By: Harrison H.C.R. No. 69       HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION          WHEREAS, The federal government was intended to be a creation   of and responsive to the sovereign states; and          WHEREAS, Ratification of the 17th Amendment to the U.S.   Constitution in 1913 significantly diminished the 10th Amendment   rights of states and the people, shifting the balance of power away   from the states in favor of the national government; and          WHEREAS, A restoration of the appropriate balance of power   between the sovereign State of Texas and the federal government is   necessary; and          WHEREAS, The federal government has asserted itself in nearly   all matters of human endeavor including the exercising of   authorities not granted to it under the constitution; and          WHEREAS, The rate of unconstitutional encroachments on state   sovereignty has increased since the adoption of the 17th Amendment;   and          WHEREAS, The balance of power among large and small states   and the federal government was a matter of paramount importance to   the framers of the Constitution; accordingly, they created Congress   with both a lower house, representing the people in the states   according to population, and an upper house, for which each state   legislature would appoint two senators; this novel system struck a   balance between a strong central authority and the autonomy of   individual states; and          WHEREAS, By discarding the structure carefully developed by   the framers of the Constitution, the 17th Amendment has undermined   the legislative branch, subverting the Senate's role in   safeguarding the prerogatives of states as distinct governments and   thereby disfiguring federalism; and          WHEREAS, It is necessary to restore the original   constitutional design that federal senators serve the best interest   of the State of Texas; now, therefore, be it          RESOLVED, That the 89th Legislature of the State of Texas   hereby express support for repeal of the 17th Amendment to the U.S.   Constitution; 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 speaker of the House of Representatives and the president of the   Senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of the   Texas delegation to the 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.