Bill Text: TX SJR15 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Applying to the Congress of the United States to call a convention to propose amendments to the United States Constitution to provide for congressional term limits, the line-item veto, a balanced federal budget, a limit on federal debt, and the repeal of federal law by two-thirds of the several states.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-01-31 - Referred to State Affairs [SJR15 Detail]
Download: Texas-2011-SJR15-Introduced.html
82R5857 KYF-F | ||
By: Wentworth | S.J.R. No. 15 |
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applying to the Congress of the United States to call a convention | ||
to propose amendments to the United States Constitution to provide | ||
for congressional term limits, the line-item veto, a balanced | ||
federal budget, a limit on federal debt, and the repeal of federal | ||
law by two-thirds of the several states. | ||
WHEREAS, The founders of the United States did not intend the | ||
political power of the federal government to become vested in a | ||
permanent ruling class; and | ||
WHEREAS, The absence of a reasonable limitation on the time | ||
any one individual may serve as either a representative or senator | ||
in the Congress of the United States creates an overwhelming | ||
advantage in incumbency and causes members of Congress to unduly | ||
focus on soliciting contributions for future political campaigns, | ||
to the damage of the republic; and | ||
WHEREAS, The advantages of incumbency have manifested | ||
themselves in the establishment of a ruling class that disdains | ||
fiscal discipline to the long-term detriment of the economy of the | ||
United States and each of the several states; and | ||
WHEREAS, Congress routinely ignores the limitations placed | ||
on its powers and authority by the Tenth Amendment to the United | ||
States Constitution and assumes a level of power and authority | ||
nearly unchecked and contrary to the intentions of the founders; | ||
and | ||
WHEREAS, The United States Constitution contains no | ||
provision setting congressional term limits, granting the | ||
president the power to veto line-item expenditures, requiring a | ||
balanced federal budget, providing a limit on the indebtedness of | ||
the federal government, or permitting the repeal of federal law by | ||
the several states; and | ||
WHEREAS, Article V of the United States Constitution provides | ||
that on application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the | ||
several states Congress shall call a convention for proposing | ||
amendments to the constitution; now, therefore, be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the 82nd Texas Legislature apply to Congress | ||
to call a convention under Article V of the United States | ||
Constitution for the exclusive purpose of proposing amendments to | ||
the constitution to provide for: | ||
(1) Limiting the length of time one individual may | ||
serve in elected office in the United States Congress to no more | ||
than two elected terms as senator and no more than six elected terms | ||
as representative, including the further limitation that an | ||
individual elected or appointed to fill more than half of a | ||
remaining term in the senate or house shall only be eligible to be | ||
elected to one and five terms, respectively, as in the following | ||
suggested language: | ||
"No person shall be elected to the Senate of the United States | ||
more than twice, and no person who has held the office of Senator | ||
for more than three years of a term to which some other person was | ||
elected Senator shall be elected to a full term of the office of | ||
Senator more than once; further, no person who has held the office | ||
of Senator for more than nine years shall be eligible for | ||
appointment or election to that office to complete the term of | ||
another person." | ||
"No person shall be elected to the United States House of | ||
Representatives more than six times, and no person who has held the | ||
office of Representative for more than one year of a term to which | ||
some other person was elected Representative shall be elected to a | ||
full term of the office of Representative more than five times; | ||
further, no person who has held the office of Representative for | ||
more than eleven years shall be eligible for election to that office | ||
to complete the term of another person."; | ||
(2) Granting the president of the United States the | ||
authority to strike from proposed legislation any provision that | ||
authorizes funding the president determines to be unnecessary, | ||
commonly known as the line-item veto, which may be overridden by | ||
Congress in the same manner as other vetoed legislation, as in the | ||
following suggested language: | ||
"The President may approve any appropriation and disapprove | ||
any other appropriation in the same bill. When the President | ||
disapproves an appropriation in a bill, the President shall | ||
designate the appropriation disapproved when signing the bill and | ||
shall return a copy of the disapproved appropriation, with a | ||
statement of objections, to the house of Congress from which the | ||
bill originated. The procedure to override the President's | ||
disapproval of an appropriation is the same as that provided in | ||
Article I, Section 7, for bills disapproved by the President."; | ||
(3) Requiring the annual budget of the federal | ||
government to be balanced, except in time of national emergency as | ||
authorized by a three-quarters majority of both houses of Congress, | ||
as in the following suggested language: | ||
"No appropriation of funds may be approved by Congress in a | ||
fiscal year if the total amount of all funds appropriated in bills | ||
previously passed in the fiscal year equals or exceeds the total | ||
revenue received by the United States government in the preceding | ||
fiscal year, unless both the House and the Senate by a vote of not | ||
less than three-quarters of the members of each house declare an | ||
emergency requiring such expenditures."; | ||
(4) Prohibiting the federal government from incurring | ||
or guaranteeing debt, including the indebtedness of entities other | ||
than the federal government that are guaranteed by the United | ||
States, greater than a specified limit except in time of national | ||
emergency as authorized by a three-quarters majority of both houses | ||
of Congress, as in the following suggested language: | ||
"The total outstanding debt of the United States government | ||
may not exceed the amount of debt outstanding as of the end of the | ||
fiscal year ending September 30, 2011, unless both the House and the | ||
Senate by a vote of not less than three-quarters of the members of | ||
each house declare an emergency requiring greater indebtedness. | ||
The total outstanding debt of entities other than the United States | ||
government that the United States guarantees as to repayment of | ||
principal or interest may not exceed the amount of outstanding debt | ||
so guaranteed by the United States government as of September 30, | ||
2011, unless both the House and the Senate by a vote of not less than | ||
three-quarters of the members of each house declare an emergency | ||
requiring increased guarantees of such indebtedness."; and | ||
(5) Permitting the repeal of a federal law by vote of | ||
the legislatures of two-thirds of the several states; and, be it | ||
further | ||
RESOLVED, That a convention called to propose amendments to | ||
the United States Constitution be limited to the purposes of | ||
proposing amendments to provide for congressional term limits, the | ||
line-item veto, a balanced federal budget, a limit on federal debt, | ||
and the repeal of federal law by the several states, as well as the | ||
organization and operation of the convention; 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 Congress of the United States, and to all members of | ||
the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that this | ||
resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as an | ||
application to Congress for a convention to propose amendments to | ||
the United States Constitution to provide for congressional term | ||
limits, the line-item veto, a balanced federal budget, a limit on | ||
federal debt, and the repeal of federal law by the several states; | ||
and, be it further | ||
RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official | ||
copies of this resolution to the secretaries of state and to the | ||
presiding officers of the legislatures of the several states with | ||
the request that they join this state in applying to Congress for a | ||
convention to propose amendments to the United States Constitution | ||
to provide for congressional term limits, the line-item veto, a | ||
balanced federal budget, a limit on federal debt, and the repeal of | ||
federal law by the several states. |