By: Creighton  S.C.R. No. 12          (In the Senate - Filed February 9, 2021; March 18, 2021,   read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;   April 9, 2021, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 5,   Nays 2; April 9, 2021, sent to printer.)Click here to see the committee vote     SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION     WHEREAS, Each member of the legislature has sworn a solemn   oath to defend our United States and Texas Constitutions and takes   great pride in being a citizen of the United States of America,   where citizens have the right to petition their government for   redress of grievances; and          WHEREAS, Section 1, Article I, Texas Constitution, states   that "the perpetuity of the Union depend[s] upon the preservation   of the right of local self-government, unimpaired to all the   States"; Section 2, Article I, declares, "All political power is   inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on   their authority, and instituted for their benefit. The faith of the   people of Texas stands pledged to the preservation of a republican   form of government, and, subject to this limitation only, they have   at all times the inalienable right to alter, reform or abolish their   government in such manner as they may think expedient"; and          WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the   United States of America 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 of America defines the total scope of federal power as   being that specifically granted by the U.S. Constitution and no   more; and          WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the   United States of America means that the federal government was   created by the states specifically to be an agent of the states with   powers both limited and enumerated; and          WHEREAS, Today, in 2021, the states are demonstrably treated   as agents of the federal government; and          WHEREAS, Many powers assumed by the federal government as   well as federal laws and mandates are in direct violation of the   Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of   America; 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, have always had rights that the federal government may   not usurp; and          WHEREAS, Section 4, Article IV, of the United States   Constitution says, "The United States shall guarantee to every   State in this Union a Republican Form of Government," and the Ninth   Amendment 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 has ruled in New   York v. United States, 505 U.S. 144 (1992), that Congress may not   simply commandeer the legislative and regulatory processes of the   states; and          WHEREAS, A number of proposals from previous   administrations, as well as from Congress, may further violate the   Constitution of the United States of America; now, therefore, be it          RESOLVED, That the 87th Legislature of the State of Texas   hereby claim sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the   Constitution of the United States of America over all powers not   otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the   Constitution of the United States of America; and, be it further          RESOLVED, That this serve as notice and demand that the   federal government, as our agent, halt and reverse, effective   immediately, its practice of assuming powers and imposing mandates   and laws upon the states for purposes not enumerated by the   Constitution of the United States of America; and, be it further          RESOLVED, That all compulsory federal legislation not   necessary to ensure rights guaranteed the people under the   Constitution of the United States that directs states to comply   under threat of civil or criminal penalties or sanctions or that   requires states to pass legislation or lose federal funding be   prohibited and repealed; and, be it further          RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official   copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to   the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of   Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all members   of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that this   resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a   memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.     * * * * *