[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 145 (Wednesday, September 11, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5446-S5447]
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-132. A joint resolution adopted by the Legislature of 
     the State of California urging the Department of Health and 
     Human Services to rescind the new Title X regulations that 
     will impede access to essential, time-sensitive health care 
     for low-income individuals across California and the nation; 
     to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

                     Senate Joint Resolution No. 4

       Whereas, The federal Title X family planning program was 
     established in 1970 by the United States Congress with broad 
     bipartisan support to provide high-quality family planning 
     services and other preventive care to low-income and 
     uninsured individuals who may otherwise lack access to health 
     care; and
       Whereas, Title X is the sole federal program dedicated to 
     funding family planning services, including birth control, 
     pregnancy testing, and the prevention and treatment of 
     sexually transmitted diseases; and
       Whereas, Title X supports outreach and education efforts 
     that link community members to care; and
       Whereas, California's Title X provider network, which is 
     the largest and most diverse Title X system in the nation, 
     served more than one million low-income Californians in 2017 
     and over 25 percent of all Title X patients nationwide; and

[[Page S5447]]

       Whereas, Every $1 invested in publicly funded family 
     planning and related services saves taxpayers $7 by helping 
     avert costs related to unintended pregnancies; and
       Whereas, One billion three hundred thousand dollars is 
     saved annually in California because of public investment in 
     family planning and related services provided at Title X 
     health care centers across the state; and
       Whereas, Services provided by clinics that received Title X 
     funding in California helped patients avert over 200,000 
     unintended pregnancies in 2015; and
       Whereas, Title X is an essential part of California's 
     family planning safety net and has played a critical role in 
     reducing unintended pregnancy rates to a 30-year low, and
       Whereas, The new federal Title X regulations interfere with 
     the provider-patient relationship and gag Title X funded 
     agencies by directing providers to withhold full and accurate 
     medical information from patients about pregnancy options or 
     by prohibiting providers from giving patients referrals for 
     abortion care; and
       Whereas, Patients rely on and trust their health care 
     providers to provide a comprehensive, accurate, and unbiased 
     evaluation of their condition, along with all available 
     treatment options, and
       Whereas, The American Medical Association's Code of Medical 
     Ethics establishes that withholding information without the 
     patient's knowledge or consent is ethically unacceptable and 
     that patients should be informed of all burdens, risks, and 
     expected benefits of all medical options; and
       Whereas, The State of California strongly believes public 
     dollars should go toward family planning programs that 
     provide comprehensive, medically accurate, unbiased 
     information, and offer the full range of contraceptive 
     methods; and
       Whereas, The federal government's harmful Title X 
     regulations are likely to force many health care 
     organizations and qualified family planning providers in 
     California to choose between a critical funding source and 
     accepting onerous and unnecessary regulations, resulting in 
     reduced access to quality, time-sensitive care for low-income 
     individuals across the state: Now, therefore. be it
       Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of 
     California, jointly, That the Legislature respectfully urges 
     the United States Department of Health and Human Services to 
     rescind the new Title X regulations that will impede access 
     to essential, time-sensitive health care for low-income 
     individuals across California and the nation; and be it 
     further
       Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies 
     of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the 
     United States, to the Speaker of the House of 
     Representatives, to the Majority Leader of the Senate, to 
     each Senator and Representative from California in the 
     Congress of the United States, to the United States 
     Department of Health and Human Services. and to the author 
     for appropriate distribution.
                                  ____

       POM-133. A concurrent resolution adopted by the Senate of 
     the State of Mississippi urging the United States Congress, 
     pursuant to Article V of the United States Constitution, to 
     call a Convention for the specific and exclusive purpose of 
     proposing amendments to the Constitution of the United States 
     limited to the purposes of imposing fiscal restraints on the 
     federal government and limiting the power and jurisdiction of 
     the federal government; to the Committee on the Judiciary.

                  Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 596

       Whereas, the Founders of the United States Constitution 
     empowered state legislators to be guardians of liberty 
     against excessive use of power by the federal government; and
       Whereas, the federal government has created a crushing 
     national debt through improper and imprudent spending; and
       Whereas, the federal government has ceased to operate under 
     a proper interpretation of the United States Constitution; 
     and
       Whereas, the federal government has invaded the legitimate 
     roles of the states through the manipulative process of 
     federal mandates, most of which are unfunded to a great 
     extent; and
       Whereas, it is the solemn duty of the states to protect the 
     liberty of our people, particularly for the generations to 
     come, by proposing amendments to the United States 
     Constitution through a Convention of the States under Article 
     V for the purpose of restraining these and related abuses of 
     power; Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate of the State of Mississippi, the 
     House of Representatives Concurring Therein:
       SECTION 1. That pursuant to Article V of the Constitution 
     of the United States, the Legislature of the State of 
     Mississippi joins in the applications of the States of 
     Georgia (SR 736, 2014), Florida (SM 476, 2014), Alaska (HJR 
     22, 2014), Alabama (HJR 112, 2015), Tennessee (SJR 67, 2016), 
     Indiana (SJR 14, 2016), Oklahoma (SJR 4, 2016), Louisiana 
     (SCR 52, 2016), Texas (SJR 2, 2017), Missouri (SCR 4, 2017), 
     North Dakota (HCR 3006, 2017), Arizona (HCR 2010, 2017), and 
     Arkansas (SJR 3, 2019) to call a Convention for the specific 
     and exclusive purpose of proposing amendments to the 
     Constitution of the United States limited to the purposes 
     stated in those applications; provided, however, that the 
     commissioners from Mississippi to the Convention are 
     expressly limited to consideration and support of amendments 
     that impose fiscal restraints on the federal government, and 
     amendments that limit the power and jurisdiction of the 
     federal government, and no amendments on any other topic 
     whatsoever. The Mississippi delegates are hereby instructed 
     not to support term limits for members of Congress.
       SECTION 2. It is the express intention of the Mississippi 
     Legislature that this application is to be aggregated with 
     the applications of the above-mentioned states and with 
     subsequent applications of other states limited to the 
     purposes identified in this application and in those 
     applications of the above-mentioned states.
       SECTION 3. The Legislature of Mississippi adopts this 
     application expressly subject to the following reservations, 
     understandings and declarations:
       (a) An application to the Congress of the United States to 
     call an Amendment Convention of the States pursuant to 
     Article V of the United States Constitution confers no power 
     to Congress other than the power to call such a Convention. 
     The power of Congress to exercise this ministerial duty 
     consists solely of the authority to name a reasonable time 
     and place for the initial meeting of a Convention;
       (b) Congress shall perform its ministerial duty of calling 
     an Amendment Convention of the States only upon the receipt 
     of applications for an Amendment Convention for the 
     substantially same purpose as this application from two-
     thirds of the legislatures of the several states;
       (c) Congress does not have the power or authority to 
     determine any rules for the governing of a Convention for 
     proposing amendments called pursuant to Article V of the 
     United States Constitution. Congress does not have the power 
     to set the number of delegates to be sent by any state to 
     such a Convention, nor does it have the power to name 
     delegates to such a Convention. The power to name delegates 
     remains exclusively within the authority of the legislatures 
     of the several states;
       (d) By definition, an Amendment Convention of the states 
     means that states shall vote on the basis of one state, one 
     vote;
       (e) A Convention for proposing amendments convened pursuant 
     to this application shall he limited to consideration of the 
     topics specified herein and no other. This application is 
     made with the express understanding that an amendment that in 
     any way seeks to amend, modify or repeal any provision of the 
     Bill of Rights shall not be authorized for consideration at 
     any stage. This application shall be void if ever used at any 
     stage to consider any change to any provision of the Bill of 
     Rights;
       (f) Pursuant to Article V of the United States 
     Constitution, Congress may determine whether proposed 
     amendments shall be ratified by the legislatures of the 
     several states or by special state ratification conventions. 
     The Legislature of Mississippi recommends that Congress 
     select ratification by the legislatures of the several 
     states; and
       (g) The Legislature of Mississippi may provide further 
     instructions to its delegates and may recall its delegates at 
     any time for a breach of a duty or a violation of the 
     instructions provided.
       SECTION 4. The Secretary of State is hereby directed to 
     transmit copies of this application to the President and 
     Secretary of the United States Senate and to the Speaker and 
     Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, and 
     copies to the members of the said Senate and House of 
     Representatives from this state; also to transmit copies 
     hereof to the presiding officers of each of the legislative 
     houses in the several states, requesting their cooperation.
       SECTION 5. This application constitutes a continuing 
     application in accordance with Article V of the Constitution 
     of the United States until the legislatures of at least two-
     thirds of the several states have made applications on the 
     same subject, or until the Mississippi Legislature acts to 
     withdraw this application.

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