89R14306 BPG-D
By: Paxton S.C.R. No. 28
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Our nation was founded on the principle of popular
sovereignty, with a government of, by, and for the American people,
and each generation has a responsibility to ensure that the promise
of self-government is open to all Americans; and
WHEREAS, The framers of the U.S. Constitution recognized the
peril of allowing outside influences to infiltrate our politics;
Article I, Section 9, Clause 8 of the Constitution forbids
officeholders from accepting any manner of title or financial
compensation from a foreign power; in The Federalist No. 68,
Alexander Hamilton warned of "the desire in foreign powers to gain
an improper ascendant in our councils," while, in his farewell
address, George Washington cautioned that "history and experience
prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of
republican government"; and
WHEREAS, Through the years, Congress has passed a variety of
legislation to combat foreign interference, such as the Federal
Election Campaign Act, which includes a ban on spending by foreign
nationals in federal, state, and local elections; today, however,
our broken system of election spending makes it easy for foreign
entities to spend millions of dollars to influence our elections
and ballot initiatives, through such means as illegal donations
directly to candidates, hidden contributions to dark money groups,
influence campaigns, and brazen spending in ballot elections by
government-owned entities; and
WHEREAS, Decades of judicial overreach have also enabled
domestic actors to drown out the voices of individual voters;
Supreme Court decisions degrading transparency and equating
unlimited election spending with "free speech" have allowed
billionaires, corporations, unions, and other wealthy special
interests to dominate and distort the public discourse, narrowing
debate, weakening federalism and state self-governance, and
increasing the risk of systemic corruption; and
WHEREAS, Like the U.S. Constitution, the Constitution of
Texas affirms that political power rests with the people in our
republican form of government; our continued liberty depends
heavily on protecting free speech interests of individual citizens
and maintaining the integrity of our elections and our government
in the face of outside pressures; and
WHEREAS, The framers wisely granted the states the power to
amend the U.S. Constitution when necessary, and few issues are more
important than the preservation of the people's sovereign interests
in robust political debate, the integrity of the electoral process,
open and representative self-government, and the political
equality of natural persons; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 89th Legislature of the State of Texas
hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to propose and
send to the states for ratification a constitutional amendment to
clarify that the states and Congress, within their respective
jurisdictions, may reasonably regulate and limit the spending of
money to influence campaigns, elections, or ballot measures, and
that, in so doing, the states and Congress may distinguish between
natural persons and artificial entities such as corporations,
unions, and artificial intelligences; 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.