82R5857 KYF-F
By: Larson H.J.R. No. 81
A JOINT RESOLUTION
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.