Florida Sovereignty Memorial Introduced
01. Jul, 2009 
27 Comments
Today, Florida State Represenatives Workman and Plakon, along with co-sponsors Dorworth, Eisnaugle, Kelly, Precourt, and Tobia introduced House Memorial 19 (HM19), which “Urges Congress to honor provisions of U. S. Constitution & U. S. Supreme Court case law which limit scope & exercise of federal power.” (h/t David Reid)
The goal of the memorial is to serve “as a notice and a demand to the Federal Government…to cease and desist, effective immediately, from issuing mandates that are beyond the scope of [their] constitutionally delegated powers.”
Florida is now the 37th state where such a resolution has been introduced. So far, seven states have had both houses of their legislature approve a sovereignty resolution, while three states have rejected them.
See a full list of state resolutions here.
Florida Groups Supporting State Sovereignty:
Read the full text of the memorial below:
WHEREAS, the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States proclaims: “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 scope of federal power as being that specifically granted by the Constitution of the United States and no more, and
WHEREAS, the limitation of power contained in the Tenth Amendment established the foundational principle that the Federal Government was created by the states specifically to be an agent of the states, and yet currently the states are demonstrably treated as agents of the Federal Government, and
WHEREAS, many federal laws are in direct violation of the Tenth Amendment, and
WHEREAS, the Tenth Amendment ensures that we, the people of the United States of America and each sovereign state in the Union of States, now have, and have always had, rights the Federal Government may not usurp, and
WHEREAS, Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution of the United States begins: “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government,” and the Ninth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States declares: “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 does not have the authority to simply commandeer the states’ legislative processes by compelling the states to enact and enforce federal regulatory programs, and
WHEREAS, a number of proposals from previous administrations and some proposals 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 Legislature of the State of Florida: That the Legislature 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.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this memorial serves as a notice and a demand to the Federal Government, as our agent, to cease and desist, effective immediately, from issuing mandates that are beyond the scope of these constitutionally delegated powers.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all compulsory federal legislation that 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.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be dispatched to the President of the United States, to the President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, to the presiding officers of each state legislature of the United States of America, and to each member of the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.
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Welcome to the movement Florida!!
It’s about time! I’ve been getting all my friends on Myspace and Facebook to message our Representatives for this and it’s finally come about! Huzzah!
Way to go Florida and all of the other States that have joined into this movement. Wish I could get California to join it but our state representatives aren’t listening to us any more than the federal representatives do. Elections are coming though.
Kevin, being in CA as well, I understand your frustration. If you’re in SoCal, there’s a few groups that are forming in support of the 10th here. Going to take some persistent effort, just like all the people pushing for it in FL.
http://10th-amendment.meetup.com/
Better late than never!!! YAY!
Welcome Florida!! This will resonate well in North Florida where I lived many years and in the panhandle. South Florida is another matter. Hope it passes both houses of the Legislature.
I would like Ca. to have this! This is great. We need to go to the supreme court on all the freedoms we are losing that Obama is mandating with his czars!
Finally, Florida we did it! we have been working hard for this.Now to take it to the next level is going to be more hard work. Here we go again.
As a Florida resident, I am particularly happy about this…been jealous of the other states who have gone ahead with state’s rights. Will do my part to spread the news and petition legilators.
We all realize that states rights are being ignored and that the Federal Government is out of control. What we need is leadership with a plan that incorporates a call to action (other than waiting for elections) to limit the activities of the personnel that should be representing “We, the people.” The 535 members of Congress act in their own interest rather than represent the will of the people. Government of the people, by the people and for the people. Adherence to this process if not voluntary, it is required. With as many attorneys as there are in this country surely someone can assert legal vigilance in some manner to stop this nonsense.
We all realize that states rights are being ignored and that the Federal Government is out of control. What we need is leadership with a plan that incorporates a call to action (other than waiting for elections) to limit the activities of the personnel that should be representing “We, the people.” The 535 members of Congress act in their own interest rather than represent the will of the people. Government of the people, by the people and for the people. Adherence to this process is not voluntary, it is required. With as many attorneys as there are in this country surely someone can assert legal vigilance in some manner to stop this nonsense.
Woderful for my mother that lives in Florida,but when will it happen here in New York????
my hat is off to all of you in Florida who worked to get the message of the tenth through to your friends, family and ultimately your state legislators. You are all living proof of the validity of the tenth amendment strategy! To those in states whose legislators have yet to join Florida in resisting DC, time to turn up the heat…there is still a long way to go, but the momentum is building.
Behind this 100%. Have been emailing, calling, faxing my rep’s (as well as others not in my district) telling them that we will be holding their feet to the fire come 2010 because we are taking names and kicking butt now…and that if they value their continued political careers, they will start listening to THE SILENT MAJORITY who will no longer be silenced!
Way to go Florida. Now, hopefully, I won’t have to move to Arizona or another state who realizes what this out of control Administration and Congress is doing to our country. Holy Smokes….15 or so czars and counting? Took Russia 400 years to get that many.
Kudos to Workman, Plakon, Dorworth, Eisnaugle, Kelly, Precourt & Tobia….I have emailed or called each and every one of them to thank them for upholding their Oath to the great State of Florida. Have you? If not, please do. I’ve done the legwork; their phone numbers and emails are below. The rest is up to you.
Workman: 850-488-9720 or 321-757-7019 (ritch.workman@myfloridahouse.gov)
Plakon: 850-488-2231 or 407-262-7520 (scott.plakon@myfloridahouse.gov)
Dorworth: 850-488-5843 or 407-333-1815 (chris.dorworth@fyfloridahouse.gov)
Eisnaugle: 850-488-9770 or 407-893-3141 (eric.eisnaugle@myfloridahouse.gov)
Kelly: 850-488-0335 or 352-732-1313 (kurt.kelly@myfloridahouse.gov)
Precourt:850-488-0256 or 407-814-6138 (stephen.precourt@myfloridahouse.gov)
Tobia: 850-488-2528 or 321-984-4848 (john.tobia@myfloridahouse.gov
And CALL, WRITE, EMAIL your Representatives over and over again…then email everybody on your list and ask them to do the same….this is imperative this be passed.
Bryce wrote:
To those in states whose legislators have yet to join Florida in resisting DC, time to turn up the heat…
Amen. But keep a real close eye on Oklahoma. Far be it from me to toot my (or my state’s) own horn, but we’ve got a real special deal here in my state. We’ll be on the forefront of this issue from hence-forward. It is just natural that we should be because we’re arguably the most independent, self-governing state in this ‘union,’ which is simply a reflection of the independency of the people of Oklahoma. Albeit, I wish we were more so. But even I have been extolled by others for my apparently limitless patience.
You know what they say, though: “It’s a poor dog that won’t wag its own tail.”
Well, that’s the GOOD NEWS….now here’s the bad: It won’t be considered by the Legislature until March 2010! It didn’t make the 2009 calendar.
Thomas Jefferson Kentucky Resolve 1799
“if those who administer the general government be permitted to transgress the limits fixed by that compact, by a total disregard to the special delegations of power therein contained, an annihilation of the state governments, and the creation, upon their ruins, of a general consolidated government, will be the inevitable consequence”
That new government ought to be called “The State of America”