| 1 | House Memorial |
| 2 | A memorial to the Congress of the United States, urging |
| 3 | Congress to adopt and submit to the states for |
| 4 | ratification an amendment to the Constitution of the |
| 5 | United States to provide that no person shall serve as a |
| 6 | United States Senator from a state unless the person has |
| 7 | been elected by the people of that state and that, when |
| 8 | vacancies occur in the representation of any state in the |
| 9 | United States Senate, the executive authority of the state |
| 10 | shall issue writs of election to fill the vacancies. |
| 11 |
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| 12 | WHEREAS, in 1789, after the Constitution of the United |
| 13 | States was ratified and Congress met for the first time, members |
| 14 | of the United States Senate were not elected by the popular vote |
| 15 | of the people but were chosen by the members of each state's |
| 16 | legislature, and |
| 17 | WHEREAS, in 1913, the ratification of the 17th Amendment to |
| 18 | the Constitution of the United States provided for the direct |
| 19 | election of members to the United States Senate and further gave |
| 20 | each state the option of filling vacancies in such office by |
| 21 | direct election or by a temporary appointment of the governor, |
| 22 | and |
| 23 | WHEREAS, since 1913, there have been at least 186 men and |
| 24 | women appointed to fill vacancies in the United States Senate |
| 25 | with 5 of those appointments occurring after the 2008 general |
| 26 | election, and |
| 27 | WHEREAS, no vacancy may be filled in the United States |
| 28 | House of Representatives by gubernatorial appointment, but each |
| 29 | person seeking such office must be elected by the voters of that |
| 30 | state to the office, and |
| 31 | WHEREAS, in order to have a government that is |
| 32 | representative of the people and responsive to the people, the |
| 33 | practice of allowing gubernatorial appointments to fill |
| 34 | vacancies in the United States Senate must end, NOW, THEREFORE, |
| 35 |
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| 36 | Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 37 |
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| 38 | That the Congress of the United States is requested to |
| 39 | adopt and submit to the states for ratification an amendment to |
| 40 | the Constitution of the United States which contains the |
| 41 | following provisions: |
| 42 | 1. No person shall be a Senator from a State unless such |
| 43 | person has been elected by the people thereof. When vacancies |
| 44 | happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the |
| 45 | executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election |
| 46 | to fill such vacancies. |
| 47 | 2. This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect |
| 48 | the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes |
| 49 | valid as a part of the Constitution. |
| 50 | BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be |
| 51 | dispatched to the President of the United States, to the |
| 52 | President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the |
| 53 | United States House of Representatives, and to each member of |
| 54 | the Florida delegation to the United States Congress. |