The Constitutional Organization Of Liberty (COOL) is supporting a resolution currently being circulated in the Pennsylvania Legislature to reassert state sovereignty against an ever-expanding federal government.

The 10th Amendment Resolution has been introduced in the state House by state Rep. Sam Rohrer, R-Berks, and will be introduced in the Senate by state Sen. Mike Folmer, R-Berks/Lebanon.

"The time has come for Pennsylvania to stand up to a federal establishment that is usurping state authority on an almost daily basis, often using our own tax dollars to blackmail us into doing what the federal government thinks we should do," Laurel Lynn Petolicchio, COOL Chairman for 2009, said in a statement. "It is time that the Keystone State took a leading role in protecting and preserving the rights of both the state and the citizens of the state," she said.

Rohrer and Folmer are hosting a rally in the state Capitol Rotunda Monday at noon to drum up support for their resolution.

From the COOL release:

"When our country was founded, our Fathers envisioned a form of government in which the federal government served as an agent of the states – not the states serving as an agent of the federal government," Folmer said. "Today, federal legislation and funding compel states to serve the federal government, a total reversal of the structure originally intended."

Rohrer said: "For too long, Congress and the president have been encroaching on policy areas that ought to be decided by the states. This rally is the equivalent of posting a 'no trespassing' sign."

Herb Braden, who serves as a board member on COOL as well as chairman of Lebanon County based Citizen's Caucus, said it was time to stop the usurpation of power by the federal government.

"Starting in the 1930's, with the New Deal, the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution has been incorrectly used by Congress as a tool to diminish the powers assigned to the States in the 10th Amendment," Braden said. "We citizens must prepare to use the ballot box to curtail or stop this arrogant usurpation of State powers."

According to Petolicchio, Pennsylvania is now among at least 20 states across the nation that have either introduced or issued resolutions reasserting their rights under the Tenth Amendment, and that the movement seems to be growing.

The Constitutional Organization Of Liberty is a non-partisan, conservative political action committee organized to re-educate the citizens of Pennsylvania about the U.S. Constitution and America's founding documents. In the past year, COOL has hosted multiple educational courses, including the Institute On The Constitution and A More Perfect Union.

For more information about COOL, visit the group's Web site: www.ReclaimLiberty.com