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
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 means 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 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
assures that we, the people of the United States of America 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,
United States Constitution, says in part, "The United States shall
guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government",
and the Ninth Amendment 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 has ruled in New York v. United States, 112 S. Ct. 2408 (1992),
that Congress 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 Congress may further violate the Constitution of the United States.
Therefore
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of Arizona, the Senate concurring, that:
1. That the State of
Arizona hereby claims 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.
2. That this Resolution
serves 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.
3. That all compulsory
federal legislation that 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.
4. That the Secretary of
State of the State of Arizona transmit copies of this resolution to the
President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the Speaker of the House
and the President of the Senate of each state's legislature and each Member of
Congress from the State of Arizona.