A recent Pantagraph article by the Associated Press has shed light on the resurgent movement to re-establish states’ rights and powers. The advocates of strong states refer often to several of our Founding Fathers as the source of these ideas. In fact, our country’s very name, the United States of America, shows that the original plan put the states first.

Jefferson and Madison wanted the states to be sovereign, reserving to the national government only a limited number of powers to help the states work together.

A source of confusion is the supremacy clause, which many mistakenly think gives the national government dominance over the states in all matters. But that ignores the whole clause which states: “This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof … shall be the supreme Law of the Land.” Any law that exceeds the limits set forth in Article 1, Section 8 are not made “in Pursuance thereof.” If any national law is not in compliance with that section, it can be declared by the state to be null and void.