84R646 TJB-D
By: Workman, Keffer, Otto, et al. H.J.R. No. 79
A JOINT RESOLUTION
applying to the Congress of the United States to call a convention
under Article V of the United States Constitution for the limited
purpose of proposing an amendment to the constitution to provide
for a federal balanced budget.
WHEREAS, The drafters of the United States Constitution
empowered state legislatures to be guardians of liberty against
abuses of power by the federal government; and
WHEREAS, The federal government has abused its power by
creating a crushing national debt through improper and imprudent
spending; and
WHEREAS, The federal government has ceased to abide by a
proper interpretation of the United States Constitution; and
WHEREAS, In 1977 the 65th Texas Legislature submitted to the
federal government H.C.R. No. 31 requesting Congress to prepare and
submit to the several states an amendment to the United States
Constitution providing for a federal balanced budget, or
alternatively requesting Congress to call a constitutional
convention for the purpose of proposing such an amendment; and
WHEREAS, Congress has not acted to amend the United States
Constitution to provide for a federal balanced budget or to
otherwise impose fiscal restraints on the federal government; and
WHEREAS, It is the solemn duty of state legislatures to
protect the liberty of the people and of future generations by
proposing amendments to the United States Constitution that place
clear restraints on federal power; and
WHEREAS, Article V of the United States Constitution
authorizes the several state legislatures to restrict the power of
the federal government through the amendment process; 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 the purpose of
proposing amendments to the constitution; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 84th Texas Legislature hereby applies to
Congress to call a convention under Article V of the United States
Constitution for the limited purpose of proposing an amendment to
the constitution requiring, in the absence of a national emergency,
that the total of all federal appropriations made by Congress for
any fiscal year may not exceed the total of all estimated federal
revenue for that fiscal year; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That, unless rescinded by a succeeding
legislature, this application by the 84th Texas Legislature
constitutes a continuing application in accordance with Article V
of the United States Constitution until at least two-thirds of the
legislatures of the several states have applied to Congress to call
a convention for the limited purpose of proposing an amendment to
the constitution to provide for a federal balanced budget; 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 under Article V of the
United States Constitution for the limited purpose of proposing an
amendment to the constitution to provide for a federal balanced
budget; 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 under Article V of the United States Constitution for
the limited purpose of proposing an amendment to the constitution
to provide for a federal balanced budget.