By: Burnam H.J.R. No. 94

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, it was the stated intention of the framers of the Constitution of the United States of America that the Congress of the United States of America should be "dependent on the people alone." (James Madison, Federalist 52); and,

WHEREAS, that dependency has evolved from a dependency on the people alone to a dependency on those who spend excessively in elections, through campaigns or third-party groups; and,

WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, 558 U.S. 310 (2010) removed restrictions on amounts of independent political spending; and,

WHEREAS, the removal of those restrictions has resulted in the unjust influence of powerful economic forces, which have supplanted the will of the people by undermining our ability to choose our political leadership, write our own laws, and determine the fate of our state; and

WHEREAS Article V of the United States Constitution requires the United States Congress to call a convention for proposing amendments upon application of two-thirds of the legislatures of the several states for the purpose of proposing amendments to the United States Constitution; and

WHEREAS the State of Texas sees the need for a convention to propose amendments in order to address concerns such as those raised by the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010) 130 S.Ct. 876 and related cases and events including those occurring long before or afterward or for a substantially similar purpose, and desires that said convention should be so limited; and

WHEREAS the State of Texas desires that the delegates to said convention shall be comprised equally from individuals currently elected to state and local office, or be selected by election in each Congressional district for the purpose of serving as delegates, though all individuals elected or appointed to federal office, now or in the past, be prohibited from serving as delegates to the Convention, and intends to retain the ability to restrict or expand the power of its delegates within the limits expressed above; and

WHEREAS the State of Texas intends that this be a continuing application considered together with applications calling for a convention currently pending in the before the 188th Massachusetts legislature as HD.2684 and the 88th Minnesota legislature as S.F. No. 17, and all other passed, pending, and future applications, the aforementioned concerns of Texas notwithstanding until such time as two-thirds of the Several States have applied for a Convention and said Convention is convened by Congress;

Therefore, be it resolved, that the legislature of the State of Texas, speaking through its legislature, and pursuant to Article V of the United States Constitution, hereby petitions the United States Congress to call a Convention for the purpose of proposing Amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America as soon as two-thirds of the several States have applied for a Convention; and

Be it further resolved, that the Texas Secretary of State transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives, the President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate, to each Senator and Representative from Texas in the Congress of the United States, to the Governor of each State, and to the presiding officers of each legislative body of each of the several States, requesting the cooperation of the several States in issuing an application compelling Congress to call a convention for proposing amendments pursuant to Article V of the United States Constitution.