| 1 | House Memorial |
| 2 | A memorial to the Congress of the United States, urging |
| 3 | Congress to honor the provisions of the Constitution of |
| 4 | the United States and United States Supreme Court case law |
| 5 | which limit the scope and exercise of federal power. |
| 6 |
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| 7 | WHEREAS, the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the |
| 8 | United States proclaims: "The powers not delegated to the United |
| 9 | States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, |
| 10 | are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people," and |
| 11 | WHEREAS, the Tenth Amendment defines the scope of federal |
| 12 | power as being that specifically granted by the Constitution of |
| 13 | the United States and no more, and |
| 14 | WHEREAS, the limitation of power contained in the Tenth |
| 15 | Amendment established the foundational principle that the |
| 16 | Federal Government was created by the states specifically to be |
| 17 | an agent of the states, and yet currently the states are |
| 18 | demonstrably treated as agents of the Federal Government, and |
| 19 | WHEREAS, many federal laws are in direct violation of the |
| 20 | Tenth Amendment, and |
| 21 | WHEREAS, the Tenth Amendment ensures that we, the people of |
| 22 | the United States of America and each sovereign state in the |
| 23 | Union of States, now have, and have always had, rights the |
| 24 | Federal Government may not usurp, and |
| 25 | WHEREAS, Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution of the |
| 26 | United States begins: "The United States shall guarantee to |
| 27 | every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government," and |
| 28 | the Ninth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States |
| 29 | declares: "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain |
| 30 | rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others |
| 31 | retained by the people," and |
| 32 | WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court ruled in New York |
| 33 | v. United States, 112 S. Ct. 2408 (1992), that Congress does not |
| 34 | have the authority to simply commandeer the states' legislative |
| 35 | processes by compelling the states to enact and enforce federal |
| 36 | regulatory programs, and |
| 37 | WHEREAS, a number of proposals from previous |
| 38 | administrations and some proposals now pending from the present |
| 39 | administration and from Congress may further violate the |
| 40 | Constitution of the United States, NOW THEREFORE, |
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| 42 | Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 43 |
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| 44 | That the Legislature claims sovereignty under the Tenth |
| 45 | Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all |
| 46 | powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the Federal |
| 47 | Government by the Constitution of the United States. |
| 48 | BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this memorial serves as a |
| 49 | notice and a demand to the Federal Government, as our agent, to |
| 50 | cease and desist, effective immediately, from issuing mandates |
| 51 | that are beyond the scope of these constitutionally delegated |
| 52 | powers. |
| 53 | BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all compulsory federal |
| 54 | legislation that directs states to comply under threat of civil |
| 55 | or criminal penalties or sanctions or requires states to pass |
| 56 | legislation or lose federal funding be prohibited or repealed. |
| 57 | BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be |
| 58 | dispatched to the President of the United States, to the |
| 59 | President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the |
| 60 | United States House of Representatives, to the presiding |
| 61 | officers of each state legislature of the United States of |
| 62 | America, and to each member of the Florida delegation to the |
| 63 | United States Congress. |