April 13, 2017
HOUSE SELECT COMMITTEE ON STATE & FEDERAL POWER & RESPONSIBILITY
TESTIMONY
Re: SJR 2, Applying to the Congress of the United States to call a convention under Article V of
the United States Constitution for the limited purpose of proposing one or more amendments to
the constitution to impose fiscal restraints on the federal government, to limit the power and
jurisdiction of the federal government, and to limit the terms of office of federal officials and
members of Congress.
Saundra Lapsley, Pilot Point, Denton County -- Volunteer, Convention of States Project
Chairman Darby, Vice Chairman Murr, and other distinguished committee members, I want to
thank you for this opportunity to address SJR 2.
Power From the People
“The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive and judiciary, in the same hands,
whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, selfappointed, or elective, may justly
be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.”
James Madison, Federalist 47.
Too much power in the hands of too few was a fear that consumed the minds of the Framers of
the Constitution as they labored through the summer of 1787 to create a document that would
more adequately suit the needs of the fledgling United States than the Articles of
Confederation. Having just overthrown the tyranny of a King, they were afraid of putting too
much power in the hands of a chief executive.
After much debate, they decided to create three branches of government, balancing the power
among them. Each branch was to act as a check on the other two. If one branch encroached on
the power of another, the offended branch was supposed to push back. Additionally, the states or
the people were to exercise any power not delegated to the federal government by the
Constitution. (Amendment X) This was yet another check on the accumulation of powers.
Unfortunately, the balance of powers that the Founders created now has eroded. The federal
government has taken over more and more of the authority intended to reside with the states
and the people. Because there is no enforcement power in the Tenth Amendment, the States
have little recourse against this overreach, other than to sue the very government that is
overstepping its bounds…and even this power has been circumscribed by the Supreme Court.
(Please see References below.)
The Congress has delegated much of its legislative power to administrative agencies. For the
most part, Congress never votes on any of the massive rules and penalties created by each of
these bureaucracies. To make matters worse, there is no balance of power within the
administrative agencies. The agencies themselves are the maker, enforcer and judge of their
own rules; in essence, they have become our king.
It is fortuitous that the Founders foresaw a time when the powers of government would need
to be rebalanced. They put into the Constitution a method by which amendments could be
created, not only by Congress but also without the involvement of Congress, and without the
involvement of the President. They gave the States the power to fix Washington D.C. when it
can’t or won’t fix itself.
That method, found in Article V, is what we, supporters of the Convention of States project,
more than 118,000 strong in Texas and over 2 million of us nationwide, are calling upon you to
implement. We ask you to allow Texas to join together with other states in an amending
convention to propose ways to rectify the problems that exist in our federal government.
We ask you to act to restore the power that has been taken from the hands of the people and
wrongly concentrated in the hands of the few. Bring the power back to the people.
References:
Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority, 469 U.S. 528 (1985). Overruling previous Supreme Court
cases, this case essentially said the Court was no longer going to play a role in determining whether the Tenth
Amendment protects states from federal government overreach. The Court opined that “the political process ensures
that laws that unduly burden the States will not be promulgated.”
Broken But Unbowed, Greg Abbott, 2016.
Governor Abbott has suggested proposed Constitutional amendments to re-empower states to bring suit for a
violation of the Tenth Amendment and to curtail power of administrative agencies to make federal law and to
preempt state law. (p. 236)
To put teeth into the Tenth Amendment and to protect state sovereignty:
Amend the Tenth to clarify that all powers not “expressly delegated to the federal government in the Constitution
remain with the states and the people. Amend the Tenth Amendment to give states the power to sue the federal
government when it oversteps its bounds. Allow a 2/3 majority of the states to override a federal law or regulation.
To correct an executive branch that has exceeded its intended Constitutional role:
Prohibit administrative agencies – and the unelected bureaucrats who staff them – from creating federal law.
Prohibit administrative agencies from preempting state law.