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1995 SESSION

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SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 320 Memorializing Congress to observe the 10th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

Agreed to by the Senate, February 20, 1995 Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 16, 1995

WHEREAS, the 10th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States clearly limits the powers of the federal government by stating that "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 debate over the powers of the federal government in relation to the several states has raged throughout our history, but the recent actions of the federal government, particularly in the area of unfunded mandates, has rekindled the controversy; and

WHEREAS, the restriction on the power of the federal government, so simply and elegantly stated in the 10th Amendment, is the essence of the federalism envisioned by the framers of the Constitution; and

WHEREAS, that vision of federalism, with the states retaining those powers not specifically delegated by the Constitution to the federal government, has been subverted by an insolvent federal government that imposes increasingly onerous and costly mandates on the states; and

WHEREAS, the assault by the Congress of the United States on the 10th Amendment showing no signs of abating, the time for the states to exert their constitutional rights has come; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That Congress be urged to observe the 10th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The Commonwealth of Virginia hereby claims sovereignty under the 10th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That this resolution serve as the Commonwealth of Virginia's notice and demand to the federal government, as our agent, to cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of its constitutionally delegated powers; and, be it

RESOLVED FINALLY, That the Clerk of the Senate transmit copies 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, the members of the Virginia Congressional Delegation, and the Attorney General of Virginia so that they may be apprised of the sense of the Virginia General Assembly.