Rep. Andy Holt – Reclaiming Tenth Amendment From Obama

Mandeville, LA – Exclusive Transcript – We have Representative Andy Holt on the Dude Maker Hotline.  Representative Holt, how are you?  Let me ask you, in the action that you took, is it proper to say that you filed a lawsuit, or is it proper to say that you asked the governor, Bill Haslam, to file a lawsuit?  Check out today’s transcript for the rest….

Begin Mike Church Show Transcript

Mike:  We have Representative Andy Holt on the Dude Maker Hotline.  Representative Holt, how are you?

Rep. Andy Holt:  Good morning, Mike.  This is Andy Holt.  I really like the Fame of Our Fathers.  I really liked some of the little quips those guys had that are so outdated and old, especially when they talked about the federal government having few and very defined powers.  I think their few and defined powers have exceeded the authority that they have, especially the executive authority granted to our president with his announcement that he made last week.

Mike:  Let me ask you, in the action that you took, is it proper to say that you filed a lawsuit, or is it proper to say that you asked the governor, Bill Haslam, to file a lawsuit?

Rep. Holt:  The action that we’re taking is that we’re filing a House Joint Resolution.  I’m sure you’re familiar with that process.  What we’re doing is we want to file this resolution that will urge the governor, through all the means that he has at his authority, which more than likely will be vested in the state attorney general, to join with author states — we assume, we know for sure that at least Texas and Oklahoma have intentions to file a similar type of lawsuit.  Hopefully we can, again, band together, as through the means of our executive branch, and obviously with the urging of the legislative branch here in the State of Tennessee, to file this suit and to really address the idea that the commandeering of our states’ rights, that we don’t agree with, we think are being trampled upon by the president’s decision.

Mike:  Let me ask you a follow-up question.  Representative Holt, you were just remarking about the little clip I played from Fame of Our Fathers.  It’s probably not well known to many Americans, and I suspect probably not well known, unfortunately, to many legislators — and that’s not directed at you so much as it is legislators in other states.  Tennessee is a very active state in defending its sovereignty and defending its rights.  Back in the day when the Constitution first went into effect, about the time that Tennessee had ratified, your legislature and your governor executing the laws, you would have been the primary promoter of how to deal with what I like to refer to as alien friends.  You would have been very jealous and protective of: If we want aliens, immigrants, to come in for whatever reason, we’ll be the ones that will determine this and the terms and conditions.  That has been totally lost. 

What are your thoughts on not just Tennessee but states in general — you mentioned Oklahoma — of states reasserting themselves and telling the Feds: We don’t trust you.  You’re going to pull an Obama on us.  You guys continue to not follow through on enforcing the deportation and immigration laws we have on our books, so we’re going to start enforcing them.

Rep. Holt:  Unfortunately, since June 1, 1796, when we ratified the 16^th state here in Tennessee, we’ve, unfortunately I think, just as you have duly noted, lost a lot of the reliance that we had upon the Tenth Amendment and the rights that were given to us as a vested, as a sovereign state.  You’re right, a lot of my legislative colleagues seem to reference the Supremacy Clause 800 times a day instead of taking for themselves a better understanding of exactly what rights the Supremacy Clause gives and what rights the federal government officials have over us as a state.  I think you’re correct.  I think if we would bind ourselves together, in many ways like our forefathers did to create this nation, and we would flex our own power that we have and say enough is enough — there are several court decisions, obviously, that we can reference everything from slaves all the way up to how the federal government cannot coercively withhold federal funds from us as a state because we choose not to go along with some of the decisions that have been made by the federal government.  We have to, at some point, begin to reassert our sovereignty. 

For me, I’ll just give you a quick background.  Four years ago when I was really struggling with the idea of: Do I need to run for a state office?  I would tell my friends, I would show that I was interested in running for this position, and literally they would laugh.  People would say: You’re a farmer.  You don’t even have a degree in political science.  Thank God I don’t.  Why do you want to do this?  I don’t know why, but I would tell people: I’m scared to death of Barack Obama.  I’m scared to death of the federal government.  I want to do whatever I can to protect my fellow man here in the State of Tennessee from their drastic decisions that I know this president wants to take and wants to lead us down the wrong path.

When I come up to today, this week when we file this resolution and we start to reclaim our sovereignty in the State of Tennessee, I understand why I think personally the Lord called me to this position.  This just kind of vindicates the fact that, if more people who are just common guys, common men and women just like me — listen, I’m not a highly educated guy.  I’m not a constitutional attorney.  I’m not even an attorney.  Thank goodness.  I’m just a farmer who’s had enough.  I’ve got four kids and another one on the way.  I’ve got a small farm here in Tennessee, and I don’t want it trampled upon.  I want my kids to grow up in a free country.  I don’t want them to live under a tyrant.  If we don’t stand up and if more people don’t do just like I did, just common people run for office, it’s going to get trampled on.  I hope everybody that’s listening understands that, and I hope you’ve got that same burning fire within you that I have.

Mike:  I do.  Folks, I just want to read you part of the press release that Representative Holt and others have sent out as a statement of what the legislature intends and what its future intentions are, too.

[reading]

“President Obama’s moves are a dangerous and insidious display of blatant abuse of power. Tennesseans will not stand for it, and I am here to demand the integrity of our Constitution and our state is protected,” said State Senator Mae Beavers (R- Mt. Juliet). “As state legislators, we have a constitutional responsibility to ensure our state is not legally commandeered by the federal government.”

[end reading]

Mike:  That’s fighting words.  I like it.

Rep. Holt:  It’s intended to be.  People all across the country — I know people from the 76^th District here in northwest Tennessee where I live — they’re sick of it.  People want, I’m not going to say a hero, I’m not going to say whatever.  People just want to know that there are some folks in the state government, and some people in the federal government, too, who are standing up and saying: Guess what, guys?  Enough is enough.  People feel so powerless.  You know what?  I’ll honestly say, I thought from the beginning the Obama administration, their sole purpose was to demoralize and to degrade the American people.  They’ve done a fantastic job at that.  The people feel so powerless and so unable to protect themselves and to withhold the power of the federal government pressing on them.  I want to let people know: Listen, we’re doing all we can.  This isn’t enough.  This isn’t the only thing that we’re going to do, I promise you.  We’re going to take more steps, more radical steps if necessary to protect Tennesseans from an overarching and tyrannical federal government.

End Mike Church Show Transcript