HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 52
(By Delegates Hall, Anderson, Armstead, Ashley, Azinger, Blair,
Border, Cann, Canterbury, Carmichael, Cowles, Crosier, Duke,
Eldridge, Ellem, Evans, Ireland, Lane, Louisos, McGeehan,
Michael, C. Miller, J. Miller, Overington, Porter, Reynolds,
Romine, Rowan, Schadler, Schoen, Shott, Skaff, Sobonya, Sumner,
D. Walker and Walters)
Claiming sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution
of the United States over certain powers; serving notice to
the federal government to cease and desist certain mandates;
providing that certain federal legislation be prohibited or
repealed; and directing distribution.
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 defines the total scope of federal
power as being that specifically granted by the Constitution of the
United States and no more; and
Whereas, Federalism is the Constitutional division of powers
between the national and state governments and is widely regarded as one of America's most valuable contributions to political
science; and
Whereas, James Madison, "The father of the Constitution," said,
"The powers delegated to the federal government are few and
defined. Those which are to remain in the state governments are
numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally
on external objects, such as war, peace, negotiation and foreign
commerce. The powers reserved to the several states will extend to
all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern
the lives, liberties and properties of the people"; and
Whereas, Thomas Jefferson emphasized that the states are not
"subordinate" to the national government, but rather the two are
"coordinate departments of one simple and integral whole. The one
is the domestic, the other the foreign branch of the same
government"; and
Whereas, The scope of power defined by the Tenth Amendment
means that the federal government was created by the states
specifically to be an agent of the states; 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, The Tenth Amendment assures that we, the people of the
United States of America and each sovereign state in the Union of States, now have, and have always had, rights the federal
government may not usurp; and
Whereas, Article IV, Section 4 provides, "The United States
shall guarantee to every state in this union a Republican Form of
Government", and the Ninth Amendment states 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;
therefore, be it
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the State of West Virginia 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 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 Clerk of the House of Delegates
forward a certified copy of this resolution to 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 Delegates and the President of the Senate of each
State Legislature of the United States, United States Senators
Robert C. Byrd and John D. Rockefeller IV, Representatives Nick J.
Rahall, Alan B. Mollohan and Shelley M. Capito.
Email
Webmaster | © 2024 West Virginia Legislature **
