Repeal of 17th amendment.

WORKING DRAFT
2011
STATE OF
WYOMING
11LSO-0118

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
NO.
HJ0004

Repeal of 17th amendment.

Sponsored by:
Representative(s) Miller,
Edmonds
, Harshman, Peasley and Shepperson

A Bill

for

A JOINT RESOLUTION requesting Congress to
propose an amendment to the United States Constitution repealing the seventeenth amendment to the United States Constitution.

WHEREAS, prior to the passage of the seventeenth amendment of the United States Constitution, upon a vacancy in the office of a senator, the governor of a state was empowered, under Article 1, Section 3, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution, to fill the vacancy with a temporary appointment until such time as the legislature convened and selected a replacement; and

WHEREAS, upon ratification of the seventeenth amendment of the United States Constitution in 1913, the power to elect senators from each state was passed to the people thereof; and

WHEREAS, upon ratification of the seventeenth amendment of the United States Constitution in 1913, when a vacancy occurred in the office of a senator, the governor of the state was directed to issue a writ of election to fill the vacancy
,
provided
,
however
,
that the state legislature could empower the governor to appoint a temporary successor until the next election; and

WHEREAS, the founders of our republic and the framers of the constitution recognized that in a republican government, the legislative authority being necessarily predominant, that it should be divided into two (2) different branches composed by different modes of election, creating different principles of action and as little connected with each other as the nature of their common functions and their common dependencies on society would admit; and

WHEREAS,
James Madison
,

in
the
Federalist
Papers,
No. 10
,

explained the reason for bicameralism: "Before taking effect, legislation would have to be ratified by two independent power sources: the people's representatives in the House and the state legislatures' agents in the Senate
"; and

WHEREAS, James Madison, in the Federalist Papers, No. 62, wrote that "The appointment of senators by state legislatures gives the state governments such an agency in the formation of the federal government as must secure the authority of the former"; and

WHEREAS, Alexander Hamilton, in the Federalist Papers, No. 27, concluded that because the legislatures were selected bodies of men, the choice of United States senators would "generally be made with peculiar care and judgment by the legislatures"; and

WHEREAS, the founders of the constitutio
n created an ingenious template of checks and balances, with divisions and distributions of power to provide for and protect the highest sovereignty
―
that of each individual citizen; and

WHEREAS, the seventeenth amendment of the United States Constitutio
n disrupts that balance of power by providing for the selection of senators by popular vote in the same manner representatives are selected by popular vote; and

WHEREAS, popular election of senators has diluted the power of the separate states, diminished federalism and has resulted in the increased power of the federal government over the individual states.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF
WYOMING
:

Section 1.

That the Wyoming Legislature urges the Wyoming Congressional delegation and all the members of the United States Congress to propose an amendment to the United States Constitution repealing the seventeenth amendment thereof.

Section 2.
That the Secretary of State of Wyoming transmit copies of this resolution to the President of the United States, to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress and to the Wyoming Congressional Delegation.

(END)

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HJ0004