March 7, 2010 - Georgia gubernatorial candidate Ray McBerry and the Tenth Amendment Center were the cohosts of the first-ever Tenth Amendment Summit held in Atlanta, Georgia on February 25 and 26, 2010.

According to The New American, about 400 people attended the conference, of which about two dozen are candidates for public office. Roy Moore, former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice and currently running for Alabama governor, was one of the speakers. McBerry’s web site states that attendees came to Georgia from as far away as Washington state.

The Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

The following statement was prepared by those candidates for office who attended the summit:

We The People of the several States created a federal government to serve as our limited agent, delegating to the federal government only those limited and few powers listed in the Constitution, and no others.

We recognize the federal government has seized unlimited power over virtually every aspect of Amerikans’ lives in violation of the Constitution of the United States, specifically with respect to the Tenth Amendment.

We call upon freedom-loving citizens everywhere to stand with us, as candidates for state and federal office, to pass meaningful and sensible legislation to restore the most critical check and balance deliberately designed into our constitutional republic: that of strong, sovereign states.

We pledge to limit and restrain all federal government exercises of power that exceed in any way the plain language of those few powers listed in the Constitution; to nullify all laws and acts that exceed such limits.

When we restore the balance of power between the states and the federal government according to the Constitution, our country will enjoy the dynamic blessings of liberty and prosperity.