heritage of our shared values

ENSURE EQUALITY BEFORE THE LAW IN PROTECTING THOSE RIGHTS GRANTED BY THE CREATOR

• Defend the self-evident truth "that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness"
• Preserve and protect all of the Bill of Rights
• Oppose all quota systems. Merit and behavior must prevail
• End judicial tyranny and restore balance to our political system
• Restore property rights and restrict government land confiscation

CLEAN UP OUR CORRUPTED POLITICAL SYSTEM

• Remove the primary source of corruption by sharply reducing the size and scope of the federal government to its limited powers under the Constitution, and return control over all other matters to the states
• Require that all political donations be promptly disclosed and come from voters
• Enforce fair, uniform standards for ballot and debate access to give voters more choice
• Implement clean election practices-restore paper ballots
• Reform the lobbying system so that the only organizations permitted to lobby are those organizations whose money is acquired strictly from voter donations. Reasonable individual voter donation amount limits must be established
• End lavish Congressional pensions-put them on Social Security
• Ban taxpayer funded Congressional campaign mailings
• Restore the rights of states in the manner of choosing Senators and Representatives and promote the citizen legislator

The proposed Founding Principles, as amended, were adopted by unanimous vote.

Mr. Charles moved that an Issues Reflector be created so that proposals for the party platform can be circulated amongst the membership. His motion was seconded by Mr. Fey, and adopted by unanimous vote.

There being no further business, upon motion made by Mr. Hey, seconded by Mr. Fey, and adopted by unanimous vote, the Chairman declared the meeting adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,

______________________
John Pittman Hey
National Secretary
America First National Committee
 
 
 
 

Appendix "A"

Provisional Rules of the America First Party

Article I. Party Name

Section 01: The name of the party shall be the America First Party.

Article II. The National Committee

Section 01: The National Committee shall be the supreme governing authority of the party.

Section 02: Meetings of the National Committee shall be called:

(a) By resolution of the National Committee setting the time, date, and place of the meeting;
(b) By majority vote of the officers of the National Committee;
(c) By written demand of one quarter of the members of the National Committee.

Section 03: Notice of meetings of the National Committee shall be such that:

(a) When called by resolution of the national committee, no additional notice shall be required;
(b) When called by the officers of the National Committee or by written demand of the membership, a notice of at least seven days for a teleconference meeting, and 30 days for an in-person meeting, shall be provided to the members of the National Committee.
(c) During the National Convention, and on the day prior thereto, and on the day of the adjournment thereof, the National Committee may be called into meeting upon short notice by publication in a prominent place at the site of the convention.

Section 04: A Quorum shall consist of a majority of the members of the National Committee.

Section 05: The members of the National Committee shall be only those persons whose names appear upon the Certified List of the National Committee Members, less those persons who have tendered resignations in writing or who are deceased. Only such members as described herein above, shall be eligible to vote or otherwise participate in the business of the National Committee.

Section 06: Each affiliated State Party shall be entitled to select three members to serve upon the National Committee. The members shall be registered by the State Chairman with the Secretary.

Section 07: The National Committee shall, from time to time, adopt and/or amend the Certified List of the National Committee Members. Such adoption or amendment shall be by three-fifths vote of the National Committee of those present and voting, or by a majority of all the members of the National Committee.

Section 08: The National Committee shall have the authority to create and abolish such committees as it shall deem necessary and proper for the conduct of the party's business.

Section 09: The officers of the National Committee shall be the chair, the vice-chair, the secretary, and the treasurer.

(a) The officers shall be elected by majority vote of the National Committee.
(b) The officers shall serve until the election of replacements at a National Committee meeting immediately preceding the Inaugural National Convention of the America First Party
(c) The National Committee may elect any member of any affiliated State Party to serve as an officer.
(d) The officers shall be ex-officio members of the National Committee.
(e) Any officer may be removed by majority vote of all the members of the National Committee.

Section 10: Qualifications for membership on the National Committee shall include:

(a) Election in accordance with all applicable national and state party rules and state and federal election laws;
(b) Membership in the affiliated State Party;
(c) Support for the platform of the party, its mission statement and its founding principles;
(d) Obedience to the rules of the party;
(e) Upright moral character and behavior that is a credit to the party.

Section 11: The National Committee may exercise its authority in any matter by the written consent of a majority of all its members. Resolutions shall be submitted to the National Committee for written consent by a majority vote of the officers or upon the written demand of one-quarter of the members of the National Committee. Action by written consent shall have the same force and effect as a Resolution adopted at a meeting of the National Committee.

The Secretary shall provide the resolution to the members by electronic mail, fax, or postal mail as appropriate. The Secretary shall tally only such votes as he receives by fax or postal mail within 14 days of the Secretary's publication of the resolution, and which bear the signature of the member and the date of execution. The Secretary shall provide interim reports and a final report of the voting to the members by electronic mail.

Article III. The National Convention

Section 01: The National Committee shall be responsible to arrange and call the Inaugural National Convention of the America First Party.

Section 02: The National Convention shall be responsible for adopting and maintaining a party platform, and any other business as shall be assigned by the National Committee.

Section 03: Thirty day written notice of the time, date, and place of the National Convention shall be provided to the State Chairmen of the affiliated State Parties and the members of the National Committee.

Section 04: The National Committee shall serve as the credentials committee to the National Convention.

Section 05: The delegates to the National Convention shall be:

(a) One delegate per congressional district elected by each affiliated State Party;
(b) Each elected municipal, county, state, and federal official who is a member of the affiliated State Party, and has publicly proclaimed such;
(c) The members of the National Committee from each state;
(d) The officers of the National Committee.

Article IV. Affiliated State Parties

Section 01: The affiliated State Party shall be that political organization within a given state whose National Committee members appear upon the Certified List of National Committee Members. There shall be only one affiliated State Party within any given state. From time to time the National Committee shall adopt a list of the recognized state chairs of the affiliated state partires.

Article V. Amendments of the Rules

Section 01: Without prior notice, these Rules may be amended by a three-fifths vote of the National Committee, or by majority vote of all the members of the National Committee.

Article VI. Sunset of These Rules

Section 01: These Rules shall cease to be valid upon adoptions of a Constitution, By-Laws, Charter, or Rules designed for that purpose. Such replacement must be adopted at a meeting of the National Committee to be held within 48 hours prior to the start of the Inaugural National Convention of the America First Party.

Article VII. Parliamentary Authority

Section 01: The rules contained in the current edition of Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised shall govern meetings of the National Committee and the National Convention in all cases to which they are applicable and are not inconsistent with any Rules, Bylaws, Constitution or resolutions adopted by the National Convention or National Committee.