A big mistake by NHexit in 2022 was the fact that nearly all the state house testimony we delivered was general or policy oriented in nature. State reps consistently seem to agree: It’s better to tell the committee about a personal first-hand experience with Washington or its rules, express how D.C. has hurt you. Reps welcome a personal story much more than abstract complaints about policy. Tell them how you need independence and would benefit from it.
In my case I hope to tell them about the time I did identical protests inside New Hampshire and Federal revenue collection offices, just holding a sign and handing out flyers. The New Hampshire office sent their commissioner out to shake my hand and answer the questions on the flyer. The Federal office called Homeland Security and had me arrested.
If you have no relevant personal experience, it may be useful to give the representatives legal cover against the false claim that secession is illegal. For example, Daniel Miller of Texit suggests pouring the “holy water” of, if I recall correctly, a Supreme Court case called Jacobson vs. Massachusetts, which overturned the supposedly anti-secession ruling known as Texas vs. White. Of course, even Texas vs. White did not say a state could not secede.
A simpler approach he uses is to point at Article 1 Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution, which lists all the things a state may not do.
https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/article-1/section-10/
“Guess what’s not on the list?” says Miller. Leaving the Union is not on the list.
Miller also recommends focusing as little as possible on any one ideology or platform: Just keep it about peaceable independence. He believes the Scottish National Party lost Scotland’s secession bid by conflating the SNP platform with independence itself.
If you don’t think your testimony is that good, turn in a pink card requesting to testify anyway…then when they call you…you can yield your time to someone else. Reps love that. Ask around beforehand to see if anyone has to leave early. You can yield your time to them.
Shorter testimony beats longer testimony. I usually request “90 seconds” on my pink card, reps are usually amused, and you can save them time.
- Ridley!