Bill Text: TX HCR86 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Urging the president of the United States to refrain from issuing executive orders that exceed his authority and that violate the U.S. Constitution.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 5-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-03-25 - Referred to Federalism & Fiscal Responsibility, Select [HCR86 Detail]
Download: Texas-2013-HCR86-Introduced.html
By: Toth | H.C.R. No. 86 |
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WHEREAS, When presidents use executive orders to legislate, | ||
they usurp the powers of the United States Congress or the states | ||
and undermine our federalist system of government; and | ||
WHEREAS, The U.S. Constitution does not explicitly vest the | ||
president with the authority to issue executive orders; | ||
presidential power to issue such orders has been derived from | ||
implied constitutional authority and express or implied statutory | ||
authority; in addition, the 1952 Supreme Court ruling in Youngstown | ||
Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer created a framework for analyzing these | ||
orders in the judicial context; and | ||
WHEREAS, The framers of the constitution recognized that | ||
separation of powers is essential and, accordingly, established | ||
checks and balances not only among the branches of the federal | ||
government but also between the federal government and state | ||
governments; the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution | ||
provides that "[t]he 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, Over the course of American history, some presidents | ||
have encroached on congressional power and the powers reserved to | ||
the states through the overly broad use of executive orders to | ||
effectuate policy goals. | ||
WHEREAS, The U.S. Congress has a continuing obligation to | ||
remain vigilant and ensure that its institutional prerogatives and | ||
the legislative process are not diminished or disregarded; | ||
moreover, Congress has a role in raising public awareness of | ||
policies implemented through executive orders; and | ||
WHEREAS, The Supreme Court noted in Youngstown that "[t]he | ||
Founders of this Nation entrusted the lawmaking power to the | ||
Congress alone in both good and bad times"; the separation of powers | ||
among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of federal | ||
government and the powers reserved to the states form the very | ||
bedrock of our democracy, and freedom and liberty are imperiled | ||
when this system of checks and balances is disregarded; now, | ||
therefore, be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the 83rd Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
hereby respectfully urge the president of the United States to | ||
refrain from issuing executive orders that exceed his authority and | ||
that violate the U.S. Constitution; and, be it further | ||
RESOLVED, That the Texas Legislature hereby memorialize the | ||
U.S. Congress to carefully guard its institutional prerogatives, | ||
the legislative process, and the powers reserved to the states from | ||
executive overreach; 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 president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of | ||
Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the | ||
members of the Texas delegation to 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. |