By Talton                                             H.C.R. No. 13
         76R211 CCK-D                           
                             HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
 1-1           WHEREAS, The 10th Amendment to the United States Constitution
 1-2     provides that "the powers not delegated to the United States by the
 1-3     Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to
 1-4     the States respectively, or to the people"; and
 1-5           WHEREAS, That amendment, included within the Bill of Rights,
 1-6     defines the total scope of federal power, limiting it to those
 1-7     functions specifically authorized elsewhere in the Constitution,
 1-8     and no more; and
 1-9           WHEREAS, Today, through numerous unfunded and nationally
1-10     applicable mandates, the federal government routinely violates the
1-11     10th Amendment, treating the states as its agents and commandeering
1-12     state resources to carry out its will; and
1-13           WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court, in the 1992 case of
1-14     New York v. United States, has reaffirmed the principle of state
1-15     sovereignty  as preserved by the 10th Amendment, prompting state
1-16     governments to dismantle unwanted forced mandates and to
1-17     assertively reclaim their historic rights under our system of
1-18     federalism; now, therefore, be it
1-19           RESOLVED, That the 76th Legislature of the State of Texas
1-20     hereby claim sovereignty under the 10th Amendment to the United
1-21     States Constitution over all powers not otherwise enumerated and
1-22     granted to the federal government by the United States
1-23     Constitution; and, be it further
1-24           RESOLVED, That this resolution serve as a notice and demand
 2-1     to the federal government to cease and desist mandates that are
 2-2     beyond the scope of its constitutionally delegated powers; and, be
 2-3     it further
 2-4           RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
 2-5     copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
 2-6     the president of the senate and speaker of the house of
 2-7     representatives of the United States Congress, and to all members
 2-8     of the Texas delegation to the congress with the request that it be
 2-9     officially entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to the
2-10     congress and other officials of the federal government.