85R2058 KSM-D
By: Anchia H.C.R. No. 34
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, In Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission,
the United States Supreme Court cast off precedent and
long-standing campaign finance laws, which has resulted in
unlimited corporate spending in elections; and
WHEREAS, The majority ruled that political spending is a form
of protected speech under the First Amendment and that the
government may not prevent corporations from giving money to
support or oppose individual candidates for public office; the
United States Constitution, however, does not mention
corporations, and there is no evidence that the framers of the
constitution wished to extend to corporations the same rights as
natural persons in the electoral context; and
WHEREAS, Corporations, as the four dissenting judges noted in
their opinion, are legal entities, and the conditional rights of
corporations are granted not by the constitution but rather through
the legislative deliberations of Congress and the states; and
WHEREAS, Unlike natural persons, corporations are granted
certain privileges, including limited liability, perpetual life,
and favorable treatment of the accumulation and distribution of
assets, that enhance their ability to attract capital and to
maximize the return on their shareholders' investments; yet these
very privileges give corporations the financial capacity to drown
out the individual voices of natural persons; moreover,
corporations may be under the control of citizens of foreign
countries who are ineligible to participate in our elections; and
WHEREAS, Corporate money now spent in election campaigns
threatens the free speech protections of individuals and the
integrity and fairness of our electoral procedures, and the
amendment process must be used to reverse this erroneous and
damaging decision; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas
hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to
propose and submit to the states for ratification an amendment to
the United States Constitution that overturns the Supreme Court
decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission; 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 president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of
Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the
members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that
this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a
memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.