The Transportation Security Administration was not happy when the bill [to criminalize TSA groping] was passed in the Texas House of Representatives, blogging in response that Texas is barred by the U.S. Constitution from regulating the federal government.
On Tuesday, the bill was set to be voted on in the Senate. This called for more of a response than a simple blog post. Federal government officials descended on the Capitol to hand out a letter (embedded below) from the Texas U.S. Attorney letting senators know that if they passed the bill, the TSA would probably have to cancel all flights out of Texas. As much as they love their state, the idea of shutting down airports and trapping people in Texas was scary enough to get legislators to reconsider their support for the groping bill…
Republican Dan Patrick, who was the sponsor of the bill in the Senate, withdrew it when he realized he would not have the votes he needed to pass it. “There was a time in this state, there was a time in our history, where we stood up to the federal government and we did not cower to rules and policies that invaded the privacy of Texans,” he said with regret, reports the Texas Tribune. No last stand for Texas this week.
Senator Patrick is correct. As for the notion that the activities of the Feds can't be regulated by the states if criminal, I'm not sure that's entirely clear. The Ninth Circuit held that FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi could be brought up on state charges for his actions at Ruby Ridge (Idaho ultimately dismissed the charges). It would have been an interesting test case, and I think my fellow Texans would have backed the state for trying it even if it meant shutting down the airports for a little while. Alas, we'll never know, because Texan backbone ain't what it once was.
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