INTRODUCTION OF HOUSE FILE 997 ON SOVEREIGNTY OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA

On February 19, 2009, several Minnesota Representatives introduced a resolution which would re-assert the sovereign rights of the State of Minnesota under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

The Chief Author is Rep. Marty Seifert (R-Marshall), the House Minority Leader. The co-authors include:

The Tenth Amendment states: "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."

The legislation will assert the sovereignty of Minnesota in the face of any exercise of unauthorized power through federal Executive Orders, Congressional actions, or judicial orders.

Advocates of big government try to use all three branches to bolster federal power over the states' role in protecting individual rights.

Activist federal judges invent "invisible" authorization from the constitution; for example, federal judges invented an unwritten "right to travel" as grounds to prohibit states from limiting welfare benefits for people who moved into a state to the level of benefits in their former states of residence.

· Congressional advocates claim that the Tenth Amendment is overpowered by: the authorization in Article I for Congress to pass "all necessary and proper laws" to implement the constitution; the sweeping "Commerce Clause" clause in Article I; the "power of the purse" to compel or entice state action by placing strings on federal funds; and two centuries of federal judicial decisions upholding most Congressional exercises of power over the states. The courts have struck down Congressional actions for violating the Tenth Amendment only three times since 1936.

· President Obama has already issued three Executive Orders that affect the contracts and rights of employers involved in government contracts, which could impact state costs for public projects. He has also ordered that individual taxpayers help to fund abortions in foreign countries.

Is there reason to be concerned about unconstitutional over-reaching through Executive Orders, Congressional fiats, or judicial injunctions?

Mandatory Service: On his presidential campaign web-site, President Obama called for mandatory service: "Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by developing a plan to require 50 hours of community service in middle school and high school and 100 hours of community service in college every year." White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel has urged that "all Americans between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five will be asked to serve their country by going through three months of basic training, civil defense preparation and community service." He added that "Young people will know that between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five, the nation will enlist them for three months of civilian service."

Drafting A National Civilian Security Force: In a speech on last July 2, President Obama also said: "We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives we've set. . . We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well funded."

Restricting Free Speech: Either Congress or the Federal Communications Commission may try to break up politically-oriented television networks by re-instating the long-defunct "Fairness Doctrine." The top ten conservative radio shows could be barred by new "local content" requirements that would block local stations from carrying many syndicated shows.

The Second Amendment: White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel has issued an order to halt implementation of all pending regulations from the Bush Administration; advocates for personal protection believe that this order was aimed at pro-Second Amendment rules.

The list could go on. But the point is clear. In order to protect individual rights, states must assert their sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to be a bulwark against federal intrusions on civil liberties.

How would this legislation be enforced in the face of federal intrusions? First, the mere fact that Minnesota leads other states to follow suit will serve as a deterrent to federal activists seeking to engorge the federal government and intrude on individual rights. Second, it would send a clear message to federal judges that the Tenth Amendment is not a "dead letter." Third, it will signal federal bureaucrats that the states and the people will guard zealously their rights against a careless and misguided central government.

Eight other states are considering such legislation. The Minnesota version (below) is very similar to the Michigan version. The Oklahoma and Washington versions claim absolute sovereignty over undelegated powers. The Arizona version would deem federal laws and rules that exceed delegated powers to be repealed. The New Hampshire version warns that continued federal exercise of undelegated power would lead to nullification of the U.S. Constitution. The Montana and Missouri versions would call for the waiver of federal policies on firearms and abortion, respectively. The Hawaii movement appears to be calling for secession and independence.

Minnesota can strike the respectful and sufficient stance by asserting its rights to protect its citizens from undelegated usurpations of power and rights by the federal government.

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The Language of HF 997, the Minnesota resolution on sovereignty:

A concurrent resolution to affirm Minnesota's sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and to urge the federal government to halt its practice of imposing mandates upon the states for purposes not enumerated by 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, 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 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 (the Senate concurring), That we hereby affirm Minnesota's 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. We also urge the federal government to halt its practice of imposing mandates upon the states for purposes not enumerated by the Constitution of the United States; and be it further

Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the Office of the President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and the members of the Minnesota congressional delegation.

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