PRINTER'S NO. 412
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No.
45
Session of
2021
INTRODUCED BY SIMS, SANCHEZ, CRUZ, MADDEN AND LEE,
FEBRUARY 8, 2021
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, FEBRUARY 8, 2021
A RESOLUTION
Urging elected officials to be cautious with their words and
actions to avoid fomenting violence or seditious plots.
WHEREAS, Section 2384 of Title 18 of the United States Code
defines a seditious conspiracy as, "two or more persons in any
State or Territory, or in any place subject to the jurisdiction
of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to
destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy
war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof,
or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any
law of any United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess
any property of the United States contrary to the authority
thereof, they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned
not more than twenty years, or both"; and
WHEREAS, No individual or individuals have been charged with
sedition in recent years; and
WHEREAS, The American legal concept of sedition is lesser
than treason because it encompasses advocacy or conspiracy for
the overthrow of a legitimate government through force or
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violence rather than treason's higher requirement of overt acts
to overthrow a legitimate government or aid its enemies; and
WHEREAS, While there is no law requiring the concession of a
sitting President upon their loss in an election, a President
may not continue to hold or exercise the power of the presidency
beyond their term in office and cannot conspire to illegally
retain the office; and
WHEREAS, A significant number of Federal and State elected
officials have spread unfounded misinformation and conspiracy
theories with the ultimate goal of overturning the results of
the 2020 election; and
WHEREAS, The outcome of a legitimate and certified election
cannot be overturned because some individuals dislike its
outcome; and
WHEREAS, While many elected officials who wished for a
different result of the election have not encouraged violence,
some supporters of the effort to overturn the results of the
2020 election have attempted violence against or sent death
threats to elected leaders, election officials and others,
including a Philadelphia election commissioner, an election
official in Missouri, the Secretary of State of Georgia and his
wife, a poll worker in Georgia, several local election workers
in Michigan, the Secretary of State of Arizona and her family
and an election commissioner in Wisconsin; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives urge caution in
both words and deeds to avoid provoking seditious plots.
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