THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE RESOLUTION

INTRODUCED BY ROHRER, BAKER, BARRAR, BEAR, BENNINGHOFF, BOYD, BROOKS, CLYMER, COX, CREIGHTON, CUTLER, DENLINGER, ELLIS, FLECK, GABIG, GABLER, GEIST, GIBBONS, GINGRICH, GOODMAN, GRELL, GROVE, HARRIS, HUTCHINSON, KAUFFMAN, MARSICO, METCALFE, METZGAR, MICOZZIE, MILLER, MOUL, MUSTIO, OBERLANDER, PAYNE, PERRY, PHILLIPS, PYLE, QUIGLEY, RAPP, REESE, REICHLEY, ROAE, ROCK, SAYLOR, SCHRODER, SONNEY, STERN, STEVENSON, SWANGER, TALLMAN, TRUE AND TURZAI, MARCH 23, 2009

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, MARCH 23, 2009  

A RESOLUTION

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be prohibited or repealed and directing distribution.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 to the Constitution of the

United States defines the total scope of Federal power as being

that specifically granted by the Constitution of the United

States and no more; and

WHEREAS, The scope of power defined by the Tenth Amendment to

the Constitution of the United States means that the Federal

Government was created by the states specifically to be an agent

of the states; and

WHEREAS, In 2008, 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 to the Constitution of the

United States assures that the citizens of this nation and each

sovereign state in the union of states now have, and have always

had, rights that the Federal Government may not usurp; and

WHEREAS, Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution of the

United States states, "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, "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, 112 S. Ct. 2408 (1992), that the Congress of the

United States 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

the Congress of the United States, may further violate the

Constitution of the United States; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania hereby claim

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 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 a copy of this resolution be distributed to

the President of the United States, the President of the United

States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of

Representatives, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of

the House of Representatives of each state's legislature and to

each member of Congress from Pennsylvania.