NH House soundly rejects effort at secession
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Mar. 10—CONCORD — By an almost 25-to-1 margin, the House of Representatives killed a campaign to let New Hampshire voters decide whether to secede from the United States.
The 323-13 vote against the proposed constitutional amendment (CACR 32) was the first decision by any state legislature on putting a binding question of secession before voters, according to Rep. Brodie Deshaies, R-Wolfeboro, who did extensive research on the question for the House State-Federal Relations Committee.
"This is a historic moment, not just in the state of New Hampshire, but in the United States of America," Deshaies said.
Other legislatures have weighed in on the question through non-binding resolutions, he said.
State Rep. Matthew Santonastaso, R-Rindge, said the cause of secession would eventually prevail once Americans come to realize that U.S. over-reliance on foreign countries to finance its debt has produced "absolute despotism."
"This national divorce is going to happen. It is inevitable, and we have an opportunity to get ahead of it," said Santonastaso, one of seven House Republicans to co-author the plan.
"If it were unconstitutional for a state to secede, this prohibition would have been included in the original Constitution, and it wasn't."
State Rep. Timothy Smith, D-Manchester, became emotional in expressing his opposition. He is a descendant of John Smith, who fought alongside George Washington, and of another ancestor who fought in the Civil War.
"This is a bill to destroy the United States ... that is beyond shameful, that is beyond disgraceful, and it is a stain on the entire state that we have to entertain this," Smith said.
The question's 13 supporters were all Republicans — 12 men and one woman — from six of the state's 10 counties.
House Democrats voted 156-0 against the resolution, as did 165 Republicans.
The House and Senate must each vote by a 60% super-majority to put a constitutional amendment before voters.
It takes a two-thirds vote from the electorate for that amendment to pass.
For more than a year, supporters of this cause have had a website that offered 81 different reasons New Hampshire should be independent.
Outside the House chamber, supporters handed out flyers that said, "CACR 32 is not a vote on secession. It's a vote to allow the people to decide."
"How can anybody say the words of the Declaration of Independence are un-American?" Santonastaso said. "This is not a fringe idea."
Deshaies warned House members that if they supported this proposition, they would be violating their oath of office to uphold the state and federal constitutions.
Rep. Max Abramson, R-Seabrook, urged lawmakers not to cower at such comments and stand up for their beliefs.
"Rebellion and insurrection are violent actions that stand in sharp contrast to the deliberative, thoughtful and cordial process brought by sponsors and supporters of this amendment," Abramson said. "No member of this body should be threatened with retribution for their vote today."
Acting House Democratic Leader David Cote of Nashua lamented the issue getting this far.
"The fact that this bill was even debated on the floor is a disturbing window into the current state of the Republican Party. Especially equating this to the former Soviet Union and the conflict in Ukraine is despicable and disrespectful to millions suffering from this unprecedented invasion," Cote said.
When Abramson asked if the Ukrainians had the right to independence from Russia, House Speaker Sherman Packard, R-Londonderry, ruled the comment out of order.
