[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 131 (Wednesday, August 2, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S4764]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petitions and memorials were laid before the Senate and 
were referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

       POM-79. A resolution adopted by the Legislature of the 
     State of Hawaii submitting an application to the United 
     States Congress to restore free and fair elections; to the 
     Committee on the Judiciary.

                        House Resolution No. 25

       Whereas, according to The Federalist No. 52 by James 
     Madison, the framers of the Constitution of the United States 
     intended that the Congress of the United States should be 
     ``dependent on the people alone''; and
       Whereas, the ``dependency on the people alone'' has evolved 
     into a dependency on powerful special interests that act 
     through campaigns or third-party groups, thereby creating a 
     fundamental imbalance in our representative democracy; and
       Whereas, Americans across the political spectrum agree that 
     elections in the United States should be free from the 
     disproportional influence of special interests and fair 
     enough that any citizen can be elected into office; and
       Whereas, Article V of the United States Constitution 
     requires Congress to convene a convention for proposing 
     amendments to the federal Constitution on the application of 
     two-thirds of the legislatures of the several states; and
       Whereas, the Twenty-ninth Legislature of the State of 
     Hawaii desires to restore balance and integrity to our 
     elections by proposing a federal constitutional amendment to 
     permanently protect free and fair elections in the United 
     States by addressing issues raised by the decision of the 
     Supreme Court of the United States in Citizens United v. 
     Federal Election Commission, 558 U.S. 310 (2010), and related 
     cases and events; and
       Whereas, the Twenty-ninth Legislature desires that Hawaii 
     have an equal number of delegates to the Convention as any 
     other state; provided that former or current federal office 
     holders, whether elected or appointed, are not eligible to 
     serve as delegates to the Convention; and
       Whereas, the Twenty-ninth Legislature shall retain the 
     ability to restrict or expand the authority of its delegates 
     within the limits expressed herein; and
       Whereas, the Twenty-ninth Legislature intends that this 
     continuing application shall be considered with the 
     applications that have been adopted by the 2013-2014 Vermont 
     Legislature, the 2013-2014 California Legislature, the 
     Ninety-eighth Illinois General Assembly, the 2014-2015 New 
     Jersey Legislature, and the 2015-2016 Rhode Island 
     Legislature, as well as all applications that are 
     subsequently adopted until two-thirds of the several states 
     have applied for, and Congress has convened, a convention for 
     proposing amendments to restore free and fair elections: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, By the House of Representatives of the Twenty-
     ninth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 
     2017, the Senate concurring, that the people of the State of 
     Hawaii speaking through its Legislature, hereby submit an 
     application to the United States Congress to restore free and 
     fair elections as described herein; and be it further
       Resolved, That certified copies of this Concurrent 
     Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United 
     States; Vice President of the United States, as presiding 
     officer of the United States Senate; President Pro Tempore of 
     the United States Senate; the Minority Leader of the United 
     States Senate; the Speaker of the United States House of 
     Representatives; the Minority Leader of the United States 
     House of Representatives; and Hawaii's Congressional 
     delegation.
                                  ____

       POM-80. A resolution adopted by the City Commission of the 
     City of Sunrise, Florida urging the United States Congress to 
     oppose the proposed elimination of the Community Development 
     Block Grant and Home Investment Partnerships Programs and 
     supporting full funding in the Fiscal Year 2018 budget for 
     the United States Department of Housing and Urban 
     Development; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
     Affairs.
       POM-81. A resolution adopted by the City Commission of the 
     City of Sunrise, Florida urging the United States Congress to 
     enact legislation modernizing the immigration system during 
     the 115th Congress; to the Committee on the Judiciary.

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