SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
House Concurrent Resolution Nos. 25, 29 & 39
95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Whereas, in the American system, sovereignty is defined as final authority, and the people, not government, are sovereign; and
Whereas, the people of the state of Missouri are not united with the people of the other forty-nine states that comprise the United States of America on a principle of unlimited submission to their federal government; and
Whereas, all power not delegated by the people to government is retained; and
Whereas, the people of the several states comprising the United States of America created the federal government to be their agent for certain enumerated purposes only; and
Whereas, this resolution affirms Missouri's sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and demands the federal government to halt its practice of assuming powers and imposing mandates upon the state for purposes not enumerated by the Constitution of the United States; and
Whereas, Article I, Section 1 of the Missouri Constitution states:
"That all political power is vested in and derived from the people; that all government of right originates from the people, is founded upon their will only, and is instituted solely for the good of the whole."; and
Whereas, the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States 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 assures that each sovereign State possesses rights the federal government may not usurp; and
Whereas, the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States defines the total scope of federal power as being that specifically granted by the Constitution of the United States and no more; and
Whereas, the First Amendment to the Constitution guarantees to "the right of the people...to petition the Government for a redress of grievances"; and
Whereas, today, in 2010, the states are demonstrably treated as agents of the federal government; and
Whereas, many federal laws are directly in violation of the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and
Whereas, Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution of the United States reads that "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government" and the Ninth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads that "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, 112 S.Ct. 2408 (1992), that Congress may not simply commandeer the legislative and regulatory processes of the states; and
Whereas, a number of proposals from previous administrations and some now pending from the present administration and from Congress may further violate the Constitution of the United States and the Missouri Constitution:
Now, therefore, be it resolved that the members of the House of Representatives of the Ninety-fifth General Assembly, Second Regular Session, the Senate concurring therein, hereby claims sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States; and
Be it further resolved that this concurrent resolution serve as Notice and Demand to the federal government, as our agent, to cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of these constitutionally delegated powers; and
Be it further resolved that all compulsory federal legislation which directs states to comply under threat of civil or criminal penalties or sanctions or requires states to pass legislation or lose federal funding be prohibited or repealed; and
Be it further resolved that the sovereign State of Missouri reserves the right to declare any such Act void by the Congress of the United States, Executive Order of the President of the United States of America, or Judicial Order by the Judicatories of the United States of America which assumes a power not delegated to the government of the United States of America by the Constitution of the United States of America and which serves to diminish the liberty of any of the several States or their citizens are unconstitutional under the Constitution of the United States of America by the government of the United States of America; and
Be it further resolved that the Chief Clerk of the Missouri House of Representatives be instructed to prepare a properly inscribed copy of this resolution for the President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and President of the Senate of each state's legislature, and each member of the Missouri Congressional delegation.
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