Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SCR6 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	84R3922 WG-D
2	2	By: Hall S.C.R. No. 6
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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 United States is being encouraged to
19	19	ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child,
20	20	which would drastically alter the fundamental right of parents to
21	21	direct 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
27	27	U.S. Constitution states that "[t]he liberty of parents to direct
28	28	the upbringing and education of their children is a fundamental
29	29	right," that "[n]either the United States nor any state shall
30	30	infringe upon this right without demonstrating that its
31	31	governmental interest as applied to the person is of the highest
32	32	order and not otherwise served," and that "[n]o treaty may be
33	33	adopted nor shall any source of international law be employed to
34	34	supersede, modify, interpret, or apply to the rights guaranteed by
35	35	this article"; and
36	36	WHEREAS, The Texas Legislature has affirmed the importance of
37	37	parental rights in such statutes as Section 40.002(b)(2), Human
38	38	Resources Code, which spells out the need for the Department of
39	39	Family and Protective Services to "respect the fundamental right of
40	40	parents to control the education and upbringing of their children,"
41	41	and Section 151.003, Family Code, which establishes the type of
42	42	standard that should be instituted at the federal level by
43	43	providing that "[a] state agency may not adopt rules or policies or
44	44	take any other action that violates the fundamental right and duty
45	45	of a parent to direct the upbringing of the parent's child"; and
46	46	WHEREAS, Explicitly enumerating the rights of parents in the
47	47	Constitution of the United States will protect these rights in
48	48	perpetuity from the shifting ideologies and interpretations of the
49	49	supreme court and from the threat of being placed under the
50	50	jurisdiction of the international community, thereby preserving
51	51	the cherished American tradition of entrusting parents to raise
52	52	their own children; now, therefore, be it
53	53	RESOLVED, That the 84th Legislature of the State of Texas
54	54	respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to propose and
55	55	submit to the states for ratification the Parental Rights Amendment
56	56	to the United States Constitution; and, be it further
57	57	RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
58	58	copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
59	59	the president of the Senate and speaker of the House of
60	60	Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the
61	61	members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that
62	62	this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a
63	63	memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.