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To claim sovereignty over certain powers pursuant to | 1 |
the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the | 2 |
United States of America, to notify Congress to | 3 |
limit and end certain mandates, and to insist | 4 |
that federal legislation contravening the Tenth | 5 |
Amendment be prohibited or repealed. | 6 |
WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the | 7 |
United States reads: "The powers not delegated to the United | 8 |
States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, | 9 |
are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people"; and | 10 |
WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment defines the total scope of | 11 |
federal power as being that specifically granted to the federal | 12 |
government by the Constitution of the United States and no more; | 13 |
and | 14 |
WHEREAS, The scope of power defined by the Tenth Amendment | 15 |
signifies that the federal government was created by the states | 16 |
specifically to be an agent of the states; and | 17 |
WHEREAS, Today, in 2009, the states are often treated as | 18 |
agents of the federal government; and | 19 |
WHEREAS, Many federal laws directly contravene the Tenth | 20 |
Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and | 21 |
WHEREAS, We believe in the importance of all levels of | 22 |
government working together to serve the citizens of our country, | 23 |
by respecting the constitutional provisions that properly | 24 |
delineate the authority of federal, state, and local governments; | 25 |
and | 26 |
WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment assures that we, the people of | 27 |
the United States and each sovereign state in the Union of States, | 28 |
now have, and have always had, rights the federal government may | 29 |
not usurp; and | 30 |
WHEREAS, Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution of the | 31 |
United States, states in part, "The United States shall guarantee | 32 |
to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government," and | 33 |
the Ninth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States | 34 |
states that "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain | 35 |
rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others | 36 |
retained by the people"; and | 37 |
WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court ruled in New York v. | 38 |
United States, 505 U.S. 144 (1992), that Congress may not simply | 39 |
commandeer the legislative and regulatory processes of the states | 40 |
by compelling them to enact and enforce regulatory programs; and | 41 |
WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court, in Printz v. United | 42 |
States/Mack v. United States, 521 U.S. 898 (1997), reaffirmed that | 43 |
the Constitution of the United States established a system of | 44 |
"dual sovereignty" that retains "a residuary and inviolable | 45 |
sovereignty" by the states. The majority of the United States | 46 |
Supreme Court noted in that case (521 U.S. 898, 921-922): | 47 |
"As [President] Madison expressed it: '[T]he local or | 48 |
municipal authorities form distinct and independent portions of | 49 |
the supremacy, no more subject, within their respective spheres, | 50 |
to the general authority than the general authority is subject to | 51 |
them, within its own sphere.' The Federalist No. 39, at 245. | 52 |
This separation of the two spheres is one of the | 53 |
Constitution's structural protections of liberty. 'Just as the | 54 |
separation and independence of the coordinate branches of the | 55 |
Federal Government serve to prevent the accumulation of excessive | 56 |
power in any one branch, a healthy balance of power between the | 57 |
States and the Federal Government will reduce the risk of tyranny | 58 |
and abuse from either front.' . . . To quote [President] Madison | 59 |
once again: | 60 |
'In the compound republic of America, the power surrendered | 61 |
by the people is first divided between two distinct governments, | 62 |
and then the portion allotted to each subdivided among distinct | 63 |
and separate departments. Hence a double security arises to the | 64 |
rights of the people. The different governments will control each | 65 |
other, at the same time that each will be controlled by itself.' | 66 |
The Federalist No. 51, at 323"; and | 67 |
WHEREAS, A number of proposals by previous administrations, | 68 |
some now pending proposals by the present administration, and some | 69 |
proposals by Congress may further violate the Tenth Amendment | 70 |
restriction on the scope of federal power; now therefore be it | 71 |
RESOLVED, That the State of Ohio hereby acknowledges and | 72 |
reaffirms its residuary and inviolable sovereignty under the | 73 |
Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all | 74 |
powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal | 75 |
government by the Constitution of the United States; and be it | 76 |
further | 77 |
RESOLVED, That this resolution serves as notice to the | 78 |
federal government as agent of the states, to end federal mandates | 79 |
that are beyond the scope of the constitutionally delegated | 80 |
powers; and be it further | 81 |
RESOLVED, That all compulsory federal legislation that | 82 |
directs states to comply under threat of civil or criminal penalty | 83 |
or sanction or that requires states to enact legislation or lose | 84 |
federal funding be prohibited or repealed; and be it further | 85 |
RESOLVED, That the Clerk of the Senate transmit | 86 |
authenticated copies of this resolution to the President of the | 87 |
United States, the President Pro Tempore of the United States | 88 |
Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of | 89 |
Representatives, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and | 90 |
the President of the Senate of each state's legislature, and each | 91 |
member of the Ohio Congressional delegation. | 92 |