Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas House Bill HCR36 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	84R3922 WG-D
2	2	By: Burkett, Flynn, Geren, Laubenberg, H.C.R. No. 36
3	3	Parker, et al.
4	4
5	5
6	6	CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
7	7	WHEREAS, The right of parents to direct the upbringing of
8	8	their children is fundamental, and the interests of children are
9	9	best served when parents are free to make decisions regarding their
10	10	education, their religion, and other aspects of their lives without
11	11	governmental interference; and
12	12	WHEREAS, In its 1972 Wisconsin v. Yoder decision, the United
13	13	States Supreme Court held that the "primary role of the parents in
14	14	the upbringing of their children is now established beyond debate
15	15	as an enduring American tradition," yet the more recent Troxel v.
16	16	Granville case resulted in a splintered six-way decision by the
17	17	supreme court that has caused ambiguity about the rights of parents
18	18	for courts at the state and federal levels; and
19	19	WHEREAS, Moreover, the United States is being encouraged to
20	20	ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child,
21	21	which would drastically alter the fundamental right of parents to
22	22	direct the upbringing of their own children; international law can
23	23	influence the supreme court's rulings, as illustrated in the 2005
24	24	decision Roper v. Simmons, raising the possibility that a future
25	25	court might allow external authorities to erode the American
26	26	tradition of treating parental rights as fundamental rights; and
27	27	WHEREAS, The proposed Parental Rights Amendment to the
28	28	U.S. Constitution states that "[t]he liberty of parents to direct
29	29	the upbringing and education of their children is a fundamental
30	30	right," that "[n]either the United States nor any state shall
31	31	infringe upon this right without demonstrating that its
32	32	governmental interest as applied to the person is of the highest
33	33	order and not otherwise served," and that "[n]o treaty may be
34	34	adopted nor shall any source of international law be employed to
35	35	supersede, modify, interpret, or apply to the rights guaranteed by
36	36	this article"; and
37	37	WHEREAS, The Texas Legislature has affirmed the importance of
38	38	parental rights in such statutes as Section 40.002(b)(2), Human
39	39	Resources Code, which spells out the need for the Department of
40	40	Family and Protective Services to "respect the fundamental right of
41	41	parents to control the education and upbringing of their children,"
42	42	and Section 151.003, Family Code, which establishes the type of
43	43	standard that should be instituted at the federal level by
44	44	providing that "[a] state agency may not adopt rules or policies or
45	45	take any other action that violates the fundamental right and duty
46	46	of a parent to direct the upbringing of the parent's child"; and
47	47	WHEREAS, Explicitly enumerating the rights of parents in the
48	48	Constitution of the United States will protect these rights in
49	49	perpetuity from the shifting ideologies and interpretations of the
50	50	supreme court and from the threat of being placed under the
51	51	jurisdiction of the international community, thereby preserving
52	52	the cherished American tradition of entrusting parents to raise
53	53	their own children; now, therefore, be it
54	54	RESOLVED, That the 84th Legislature of the State of Texas
55	55	respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to propose and
56	56	submit to the states for ratification the Parental Rights Amendment
57	57	to the United States Constitution; and, be it further
58	58	RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
59	59	copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
60	60	the president of the Senate and speaker of the House of
61	61	Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the
62	62	members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that
63	63	this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a
64	64	memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.