The Congressional Constitution Caucus

THE CONGRESSIONAL CONSTITUTION CAUCUS -- (House of Representatives - April 27, 2006)

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time of the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. English).

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentlewoman from North Carolina?

There was no objection.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) is recognized for 5 minutes.

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I am a member of several caucuses here in the House. I am very proud to be so. But none of those caucuses, I think, are more important than the Congressional Constitution Caucus.

All of us when we came here took an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States. It is one of the greatest documents ever written, and one that has guided this country and stood us in good stead over the time that we have been a country.

The Congressional Constitution Caucus has a statement of its belief: We ``will be an effective forum to ensure that the Federal Government is operating under the intent of the 10th amendment of our Bill of Rights.''

Those of us on the Congressional Constitution Caucus are very much concerned about the overreaching of the Federal Government. I have spoken on this issue before, but I think it is important that we continue to highlight it for the American people. And I want to read the 10th amendment:

``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, set forth an important principle. The Federal Government may exercise its specific powers 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 bureaucracy that for decades has crept into many facets of traditionally locally controlled government to a Federal judiciary that time and time again completely ignores the intent of the 10th amendment, the Federal Government has become wildly inefficient and is hemorrhaging tax dollars.

Our caucus will point out that not only is State and local control over programs in line with the Constitution, it is a much more cost-effective and efficient way to provide many domestic services to American citizens. It is imperative that we highlight the need to return to a system intended under the reserve clause of the Constitution.

And I want to point out several bills that have been introduced in this session that are initiatives we hope that will move us forward in this regard. The first one is the Sunset Commission legislation. Congressman KEVIN BRADY has introduced two bills, both of which would establish a Sunset Commission to review the continued need for executive branch agencies and programs on a regular basis and make recommendations to the President to rein in the inevitable mission creep.

Federal consent decree legislation, H.R. 1229. Congressman ROY BLUNT has introduced this legislation, the Federal Consent Decree Fairness Act, that would level the playing field for State and local governments faced with activist Federal judges that are legislating from the bench. Federal consent decrees can be an effective judicial tool, but too often activist judges use them to lock in policy changes long after the State or local official that agreed to the decree has left office. H.R. 1229 would make it easier for State and local governments to amend such decrees.

Local control of education. Congressman JOHN CULBERSON has introduced legislation that would restore State sovereignty over public elementary and secondary education in H.R. 3449. The bill would require that a State specifically authorize operation of any Federal education program for which it accepts Federal funds, waiving the State's rights to act inconsistently with any strings attached to that Federal funding.

I am proud to be a cosponsor on all three pieces of this legislation, and in the next few weeks the Congressional Constitution Caucus is going to call attention not only to these bills, but others that we are bringing to the attention of the leadership and the American people to get us back into compliance with the Constitution.

http://thomas.loc.gov