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Resolution urges Congress to affirm Tennessee's sovereignty

Published March 29th, 2009 | 0 Comments

Urging resolutions in the Tennessee legislature typically don’t get much attention, but one might have state political bloggers buzzing.

It’s a resolution urging the U.S. Congress to recognize Tennessee’s sovereignty under the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

“I have received a number of e-mails and phone calls concerning the legislation, and much, if not all, of the communication has been in support of the legislation,” the resolution’s sponsor, state Rep. Susan Lynn, R-Mount Juliet, said in an e-mail.

The 10th Amendment, ratified Dec. 15, 1791, says: “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.”

State sovereignty, Lynn said in her blog — www.susan-lynn.blogspot.com — is a big deal to legislators.

“It is what keeps the federal government from overstepping its constitutional bounds,” she wrote. “Today many state legislators, including some in Tennessee, have decided it is time to affirm state sovereignty ... and demand the federal government halt its practice of assuming powers and of imposing mandates upon the states for purposes not enumerated by the Constitution.”

A number of Northeast Tennessee Republican lawmakers have signed on as resolution co-sponsors, including state Rep. David Hawk of Greeneville, House GOP Leader Jason Mumpower of Bristol, state Rep. Matthew Hill of Jonesborough and state Rep. Mike Harrison of Rogersville.

Lawmakers in more than 20 states have introduced similar resolutions — with some expressing dissatisfaction with the policies of President Barack Obama’s administration, federal mandates on states or the bad economy.

Lynn indicated the resolution is needed because states “are demonstrably treated as agents” of the federal government.

“Many powers and federal mandates are directly in violation of the 10th Amendment to the Constitution; this limits our freedom and costs taxpayers untold billions of dollars — or should I say trillions? ... We should also demand that the federal government halt and reverse its practice of assuming powers and of imposing mandates upon the states for purposes not enumerated by the Constitution.”

For more information go to www.capitol.tn.gov. The resolution’s number is HJR 0108.

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