State House passes resolutions asserting state sovereignty, challenging federal overreach

Resolutions Asserting State Sovereignty Adopted by Oklahoma House of Representatives

OKLAHOMA CITY – House Resolutions 1009 and 1010 sponsored by Rep. Jay Steagall, R-Yukon, were adopted in the Oklahoma House of Representatives today. The two resolutions assert Oklahoma’s state sovereignty in the face of multiple attempts by the federal government to usurp states’ rights. In particular, the resolutions are meant to combat H.R. 1, the “For the People Act of 2021” and H.R. 8, the “Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021.”

HR 1009 reasserts state sovereignty and the state’s authoritative powers as prescribed in the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and declares H.R. 1 to lie beyond the enumerated authorities delegated to the United States Congress in Article I, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution.

“H.R. 1, known as the For the People Act of 2021, is an attempt by the federal government to usurp our state’s election processes. More specifically, in Division A, Title I of H.R. 1, Congress seeks to commandeer the voter registration processes of the several states,” said Steagall. “Additionally, H.R. 1 directs the states to utilize third-party entities to manage the states’ congressional redistricting efforts – a work that is prescribed to this state legislature by the Oklahoma Constitution. This blatant federal overreach cannot be left unchecked.”

HR 1010 reasserts state sovereignty and the people’s reserved powers as prescribed in the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and declares H.R. 8 to lie beyond the enumerated authorities delegated by the people to the federal government.

“The Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021, or H.R. 8, is a clear violation of the limitations placed on the federal government prescribed in the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution,” said Steagall. “The provisions of H.R. 8 contradict our constituents’ innumerable unalienable rights including their Fourth Amendment Right to be secure in their persons and effects, as well as their Fifth Amendment right to due process of law.”

HR 1009 and HR 1010 will be distributed to the President of the United States, President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and each member of the Oklahoma Congressional Delegation.