Ventnor patriot heads to Continental Congress 2009

Nov, 11-2009 1:21 pm

By SHAUN SMITH
Staff Writer

VENTNOR – The Continental Congress, best known for issuing the Declaration of Independence – a document written in 1775 by a little-known delegate from Virginia, Thomas Jefferson – is reconvening this year Nov. 11-22 in St. Charles, Ill.

With three delegates from each state and Washington, D.C., except North Dakota, which did not elect any delegates, the group will meet in the Chicago suburb to seek “government accountability for violations of individual unalienable Rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States of America,” according to the website.

Continental Congress 2009 is sponsored by the We the People Foundation with the backing of national groups such as Glenn Beck’s 912 Groups, Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty, and New Jersey’s Liberty and Prosperity. These are the folks who were behind the tea party movement last summer and who are questioning President Barack Obama’s U.S. citizenship.

According to the website, the group was formed “in the tradition of the Founding Fathers and their Continental Congress of 1774” to decide what “peaceful, legal steps can be taken to bring about compliance with our Freedom documents.”

Representing New Jersey are delegates Charles Lukens of Ventnor, Peter Boyce of Millville, Robert Nyholm of Marlton and alternate Samuel B. King of Bay Head, who were chosen in an Oct. 10 election.

Of the 229 votes cast through mail-in ballots and at four polling places in the state, locally at the Atlantic County Library in Egg Harbor Township, Lukens received 67, making him the top vote-getter and the state’s voting delegate.

Lukens, 65, said Tuesday, Nov. 3 that his interest in the Constitution began as a young boy and manifested when he studied western civilization in college and was a member of the ROTC at Washington and Jefferson College.

“The Continental Congress is an organization whose specific intention is not to destroy the Constitution, but to defend it; not to remake, but to support it,” said Lukens. “I guess over the years I was very interested in the Constitution and constitutional questions. So, I’ve been politically oriented for a long time, just a step in the direction of saving the Constitution – it’s been subverted by powers from within.”

He said that he and his fellow delegates will meet and enumerate a dozen “transgressions and subversions of the Constitution.”

“The Continental Congress will provide a document, the Articles of Association, and they will enumerate 12 or more problems and they will describe how those problems, how ‘we the people’ have asked for redress for those grievances from the government through petitions, demonstrations and so forth, and how the government has ignored it,” Lukens said.

One of his major gripes is with the Federal Reserve.

“In today’s current economic situation, the Federal Reserve is making money hand over fist in thin air. The consequences of that is, the value of every dollar held one year ago has been diminished by at least 30 percent; and as it continues its massive bleeding of finances into the economy your money will be devalued even more,” the delegate said.

He said the Articles of Association will be posted online and will give the American government a chance to make good on a contract ratified all those years ago. Lukens said he believes people will have an opportunity to add their name to the articles through the Internet.

“What that does is puts the government on notice; gives them an opportunity to change their behavior, and gives consequences for their actions or inactions,” said Lukens. “The Constitution is where representatives get their power; if they want that, they have to live up to their responsibility.”

The original Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from the rebel 13 Colonies who met during and after the American Revolution in response to laws passed by the British Parliament to thwart colonial resistance. It met from 1774 to 1789 in three incarnations: the First Continental Congress, the Second Continental Congress, and the Confederation Congress and issued the Declaration of Independence and framed the Articles of Confederation.

The convening of the 2009 Continental Congress will be streamed live at www.cc2009.us, and information and an opportunity to donate can be found at www.givemeliberty.org.

“I think it’s important for the people to know that the free press such as yourself is immensely important to the freedom throughout the world,” he said. “In the large press, everything is centralized and tends to be overtaken by the wealthy and powerful. But small newspapers such as The Current, Gazette and Beachcomber communicate to the people the truth as they see it, giving them diversity and an opportunity to educate themselves and to organize – and it is the First Amendment.”

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