I write this as a constitutional conservative for constitutional conservatives. Victory, therefore, can only be defined as the restoration of individual liberty through the smallest and least intrusive government possible. Historically and logically this requires government to be small and subject to local control. Centralizing governmental authority is antithetical to this principle and to the founders’ vision. For Texans, HCR 77 is a good first and logical step in this restorative process.
The full text of HCR 77 can be found here http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/83R/billtext/html/HC00077I.htm. HCR 77 currently has five sponsors, all Republicans. The Three primary sponsors are James White of Texas District 19 which is north and east of Houston, Steve Toth of Texas District 15 which is north of Houston, and Phil Stephenson from Texas District 85 which is in west Texas from Lubbock to Big Spring. The two current co-sponsors are Phil King from Texas District 61 which is just west of Fort Worth, and William Zedler of Texas District 96 which is found in the mid cities between Dallas and Ft. Worth.
HCR 77 is simply a statement of principle. It asserts that Texans and the State of Texas reserve for themselves all the powers not specifically granted to the US federal government in the US Constitution, or prohibited to both the states and the people in the US Constitution. This is consistent with both the Tenth Amendment of the US Constitution and the Constitution of the State of Texas which was accepted and authorized by the US government as a condition of Texas’ re-entry into the Union after the Civil War.
HCR 77 is a statement of principles already agreed to by Texas and the US government which have never been modified. It reasserts our legal relationship to the federal government. Signing on to this resolution simply takes measure of our current state representatives. As its only function is to restate our legal relationship to the federal government, one must wonder what changes in this relationship, representatives who are unwilling to sign on would make. As I suspect our current Speaker of the Texas House, Representative Joe Straus, will be reluctant to bring such a measure to the floor, it is necessary to get all constitutionally grounded representatives to co-sponsor the measure. This standard should apply to all Texas House Representatives as they all take an “oath of office.”
I ask all Texans who are concerned about the principle of individual liberty to contact your Texas House Representative (Who Represents Me) and urge them to co-sponsor HCR 77. Voting in favor is insufficient in this case. We need to get their commitment to co-sponsor HCR 77. If no vote is allowed, the only way to get our representatives on record is to get them to co-sponsor the resolution. How does one explain 80 co-sponsors and yet no vote? If our Representatives are to stand up on our behalf, it is our responsibility to stand behind them.
