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CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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WHEREAS, In Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, |
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the United States Supreme Court cast off precedent and |
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long-standing campaign finance laws, which has resulted in |
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unlimited corporate spending in elections; and |
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WHEREAS, The majority ruled that political spending is a form |
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of protected speech under the First Amendment and that the |
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government may not prevent corporations from giving money to |
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support or oppose individual candidates for public office; the |
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United States Constitution, however, does not mention |
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corporations, and there is no evidence that the framers of the |
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constitution wished to extend to corporations the same rights as |
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natural persons in the electoral context; and |
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WHEREAS, Corporations, as the four dissenting judges noted in |
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their opinion, are legal entities, and the conditional rights of |
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corporations are granted not by the constitution but rather through |
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the legislative deliberations of Congress and the states; and |
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WHEREAS, Unlike natural persons, corporations are granted |
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certain privileges, including limited liability, perpetual life, |
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and favorable treatment of the accumulation and distribution of |
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assets, that enhance their ability to attract capital and to |
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maximize the return on their shareholders' investments; yet these |
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very privileges give corporations the financial capacity to drown |
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out the individual voices of natural persons; moreover, |
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corporations may be under the control of citizens of foreign |
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countries who are ineligible to participate in our elections; and |
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WHEREAS, Corporate money now spent in election campaigns |
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threatens the free speech protections of individuals and the |
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integrity and fairness of our electoral procedures, and the |
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amendment process must be used to reverse this erroneous and |
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damaging decision; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the 86th Legislature of the State of Texas |
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hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to |
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propose and submit to the states for ratification an amendment to |
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the United States Constitution that overturns the Supreme Court |
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decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission; and, be |
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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. |