The following is a letter written by Tennessee State Representative Susan Lynn that, in conjunction with a TN state resolution establishing a committee, argues federal government power over states has become unconstitutional and needs to be addressed and stopped.
We send greetings from the Tennessee General Assembly. On June 23, 2009, House Joint Resolution 108, the State Sovereignty Resolution, was signed by Governor Phil Bredesen. The Resolution created a committee which has as its charge to:
- Communicate the resolution to the legislatures of the several states,
- Assure them that this State continues in the same esteem of their friendship,
- Call for a joint working group between the states to enumerate the abuses of authority by the federal government, and
- Seek repeal of the assumption of powers and the imposed mandates.
It is for those purposes that this letter addresses your honorable body.
In 1776, our founding fathers declared our freedom in the magnificent Declaration of Independence; our guide to governance. They established a nation of free and independent states. Declaring that the purpose of our political system is to secure for its citizens’ their natural rights. The Constitution authorizes the national government to carry out seventeen enumerated powers in Article 1, Section 8 and the powers of several of the ensuing amendments.
At the time of the Constitutional ratification process James Madison drafted the “Virginia Plan” to give Congress general legislative authority and to empower the national judiciary to hear any case that might cause friction among the states, to give the congress a veto over state laws, to empower the national government to use the military against the states, and to eliminate the states’ accustomed role in selecting members of Congress. Each one of these proposals was soundly defeated. In fact, Madison made many more attempts to authorize a national veto over state laws, and these were repeatedly defeated as well.
There are clear limits to the power of the federal government and clear realms of power for the states. However, the simple and clear expression of purpose, to secure our natural rights, has evolved into the modern expectation that the national government has an obligation to ensure our life, to create our liberty, and fund our pursuit of happiness.
The national government has become a complex system of programs whose purposes lie outside of the responsibilities of the enumerated powers and of securing our natural rights; programs that benefit some while others must pay.
Today, the federal government seeks to control the salaries of those employed by private business, to change the provisions of private of contracts, to nationalize banks, insurers and auto manufacturers, and to dictate to every person in the land what his or her medical choices will be.
Forcing property from employers to provide healthcare, legislating what individuals are and are not entitled to, and using the labor of some so that others can receive money that they did not earn goes far beyond securing natural rights, and the enumerated powers in the Constitution.
The role of our American government has been blurred, bent, and breached. The rights endowed to us by our creator must be restored.
To be sure, the People created the federal government to be their agent for certain enumerated purposes only. The Constitutional ratifying structure was created so it would be clear that it was the People, and not the States, that were doing the ratifying.
The Tenth Amendment defines the total scope of federal power as being that which has been delegated by the people to the federal government, and also that which is absolutely necessary to advancing those powers specifically enumerated in the Constitution of the United States. The rest is to be handled by the state governments, or locally, by the people themselves.
The Constitution does not include a congressional power to override state laws. It does not give the judicial branch unlimited jurisdiction over all matters. It does not provide Congress with the power to legislate over everything. This is verified by the simple fact that attempts to make these principles part of the Constitution were soundly rejected by its signers.
With this in mind, any federal attempt to legislate beyond the Constitutional limits of Congress’ authority is a usurpation of state sovereignty – and unconstitutional.
Governments and political leaders are best held accountable to the will of the people when government is local. The people of a state know what is best for them; authorities, potentially thousands of miles away, governing their lives is opposed to the very notion of freedom.
We invite your state to join with us to form a joint working group between the states to enumerate the abuses of authority by the federal government and to seek repeal of the assumption of powers and the imposed mandates.
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John Lofton, Editor, TheAmericanView.com
Communications Director, Institute On The Constitution
Recovering Republican
JLof@aol.com
Ignoring for the moment that the effort by the committee constitutes the creation of a compact between the states by the formation of a “correspondence” committee and that the Constitution mandates that any such compact must be approved by them first, let us address the heart of this issue.
This legislative committee has flatly refused to support obeying the Constitution. At its hearings it rejected using an Article V Convention which is fine if it weren’t for the fact that public record shows all 50 states have submitted 750 applications for a convention call by Congress. Congress has refused to do this in violation of its oaths of office. The texts of the applications can be read at http://www.foavc.org.
So what we have is the committee asking Congress to respect the Tenth Amendment which the courts have ruled is merely a principle in the Constitution and not a constitutional mandate. See U.S. v Sprague, 282 U.S. 716 (1931). In contrast the court in that same ruling make it perfectly clear Congress must call a convention.
The efforts of this committee are meaningless because they insist on using the wrong part of the Constitution and have come out publicly supporting Congress having the right to veto the Constitution by opposing an Article V Convention call thus allowing Congress to refuse to obey the Constitution. The very action they complain about! Constitutional hypocrisy at its most obvious.
The most ironic part is the fact that the texts of the applications prove that if a convention were called it would be addressing the very same problems the committee complains about not with words, but amendment proposals which when ratified would solve the problems. The simple fact is amendments work. They solve problems facing our nation. That claim cannot be made nor proven about the Tenth Amendment.
Sooner or later those behind all these movements or their followers are going to wake up and realize there is only one solution designed in the Constitution–an Article V Convention. They’ll realize it when everything else they try fails simply because their constitutional hypocrisy at urging something be vetoed while condemning a government for doing what they favor. Their opponents don’t have to say or do a thing as long as they do this. They shoot themselves in the foot quite nicely.