Texas 2013 - 83rd Regular

Texas House Bill HCR38 Compare Versions

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1	1	83R5433 BPG-D
2	2	By: Burkett, et al. H.C.R. No. 38
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5	5	CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
6	6	WHEREAS, The right of parents to direct the upbringing of
7	7	their children is fundamental, and the interests of children are
8	8	best served when parents are free to make decisions regarding their
9	9	education, their religion, and other aspects of their lives without
10	10	governmental interference; and
11	11	WHEREAS, In its 1972 Wisconsin v. Yoder decision, the United
12	12	States Supreme Court held that the "primary role of the parents in
13	13	the upbringing of their children is now established beyond debate
14	14	as an enduring American tradition," yet the more recent Troxel v.
15	15	Granville case resulted in a splintered six-way decision by the
16	16	supreme court that has caused ambiguity about the rights of parents
17	17	for courts at the state and federal levels; and
18	18	WHEREAS, Moreover, the U.S. Senate may be poised to ratify
19	19	the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which
20	20	would drastically alter the fundamental right of parents to direct
21	21	the upbringing of their own children; international law can
22	22	influence the supreme court's rulings, as illustrated in the 2005
23	23	decision Roper v. Simmons, raising the possibility that a future
24	24	court might allow external authorities to erode the American
25	25	tradition of treating parental rights as fundamental rights; and
26	26	WHEREAS, The proposed Parental Rights Amendment to the U.S.
27	27	Constitution states that "[t]he liberty of parents to direct the
28	28	upbringing and education of their children is a fundamental right,"
29	29	that "[n]either the United States nor any state shall infringe upon
30	30	this right without demonstrating that its governmental interest as
31	31	applied to the person is of the highest order and not otherwise
32	32	served," and that "[n]o treaty may be adopted nor shall any source
33	33	of international law be employed to supersede, modify, interpret,
34	34	or apply to the rights guaranteed by this article"; and
35	35	WHEREAS, The Texas Legislature has affirmed the importance of
36	36	parental rights in such statutes as Section 40.002(b)(2), Human
37	37	Resources Code, which spells out the need for the Department of
38	38	Family and Protective Services to "respect the fundamental right of
39	39	parents to control the education and upbringing of their children,"
40	40	and Section 151.003, Family Code, which establishes the type of
41	41	standard that should be instituted at the federal level by
42	42	providing that "[a] state agency may not adopt rules or policies or
43	43	take any other action that violates the fundamental right and duty
44	44	of a parent to direct the upbringing of the parent's child"; and
45	45	WHEREAS, Explicitly enumerating the rights of parents in the
46	46	Constitution of the United States will protect these rights in
47	47	perpetuity from the shifting ideologies and interpretations of the
48	48	supreme court and from the threat of being placed under the
49	49	jurisdiction of the international community, thereby preserving
50	50	the cherished American tradition of entrusting parents to raise
51	51	their own children; now, therefore, be it
52	52	RESOLVED, That the 83rd Legislature of the State of Texas
53	53	respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to propose and
54	54	submit to the states for ratification the Parental Rights Amendment
55	55	to the United States Constitution; and, be it further
56	56	RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
57	57	copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
58	58	the president of the Senate and speaker of the House of
59	59	Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the
60	60	members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that
61	61	this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a
62	62	memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.