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1999 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 499
Reaffirming the General Assembly of Virginia’s notice to the federal government that the Commonwealth strongly opposes any effort to weaken the powers reserved to the states and the people by the 10th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 8, 1999
Agreed to by the Senate, February 18, 1999

WHEREAS, the 10th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States specifies 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 founders of this Republic and the framers of the Constitution of the United States understood that centralized power is inconsistent with republican ideals, and accordingly limited the federal government to certain enumerated powers and reserved all other powers to the states and the people through the 10th Amendment; and

WHEREAS, the federal government has exceeded the clear bounds of its jurisdiction under the Constitution of the United States and has imposed ever-growing numbers of mandates, regulations and restrictions upon state and local governments, thereby removing power and flexibility from the units of government closest to the people and increasing central control in Washington; and

WHEREAS, in 1995 the General Assembly of Virginia passed several resolutions strongly urging the federal government to observe the principles of federalism embodied in the 10th Amendment and to cease and desist, effective immediately, imposing mandates that are beyond the scope of its constitutionally delegated powers; and

WHEREAS, despite the General Assembly’s admonitions, another attempt to disrupt the delicate balance between the powers of the federal government and the states occurred on May 14, 1998, when President Clinton issued Executive Order No. 13083, which dramatically changed the way the federal government deals with state and local governments; and

WHEREAS, the effect of Executive Order No. 13083 was to revoke previous protections for states from federal agency action and widen the areas for preemption and the imposition of federal mandates; and

WHEREAS, on August 6, 1998, in response to negative reaction from congressional, state, and local officials, President Clinton retreated from his position and announced the suspension of Executive Order No. 13083 on federalism; and

WHEREAS, Congress took further action to ensure the effective repeal of Executive Order No. 13083 by amending H.R. 4328, the omnibus appropriations act, to provide that no federal funds could be used to implement, administer, or enforce the executive order; and

WHEREAS, although a major assault on the principles of sovereignty was averted, the attack by the federal government on the principles of federalism does not appear to be abating; and

WHEREAS, many Virginia citizens, disturbed by these recent events and the federal government’s unwillingness to limit its powers as required by the 10th Amendment, are calling for Virginia to reassert its constitutional right of sovereignty; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly of Virginia reaffirm its notice to the federal government that the Commonwealth strongly opposes any effort to weaken the powers reserved to the states and the people by the 10th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates transmit copies of this resolution to the President of the United States, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the President of the United States Senate, and the members of the Congressional Delegation of Virginia so that they may be apprised of the sense of the General Assembly of Virginia in this matter.