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HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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WHEREAS, Each member of the legislature has sworn a solemn |
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oath to defend our national union and takes great pride in being a |
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citizen of the United States of America, where citizens have the |
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right to petition their government for redress of grievances; and |
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WHEREAS, All Texans have benefited from this state's |
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participation in the unique experiment in democracy that began on a |
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field in Lexington, Massachusetts, and eventually became known as |
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the United States of America; and |
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WHEREAS, Countless Texans have served in the U.S. armed |
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forces, alongside the brave sons and daughters of our sister |
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states, and many of them gave the last full measure of devotion by |
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offering their lives to preserve the union; and |
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WHEREAS, At the same time, millions of Texans assemble in |
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churches, synagogues, schools, arenas, athletic fields, and homes |
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every day to pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of |
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America and the one nation, indivisible, for which that flag |
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stands; and |
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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 scope of power defined by the Tenth Amendment |
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means that the federal government was created by the states |
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specifically to be an agent of the states; and |
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WHEREAS, Today, in 2011, the states are demonstrably treated |
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as agents of the federal government; and |
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WHEREAS, Many federal laws are directly in violation of the |
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Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; 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 that 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), that the Congress of the |
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United States may not simply commandeer the legislative and |
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regulatory processes of the states; and |
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WHEREAS, A number of proposals from previous |
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administrations, from the present administration, and from |
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Congress may further violate the Constitution of the United States; |
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now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the 82nd Legislature of the State of Texas |
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reaffirm the pride of all Texans in both our one and indivisible |
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national union and in our one and indivisible state and the common |
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heritage of both; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That sovereignty be claimed under the Tenth |
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Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers |
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not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by |
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the 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, as our agent, to cease and desist from mandates that are |
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beyond the scope of these constitutionally delegated powers, |
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effective immediately; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That all compulsory federal legislation not |
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necessary to ensure rights guaranteed the people under the |
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Constitution of the United States that directs states to comply |
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under threat of civil or criminal penalties or sanctions or that |
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requires states to pass legislation or lose federal funding be |
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prohibited or repealed; and, be it 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 president of the senate and the speaker of the house of |
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representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the |
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members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that |
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this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a |
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memorial to the Congress of the United States of America. |
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