Three Resolutions Express Frustration with Federal Government CENTRAL VIRGINIA- During the 2011 Session of the Virginia General Assembly earlier this year, the Virginia House of Delegates passed a number of pieces of important legislation, including House Resolution 46, House Resolution 72 and House Resolution 73.
HR 46, patroned by Delegate Christopher K. Peace (R-Hanover) expresses the sense of the Virginia House of Delegates that the Congress of the United States be urged to honor state sovereignty under the 10th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and claims sovereignty for the Commonwealth under the Tenth Amendment over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States. This measure passed the House by a vote of 65-33.
"The Tenth Amendment was included in the bill of rights as a protection for the people against federal overreach in the same way the second amendment protects our gun rights or the first our free exercise of religion," stated Peace. "It makes it very clear that all duties and rights not given to the federal government are reserved to the people and the States."
HR 72, passed by a vote of 64-33, memorializes the Congress of the United States to address the proposed regulations of the Environmental Protection Agency in regards to greenhouse gas emissions.
HR 73 memorializes the Congress of the United States to address the issues of liability, auto warranties, food inflation, and other economically deleterious effects of the current federal ethanol policy and to request that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency withdraw its waivers until all pertinent testing on the impacts of e-15 is completed and satisfactory.
Clerk of the House, G. Paul Nardo, will transmit copies of HR 46, HR 72 and HR 73 to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the President of the United States, United States Senate and the members of the Virginia Congressional Delegation.
A memorializing resolution expresses to Congress the sense of Virginia delegates on these important public policy matters. Peace supported these measures because he has pledged to be a leader in safeguarding the freedoms of "we the people" who are sovereign in this country.