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CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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WHEREAS, Our nation was founded on the principle of popular |
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sovereignty, with a government of, by, and for the American people, |
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and each generation has a responsibility to ensure that the promise |
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of self-government is open to all Americans; and |
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WHEREAS, The framers of the U.S. Constitution recognized the |
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peril of allowing outside influences to infiltrate our politics; |
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Article I, Section 9, Clause 8 of the Constitution forbids |
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officeholders from accepting any manner of title or financial |
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compensation from a foreign power; in The Federalist No. 68, |
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Alexander Hamilton warned of "the desire in foreign powers to gain |
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an improper ascendant in our councils," while, in his farewell |
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address, George Washington cautioned that "history and experience |
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prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of |
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republican government"; and |
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WHEREAS, Through the years, Congress has passed a variety of |
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legislation to combat foreign interference, such as the Federal |
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Election Campaign Act, which includes a ban on spending by foreign |
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nationals in federal, state, and local elections; today, however, |
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our broken system of election spending makes it easy for foreign |
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entities to spend millions of dollars to influence our elections |
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and ballot initiatives, through such means as illegal donations |
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directly to candidates, hidden contributions to dark money groups, |
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influence campaigns, and brazen spending in ballot elections by |
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government-owned entities; and |
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WHEREAS, Decades of judicial overreach have also enabled |
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domestic actors to drown out the voices of individual voters; |
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Supreme Court decisions degrading transparency and equating |
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unlimited election spending with "free speech" have allowed |
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billionaires, corporations, unions, and other wealthy special |
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interests to dominate and distort the public discourse, narrowing |
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debate, weakening federalism and state self-governance, and |
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increasing the risk of systemic corruption; and |
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WHEREAS, Like the U.S. Constitution, the Constitution of |
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Texas affirms that political power rests with the people in our |
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republican form of government; our continued liberty depends |
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heavily on protecting free speech interests of individual citizens |
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and maintaining the integrity of our elections and our government |
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in the face of outside pressures; and |
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WHEREAS, The framers wisely granted the states the power to |
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amend the U.S. Constitution when necessary, and few issues are more |
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important than the preservation of the people's sovereign interests |
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in robust political debate, the integrity of the electoral process, |
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open and representative self-government, and the political |
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equality of natural persons; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the 89th Legislature of the State of Texas |
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hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to propose and |
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send to the states for ratification a constitutional amendment to |
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clarify that the states and Congress, within their respective |
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jurisdictions, may reasonably regulate and limit the spending of |
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money to influence campaigns, elections, or ballot measures, and |
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that, in so doing, the states and Congress may distinguish between |
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natural persons and artificial entities such as corporations, |
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unions, and artificial intelligences; 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. |