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S. C. R. No. 13 As Adopted by the Senate
As Adopted by the Senate
128th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2009-2010 |
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Cosponsors:
Senators Gibbs, Buehrer, Cates, Hughes, Schuler, Schuring, Carey, Goodman, Harris, Husted, Niehaus, Patton, Schaffer, Seitz, Wagoner, Widener, Jones
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
| To claim sovereignty over certain powers pursuant to
the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the
United States of America, to notify Congress to
limit and end certain
mandates, and to insist
that federal
legislation contravening the Tenth
Amendment be prohibited or repealed.
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BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF OHIO (THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING):
WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the
United States reads: "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 to the federal
government by the Constitution of the United States and no more;
and |
WHEREAS, The scope of power defined by the Tenth Amendment
signifies that the federal government was created by the states
specifically to be an agent of the states; and |
WHEREAS, Today, in 2009, the states are often treated
as
agents of the federal government; and |
WHEREAS, Many federal laws directly contravene the Tenth
Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and |
WHEREAS, We believe in the importance of all levels of
government working together to serve the citizens of our country,
by respecting the constitutional provisions that properly
delineate the authority of federal, state, and local governments;
and |
WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment assures that we, the people of
the United States 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 of the Constitution of the
United States, states in part, "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
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 ruled in New York v.
United States, 505 U.S. 144 (1992), that Congress may not simply
commandeer the legislative and regulatory processes of the states
by compelling them to enact and enforce regulatory programs;
and |
WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court, in Printz v. United
States/Mack v. United States, 521 U.S. 898 (1997), reaffirmed that
the Constitution of the United States established a system of
"dual sovereignty" that retains "a residuary and inviolable
sovereignty" by the states. The majority of the United States
Supreme Court noted in that case (521 U.S. 898, 921-922): |
"As [President] Madison expressed it: '[T]he local or
municipal authorities form distinct and independent portions of
the supremacy, no more subject, within their respective spheres,
to the general authority than the general authority is subject to
them, within its own sphere.' The Federalist No. 39, at 245. |
This separation of the two spheres is one of the
Constitution's structural protections of liberty. 'Just as the
separation and independence of the coordinate branches of the
Federal Government serve to prevent the accumulation of excessive
power in any one branch, a healthy balance of power between the
States and the Federal Government will reduce the risk of tyranny
and abuse from either front.' . . . To quote [President] Madison
once again: |
'In the compound republic of America, the power surrendered
by the people is first divided between two distinct governments,
and then the portion allotted to each subdivided among distinct
and separate departments. Hence a double security arises to the
rights of the people. The different governments will control each
other, at the same time that each will be controlled by itself.'
The Federalist No. 51, at 323"; and |
WHEREAS, A number of proposals by previous administrations,
some now pending proposals by the present administration, and some
proposals by Congress may further violate the Tenth Amendment
restriction on the scope of federal power; now therefore be it |
RESOLVED, That the State of Ohio hereby acknowledges and
reaffirms its residuary and inviolable 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 resolution serves as notice to
the
federal government as agent of the states, to end federal mandates
that are beyond the scope of the
constitutionally delegated
powers; and be it further |
RESOLVED, That all compulsory federal legislation that
directs states to comply under threat of civil or criminal penalty
or sanction or that requires states to enact legislation or lose
federal funding be prohibited or repealed; and be it further |
RESOLVED, That the Clerk of the Senate
transmit
authenticated copies of this resolution to the President
of the
United States, the President Pro Tempore of the United
States
Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of
Representatives, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and
the President of the Senate of each state's legislature, and
each
member of the Ohio Congressional delegation. |
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