SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 17
(By Senators Boley, Dugan, Anderson, Schoonover,
Kimble, Minear, Deem, Buckalew and Yoder)

Claiming sovereignty of the state of West Virginia under the tenth amendment to the constitution of the United States.

Whereas, The tenth 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 tenth amendment defines the total scope of the federal power as being that specifically granted by the constitution of the United States, Article I, Section 8, and no more; and
Whereas, The scope of power defined by the tenth amendment means that the federal government was created by the states specifically to be an agent of the states; and
Whereas, Today, the states are demonstrably treated as agents of the federal government; and
Whereas, Numerous resolutions have been forwarded to the federal government by the West Virginia Legislature without any response or result from congress or the federal government; and
Whereas, Many federal mandates are directly in violation of the constitution of the United States; and
Whereas, The supreme court of the United States has ruled in New York v. United States, 112 S.Ct. 2408 (1992), that congress may not simply commandeer the legislative and regulatory process of the states; and
Whereas, A number of proposals from previous administrations and some now pending from the present administration and from the congress may further violate the constitution of the United States; therefore, be it
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the state of West Virginia hereby claims sovereignty under the tenth 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, be it
Further Resolved, That all government agencies, quasi- government agencies, their agents and or employees operating within the geographic boundaries of the state of West Virginia or all government agencies, quasi-government agencies and/or their employees whose actions have an effect on the inhabitants or lands or waters of the state of West Virginia shall operate within the confines of the original intent of the constitution of the United States or be subject to penalty of law as provided for now or in the future within the constitution of the state of West Virginia, the West Virginia statutes or the common law as guaranteed by the constitution of the United States; and, be it
Further Resolved, That this resolution serve as notice and demand to the federal government, as our agent, to cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of its constitutionally-delegated powers. The powers delegated to the United States, as defined by Article I, Section 8 of the constitution of the United States, shall be limited to:
The power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
To borrow money on the credit of the United States;
To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes;
To establish post offices and post roads;
To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;
To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court;
To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the laws of nations;
To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;
To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years;
To provide and maintain a navy;
To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces;
To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming and disciplining, the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively, the appointment of the officers , and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the Legislature of the state in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, and other needful buildings; and
To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or office thereof; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the Senate is hereby requested to forward a copy of this resolution to the president of the United States, the speaker of the United States House of Representatives and the president of the United States Senate; the speaker of the House of Delegates and the president of the Senate, or their equivalent, of each state's Legislature; and the congressional delegation from West Virginia.