By: Creighton, et al. S.C.R. No. 12
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Each member of the legislature has sworn a solemn
oath to defend our United States and Texas Constitutions and takes
great pride in being a citizen of the United States of America,
where citizens have the right to petition their government for
redress of grievances; and
WHEREAS, Section 1, Article I, Texas Constitution, states
that "the perpetuity of the Union depend[s] upon the preservation
of the right of local self-government, unimpaired to all the
States"; Section 2, Article I, declares, "All political power is
inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on
their authority, and instituted for their benefit. The faith of the
people of Texas stands pledged to the preservation of a republican
form of government, and, subject to this limitation only, they have
at all times the inalienable right to alter, reform or abolish their
government in such manner as they may think expedient"; and
WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the
United States of America reads as follows: "The powers not
delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited
by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to
the people"; and
WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the
United States of America defines the total scope of federal power as
being that specifically granted by the U.S. Constitution and no
more; and
WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the
United States of America means that the federal government was
created by the states specifically to be an agent of the states with
powers both limited and enumerated; and
WHEREAS, Today, in 2021, the states are demonstrably treated
as agents of the federal government; and
WHEREAS, Many powers assumed by the federal government as
well as federal laws and mandates are in direct violation of the
Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of
America; and
WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment assures that we, the people of
the United States of America and each sovereign state in the Union
of States, have always had rights that the federal government may
not usurp; and
WHEREAS, Section 4, Article IV, of the United States
Constitution says, "The United States shall guarantee to every
State in this Union a Republican Form of Government," and the Ninth
Amendment states, "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain
rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained
by the people"; and
WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court has ruled in New
York v. United States, 505 U.S. 144 (1992), that Congress may not
simply commandeer the legislative and regulatory processes of the
states; and
WHEREAS, A number of proposals from previous
administrations, as well as from Congress, may further violate the
Constitution of the United States of America; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 87th Legislature of the State of Texas
hereby claim sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the
Constitution of the United States of America over all powers not
otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the
Constitution of the United States of America; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That this serve as notice and demand that the
federal government, as our agent, halt and reverse, effective
immediately, its practice of assuming powers and imposing mandates
and laws upon the states for purposes not enumerated by the
Constitution of the United States of America; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That all compulsory federal legislation not
necessary to ensure rights guaranteed the people under the
Constitution of the United States that directs states to comply
under threat of civil or criminal penalties or sanctions or that
requires states to pass legislation or lose federal funding be
prohibited and repealed; 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 members
of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that this
resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a
memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.