Philosophy of the 10th Amendment
Washington,
Jul 11, 2006 -
Mr. Speaker,
For this week’s Congressional Constitution Caucus’ Constitution Hour, we will be further discussing the philosophy of the 10th Amendment to the Constitution. As we have discussed, this amendment could be the most important amendment in defining the Founding Fathers’ vision of the role of the Federal government.
The Tenth Amendment states:
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.
These historic words, penned by our Founding Fathers, some of the most ingenious political minds this world has ever known, sets forth an important principal: The Federal government may exercise the specific powers that are listed in the Constitution, and the States and the people may exercise all remaining powers.
Unfortunately, as the authors of the Constitution have long since passed, so too have many of their foundations for our system of government. Between an ever expanding Federal Government, that for decades has crept into many facets of once locally controlled areas, to a Federal judiciary that in many instances completely ignores the intent of federalism, all resulting in a Federal government that has become a wildly inefficient bureaucracy.
This concept is as old as our nation. Our Founders were very clear when establishing our system of government. They intended to set up a republic of sovereign states, capable of self-governing, with a small, central government with clearly defined, limited powers.
Our Constitution must be thought of as a “Social Contract” between the people and the government. We must think of this most important document as a trade where our forefathers gave up certain, specific rights for services in exchange for limited services specified, most notably defense of the people and the nation.
All other inherently governmental services, the founders were very clear, contracts, or State Constitutions were to be made between each State and their citizens.
We refer to this as Federalism. That only the powers specifically listed in the Constitution are to be administered by the Federal government, all others are to be left to the State governments, local governments, or to the people themselves.
In the upcoming weeks, this body will work on establishing a Sunset Commission. As we’ve noted before during these discussions, this type of endeavor is an excellent step to returning our Federal government to the size and scope it was originally intended to be when it was created.
During ongoing negotiations to bring this initiative to the floor, I have suggested that any created commission be one with teeth. One with enough ability to achieve its intended purpose. We already have numerous, highly-proficient outside organizations who track the effectiveness of the various components of the Federal government. This commission needs to do more. It needs the ability to make sure these programs never return to the government roles.
I have recommended adding a BRAC like component to the commission to put the power in Congress’ hand and make it much easier to eliminate ineffective programs.
Also, to stay true to our Republican principles of a strict adherence to the Founding Fathers’ intent, I also propose an additional criterion for any sunset commission to use in its evaluation of a Federal program; the Constitutionality of that program. Some programs the commission reviews, they will decide are ineffective and should be ended; some they will find are effective. But even if they are effective, but there is no Constitutional authority for the Federal government to be involved, then that program needs to be eliminated.
Also, speaking of spending, let me also mention a point on the deficit numbers we received this morning. While I am very happy that our deficit has dropped significantly and have been proud to support the plans to achieve this, we must not use the increased revenue to return to further spending or further government growth.
The deficit has decreased because tax rates were lowered and the economy grew. The economy, the job market, the investment markets, they like a smaller government. They thrive on the efficiency of the free market and struggle under the burden of a bureaucratic over-sized Federal government.
Let me close by once again stating adhering to a strict interpretation of the intent of our founding should not only be done because limitations were put in place, but also there are practical, timely benefits to following this philosophy.
Thank you for all who have came to participate in this week’s Constitution Hour and for all the support you provide.
