A HOUSE RESOLUTION supporting the state's right to claim sovereignty over certain powers under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
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 mandates are directly in violation of the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and
Whereas, Section 4 of Article IV of the Constitution of the United States says, "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 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; Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:
SECTION 1.  The North Carolina House of Representatives supports the State's right to claim sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government or reserved to the people by the Constitution of the United States.
SECTION 2.  The North Carolina House of Representatives urges the federal government, as the agent of the State, to cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of any constitutionally delegated powers.
SECTION 3.  The North Carolina House of Representatives further urges that compulsory federal legislation which 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.
SECTION 4.  The Principal Clerk shall transmit a certified copy 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, and each member of the North Carolina Congressional Delegation.
SECTION 5.  This resolution is effective upon adoption.