| |
| |
|
|
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
|
|
|
WHEREAS, The federal government was intended to be a creation |
|
|
of and responsive to the sovereign states; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Ratification of the 17th Amendment to the U.S. |
|
|
Constitution in 1913 significantly diminished the 10th Amendment |
|
|
rights of states and the people, shifting the balance of power away |
|
|
from the states in favor of the national government; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, A restoration of the appropriate balance of power |
|
|
between the sovereign State of Texas and the federal government is |
|
|
necessary; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, The federal government has asserted itself in nearly |
|
|
all matters of human endeavor including the exercising of |
|
|
authorities not granted to it under the constitution; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, The rate of unconstitutional encroachments on state |
|
|
sovereignty has increased since the adoption of the 17th Amendment; |
|
|
and |
|
|
WHEREAS, The balance of power among large and small states |
|
|
and the federal government was a matter of paramount importance to |
|
|
the framers of the Constitution; accordingly, they created Congress |
|
|
with both a lower house, representing the people in the states |
|
|
according to population, and an upper house, for which each state |
|
|
legislature would appoint two senators; this novel system struck a |
|
|
balance between a strong central authority and the autonomy of |
|
|
individual states; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, By discarding the structure carefully developed by |
|
|
the framers of the Constitution, the 17th Amendment has undermined |
|
|
the legislative branch, subverting the Senate's role in |
|
|
safeguarding the prerogatives of states as distinct governments and |
|
|
thereby disfiguring federalism; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, It is necessary to restore the original |
|
|
constitutional design that federal senators serve the best interest |
|
|
of the State of Texas; now, therefore, be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the 89th Legislature of the State of Texas |
|
|
hereby express support for repeal of the 17th Amendment to the U.S. |
|
|
Constitution; 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 United States Congress, and to all the members of the |
|
|
Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this |
|
|
resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a |
|
|
memorial to the Congress of the United States of America. |