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SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the |
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United States reads as follows: "The powers not delegated to the |
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United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the |
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States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people"; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment defines the total scope of |
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federal power as being that specifically granted by the |
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Constitution of the United States and no more; and |
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WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment assures that we, the people of |
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the United States of America and each sovereign state in the Union |
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of States, now have, and have always had, rights the federal |
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government may not usurp; and |
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WHEREAS, Section 4, Article IV, of the Constitution says, |
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"The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a |
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Republican Form of Government," and the Ninth Amendment states that |
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"The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not |
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be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people"; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court has ruled in New |
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York v. United States, 505 U.S. 144 (1992), and Printz v. United |
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States, 521 U.S. 898 (1997), that Congress may not simply |
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commandeer the legislative, executive, and regulatory processes of |
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the states, and that, to do so, is a violation of the Tenth |
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Amendment; and |
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WHEREAS, one of our nation's Founders and author of the |
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Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, emphasized that the |
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states are not "subordinate" to the national government, but rather |
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the two are "coordinate departments of one simple and integral |
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whole."; and |
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WHEREAS, one of the authors of the Federalist Papers, |
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Alexander Hamilton, expressed his hope that "the people will always |
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take care to preserve the constitutional equilibrium between the |
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general and the state governments." And, that, "this balance |
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between the national and state governments forms a double security |
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to the people."; and |
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WHEREAS, A number of proposals from previous administrations |
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and some now pending from the present administration and from |
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Congress threaten to disturb this delicate balance between the |
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federal government and the state governments; and |
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WHEREAS, Such encroachments by the federal government may |
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result in a commandeering of the states' legislative, executive, |
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and regulatory processes; and |
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WHEREAS, These acts undermine the spirit of the federalist |
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system created by our Founders and are in violation of the Tenth |
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Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; now, therefore, |
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be it |
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RESOLVED, That the 81st Legislature of the State of Texas |
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hereby claims sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the |
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Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise |
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enumerated and granted to the federal government by the |
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Constitution of the United States; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That this serve as notice and demand to the federal |
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government to cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates |
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that are beyond the scope of these constitutionally delegated |
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powers; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That the power over the freedom of the right to keep |
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and bear arms was reserved to the states and therefore, all acts of |
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Congress to abridge that right are not law and are void; and, be it |
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further |
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RESOLVED, That all compulsory federal legislation that |
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directs states to comply under threat of civil or criminal |
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penalties or sanctions or that requires states to pass legislation |
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or lose federal funding be prohibited or repealed; and, be it |
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further |
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RESOLVED, That the Texas Secretary of State forward official |
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copies of this resolution to the President of the United States, to |
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the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the |
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Senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of the |
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Texas delegation to the Congress with the request that this |
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resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a |
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memorial to the Congress of the United States of America. |