Bill Text: TX HCR31 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Claiming sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the U.S. Constitution, serving notice to the federal government to halt and reverse certain mandates, and providing that certain federal legislation be prohibited or repealed.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-03-02 - Referred to State & Federal Power & Responsibility, Select [HCR31 Detail]

Download: Texas-2015-HCR31-Introduced.html

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By: Keough H.C.R. No. 31

HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the
United States reads as follows: "The powers not delegated to the
United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the
States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people";
and
WHEREAS, the Tenth Amendment defines the total scope of
federal power as being that specifically granted by the
Constitution of the United States and no more; and
WHEREAS, the scope of power defined by the Tenth Amendment
means that the federal government was created by the states
specifically to be an agent of the states; an
WHEREAS, today, in 2015, the states are conversely treated as
agents of the federal government; and
WHEREAS, many federal laws are directly in violation of the
Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and
WHEREAS, the Tenth Amendment assures that we, the people of
the United States of America and each sovereign state in the Union
of States, now have, and have always had, rights the federal
government may not usurp; and
WHEREAS, Article IV, section 4, United States Constitution,
says in part, "The United States shall guarantee to every State in
this Union a Republican Form of Government", and the Ninth
Amendment states that "The enumeration in the Constitution, of
certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others
retained by the people"; and
Whereas, Recent actions taken by the President of the United
States and The United States Congress may further violate the
Constitution of the United States; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the State of Texas hereby claims sovereignty
under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States
over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal
government by the Constitution of the United States; and
RESOLVED, That this Resolution serves as notice and demand to
the federal government, as our agent, to cease and desist,
effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of these
Constitutionally delegated powers; and
RESOLVED, That all compulsory federal legislation or
executive action that directs states to comply under threat of
civil or criminal penalties or sanctions or requires states to pass
legislation or lose federal funding be prohibited or repealed; and
RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State of the State of Texas
transmit copies of this resolution to the President of the United
States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of
the United States House of Representatives, the Speaker of the
House and the President of the Senate of each state's legislature
and each Member of Congress from the State of Texas.