On April 7, 2009, the North Dakota House of Representatives passed House Concurrent Resolution 59 (HR59) “affirming North Dakota’s sovereignty under the 10th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and to demand the federal government halt its practice of assuming powers and imposing mandates on the states for purposes not enumerated in the Constitution of the United States.”

The final vote tally was 52-40.  See the votes here. (.pdf)

Here’s the full text of the resolution:

A concurrent resolution affirming North Dakota’s sovereignty under the 10th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and to demand the federal government halt its practice of assuming powers and imposing mandates on the states for purposes not enumerated in the Constitution of the United States.

WHEREAS, the 10th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads as follows: “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 10th Amendment defines the total scope of federal power as being that specifically granted by the Constitution of the United States and no more; and

WHEREAS, the scope of power defined by the 10th Amendment means that the federal government was created by the states specifically to be an agent of the states; and

WHEREAS, in 2009 the states are demonstrably treated as agents of the federal government; and

WHEREAS, many powers assumed by the federal government and federal mandates are directly in violation of the 10th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and

WHEREAS, the 10th Amendment assures that we, the people of the United States of America and each sovereign state in the Union of States, now have, and have always had, rights the federal government may not usurp; and

WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court ruled in New York v. United States, 112 S. Ct. 2408 (1992) that Congress may not simply commandeer the legislative and regulatory processes of the states; and

WHEREAS, a number of proposals from previous administrations and some now pending from the present administration and from Congress may further violate the Constitution of the United States;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF NORTH DAKOTA, THE SENATE CONCURRING THEREIN: That the Sixty-first Legislative Assembly affirms this state’s 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 of the United States and demands the federal government halt its practice of assuming powers and imposing mandates upon the states for purposes not enumerated in the Constitution of the United States; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this resolution serves as notice and demand to the federal government, as our agent, to cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of constitutionally delegated powers; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that all compulsory federal legislation that directs states to comply under threat of civil or criminal penalties or sanctions or requires states to pass legislation or lose federal funding be prohibited or repealed; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Secretary of State forward 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, and to each member of the North Dakota Congressional Delegation.

www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2009/04/08/north-dakota-house-passes-hr59-for-state-sovereignty/