Florida 10th Amendment Memorial Filed by Rep. Ritch Workman

Filed: In the Florida House, A 10th Amendment Memorial-- HM 19 of 2010
posted 17 minutes ago by Dean Taffel

The Tenth Amendment Coalition of Florida wishes to thank and congratulate Representative Ritch Workman and staff for filing a well worded 10th Amendment Memorial (HM 19 of 2010) in the Florida House of Representatives on July 1, 2009.

Although the opening Summary statement for this House memorial reads as follows: "Limiting the Scope and Exercise of Federal Power: Urges Congress to honor provisions of U. S. Constitution & U. S. Supreme Court case law which limit scope & exercise of federal power", the body of the Resolution is worded more strongly in that it “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 [its] constitutionally delegated powers.”

As of this writing late on July 8th, the list of sponsors and co-sponsors is growing rapidly and at the moment consists of a principal sponsor, Rep. Ritch Workman (the bill filer), three associate sponsors, Representatives Plakon and Hudson and Dorworth, and 21 co-sponsors as follows:

Co-sponsoring Representatives: Adams; Drake; Eisnaugle; Ford; Grady; Grimsley; Hays; Hukill; Kelly; Mayfield; Nehr; Nelson; O'Toole; Poppell; Precourt; Renuart; Snyder; Stargel; Tobia; Weinstein; Wood

If your representative is part of the above total of 25, please thank him or her for “getting on” the bill. If your representative is not listed above, please encourage that person to do so. A good initial goal is 61 sponsors and co-sponsors. That would be a majority of the Members of the Florida House of Representatives. However, we would like a large majority, which would mean a target of 90 or close thereto.

To find the name of your state Representative how to make contact, you can use the instructions found HERE. Instructions for finding your state representative begins with paragraph A).

Now I must thank the groups and individuals who collected and the THOUSANDS of people who have signed and submitted the Memorial Resolution Petition Form that was made available. At every event at which 10Th Amendment advocates solicited signatures, the response was overwhelming throughout the state. Some friends and I were able to collect a bunch more on Independence Day. These petitions arriving at legislators' offices for months have clearly made them aware of the political popularity of the Tenth Amendment action response to Federal Tyranny.

Please continue to collect and submit the 10th Amendment petitions to maintain the awareness of support of the public for Tenth amendment action.

HM 19 of 2010

F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S

House Memorial

A memorial to the Congress of the United States, urging Congress to honor the provisions of the Constitution of the United States and United States Supreme Court case law which limit the scope and exercise of federal power.

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.