Washington State legislators put forward a bill to protect state's sovereignty

Olympia, WA - 2/5/09 -- Several Washington legislators have signed on to a bill entitled HJM 4009 - 2009-10 - "Claiming state sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment".

Washington has joined several other states which have passed or have proposed resolutions reaffirming state sovereignty. These include Arizona, California, George, Missouri, New Hampshire, and Oklahoma (see references below).

Representatives Shea, Klippert, Condotta, Kretz, Anderson, McCune,
and Kristiansen submitted the bill, and it was read the first time on Jan. 30th, then. referred to Committee on State Government & Tribal Affairs.

The bill incorporates these words:

WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States specifically provides that, "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 those powers specifically granted to it by the Constitution of the United States and no more; and

WHEREAS, Federalism is the constitutional division of powers between the national and state governments and is widely regarded as one of America's most valuable contributions to political science; and

WHEREAS, James Madison, "the father of the Constitution," said, "The powers delegated to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the state governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, [such] as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce. The powers reserved to the several states will extend to all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people."; and

WHEREAS, Thomas Jefferson emphasized that the states are not "subordinate" to the national government, but rather the two are "coordinate departments of one simple and integral whole. The one is the domestic, the other the foreign branch of the same government."; and

WHEREAS, Alexander Hamilton expressed his hope that "the people
will always take care to preserve the constitutional equilibrium between the general and the state governments." He believed that "this balance between the national and state governments forms a double security to the people. If one [government] encroaches on their rights, they will find a powerful protection in the other. Indeed, they will both be prevented from overpassing their constitutional
limits by [the] certain rivalship which will ever subsist between them."; and

WHEREAS, The scope of power defined by the Tenth Amendment means
that the federal government was created by the states specifically to be limited in its powers relative to those of the various states; and

WHEREAS, Today, in 2009, the states are demonstrably treated as agents of the federal government; and

WHEREAS, Many federal mandates are directly in violation of the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; 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 being considered by the present administration and from Congress may further violate the Constitution of the United States;

NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully resolve:

(1) That the State of Washington 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; and

(2) That this serve as a Notice and Demand to the federal government to maintain the balance of powers where the Constitution of the United States established it and to cease and desist, effective immediately, any and all mandates that are beyond the scope of its constitutionally delegated powers.

BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of each state's legislature of the United States of America, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.

To follow the process of the bill, click here.

Other states with pending or passed legislation/resolutions for state sovereignty:

Arizona - click here

California (1994 Senate bill passed) - click here

Georgia (1996 Senate resolution) - click here
http://www.legis.state.ga...

Missouri (still in committee, text here)

New Hampshire - click here

Oklahoma - click here