Georgia House of Representatives - 1995/1996 Sessions

HR 76 - State sovereignty; restate

Page Numbers - 1/ 2

1. Smith  174th           2. Lawrence  64th          3. Stancil  16th
4. Joyce  1st


House Comm: Judy       /                Senate Comm:            /                                   
House Vote: Yeas       Nays             Senate Vote: Yeas     Nays                                  
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               House          Action         Senate                                                 
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              1/13/95  Read 1st Time                                                                
              1/23/95  Read 2nd Time                                                                
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Code Sections amended:                                                                              


HR 76                                          LC 21 3044-ER






                             A RESOLUTION

  1- 1  To restate state sovereignty; and for other purposes.

  1- 2  WHEREAS, the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the
  1- 3  United States reads as follows:

  1- 4    "The powers not delegated to the United States by the
  1- 5    Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are
  1- 6    reserved to the States respectively, or to the
  1- 7    people."

  1- 8  ; and

  1- 9  WHEREAS, the Tenth Amendment defines the total scope of
  1-10  federal power as being that specifically granted by the
  1-11  United States Constitution and no more; and

  1-12  WHEREAS, the scope of federal power defined by the Tenth
  1-13  Amendment means that the federal government was created by
  1-14  the states specifically to be an agent of the states; and

  1-15  WHEREAS, State authority has been eroded primarily by four
  1-16  developments:

  1-17      (1) Federal assumption of powers reserved to the states
  1-18      under the Tenth Amendment; and

  1-19      (2) Interpretations of the "commerce clause" which go
  1-20      beyond any reasonable conception and in effect authorize
  1-21      federal preemption with respect to any issue for which
  1-22      some faint or circuitous connection can be made to
  1-23      interstate commerce; and

  1-24      (3) By threat of withholding, withdrawing, or diverting
  1-25      federal funds to coerce compliance with federal
  1-26      policies; and

  1-27      (4) Failure on the part of the states to challenge
  1-28      federal intrusions.  Indeed, state governments have
  1-29      endorsed federal usurpation by seeking additional
  1-30      federal funding and by accepting federal delegations of
  1-31      power; and

  1-32  WHEREAS, today, in 1995, the states are demonstrably treated
  1-33  as agents of the federal government; and



                                 -1- (Index)

                                               LC 21 3044-ER

  2- 1  WHEREAS, numerous resolutions have been forwarded to the
  2- 2  federal government by the State of Georgia without any
  2- 3  response or result from Congress or the federal government;
  2- 4  and

  2- 5  WHEREAS, many federal mandates are directly in violation of
  2- 6  the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United
  2- 7  States; and

  2- 8  WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court has ruled in New
  2- 9  York v. United States, 112 S. Ct. 2408 (1992), that Congress
  2-10  may not simply commandeer the legislative and regulatory
  2-11  processes of the states; and

  2-12  WHEREAS, a number of proposals from previous administrations
  2-13  and some now pending from the present administration and
  2-14  from Congress may further violate the United States
  2-15  Constitution.

  2-16  NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF
  2-17  REPRESENTATIVES, that the State of Georgia hereby claims
  2-18  sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of
  2-19  the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated
  2-20  and granted to the federal government by the United States
  2-21  Constitution.

  2-22  BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this serves as notice and
  2-23  demand to the federal government, as our agent, to cease and
  2-24  desist, effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the
  2-25  scope of its constitutionally delegated powers.

  2-26  BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Clerk of the House of
  2-27  Representatives is authorized and directed to transmit
  2-28  appropriate copies of this resolution to the President of
  2-29  the United States, the Speaker of the United States House of
  2-30  Representatives, the President of the United States Senate,
  2-31  the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate of
  2-32  each state's legislature of the United States of America,
  2-33  and the Georgia Congressional delegation.












                                 -2- (Index)