82R5857 KYF-F

By: Wentworth S.J.R. No. 15

A JOINT RESOLUTION

applying to the Congress of the United States to call a convention to propose amendments to the United States Constitution to provide for congressional term limits, the line-item veto, a balanced federal budget, a limit on federal debt, and the repeal of federal law by two-thirds of the several states.

WHEREAS, The founders of the United States did not intend the political power of the federal government to become vested in a permanent ruling class; and

WHEREAS, The absence of a reasonable limitation on the time any one individual may serve as either a representative or senator in the Congress of the United States creates an overwhelming advantage in incumbency and causes members of Congress to unduly focus on soliciting contributions for future political campaigns, to the damage of the republic; and

WHEREAS, The advantages of incumbency have manifested themselves in the establishment of a ruling class that disdains fiscal discipline to the long-term detriment of the economy of the United States and each of the several states; and

WHEREAS, Congress routinely ignores the limitations placed on its powers and authority by the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and assumes a level of power and authority nearly unchecked and contrary to the intentions of the founders; and

WHEREAS, The United States Constitution contains no provision setting congressional term limits, granting the president the power to veto line-item expenditures, requiring a balanced federal budget, providing a limit on the indebtedness of the federal government, or permitting the repeal of federal law by the several states; and

WHEREAS, Article V of the United States Constitution provides that on application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several states Congress shall call a convention for proposing amendments to the constitution; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the 82nd Texas Legislature apply to Congress to call a convention under Article V of the United States Constitution for the exclusive purpose of proposing amendments to the constitution to provide for:

(1) Limiting the length of time one individual may serve in elected office in the United States Congress to no more than two elected terms as senator and no more than six elected terms as representative, including the further limitation that an individual elected or appointed to fill more than half of a remaining term in the senate or house shall only be eligible to be elected to one and five terms, respectively, as in the following suggested language:

"No person shall be elected to the Senate of the United States more than twice, and no person who has held the office of Senator for more than three years of a term to which some other person was elected Senator shall be elected to a full term of the office of Senator more than once; further, no person who has held the office of Senator for more than nine years shall be eligible for appointment or election to that office to complete the term of another person."

"No person shall be elected to the United States House of Representatives more than six times, and no person who has held the office of Representative for more than one year of a term to which some other person was elected Representative shall be elected to a full term of the office of Representative more than five times; further, no person who has held the office of Representative for more than eleven years shall be eligible for election to that office to complete the term of another person.";

(2) Granting the president of the United States the authority to strike from proposed legislation any provision that authorizes funding the president determines to be unnecessary, commonly known as the line-item veto, which may be overridden by Congress in the same manner as other vetoed legislation, as in the following suggested language:

"The President may approve any appropriation and disapprove any other appropriation in the same bill. When the President disapproves an appropriation in a bill, the President shall designate the appropriation disapproved when signing the bill and shall return a copy of the disapproved appropriation, with a statement of objections, to the house of Congress from which the bill originated. The procedure to override the President's disapproval of an appropriation is the same as that provided in Article I, Section 7, for bills disapproved by the President.";

(3) Requiring the annual budget of the federal government to be balanced, except in time of national emergency as authorized by a three-quarters majority of both houses of Congress, as in the following suggested language:

"No appropriation of funds may be approved by Congress in a fiscal year if the total amount of all funds appropriated in bills previously passed in the fiscal year equals or exceeds the total revenue received by the United States government in the preceding fiscal year, unless both the House and the Senate by a vote of not less than three-quarters of the members of each house declare an emergency requiring such expenditures.";

(4) Prohibiting the federal government from incurring or guaranteeing debt, including the indebtedness of entities other than the federal government that are guaranteed by the United States, greater than a specified limit except in time of national emergency as authorized by a three-quarters majority of both houses of Congress, as in the following suggested language:

"The total outstanding debt of the United States government may not exceed the amount of debt outstanding as of the end of the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011, unless both the House and the Senate by a vote of not less than three-quarters of the members of each house declare an emergency requiring greater indebtedness. The total outstanding debt of entities other than the United States government that the United States guarantees as to repayment of principal or interest may not exceed the amount of outstanding debt so guaranteed by the United States government as of September 30, 2011, unless both the House and the Senate by a vote of not less than three-quarters of the members of each house declare an emergency requiring increased guarantees of such indebtedness."; and

(5) Permitting the repeal of a federal law by vote of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several states; and, be it further

RESOLVED, That a convention called to propose amendments to the United States Constitution be limited to the purposes of proposing amendments to provide for congressional term limits, the line-item veto, a balanced federal budget, a limit on federal debt, and the repeal of federal law by the several states, as well as the organization and operation of the convention; and, be it further

RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to the speaker of the House of Representatives and the president of the Senate of the Congress of the United States, and to all members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that this resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as an application to Congress for a convention to propose amendments to the United States Constitution to provide for congressional term limits, the line-item veto, a balanced federal budget, a limit on federal debt, and the repeal of federal law by the several states; and, be it further

RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official copies of this resolution to the secretaries of state and to the presiding officers of the legislatures of the several states with the request that they join this state in applying to Congress for a convention to propose amendments to the United States Constitution to provide for congressional term limits, the line-item veto, a balanced federal budget, a limit on federal debt, and the repeal of federal law by the several states.