08 LC 18
7366
House
Resolution 1522
By:
Representative Franklin of the
43rd
A
RESOLUTION
Urging
the United States Census Bureau to utilize the correct Georgia-North Carolina
and Georgia-Tennessee boundary lines at the 35th parallel for census purposes;
and for other purposes.
WHEREAS,
the undisputed northern border of the State of Georgia and the southern border
of the states of North Carolina and Tennessee lies at the 35th parallel, north
of the southernmost bank of the Tennessee River; and
WHEREAS,
a flawed survey conducted in 1818 and never accepted by the State of Georgia
erroneously marks the 35th parallel south of its actual location;
and
WHEREAS,
over a long period of years, from time to time, the legislatures of these states
have undertaken to authorize the appointment of committees to meet and to
resolve the issues associated with the wrongly surveyed and erroneously marked
border; and
WHEREAS,
by an Act of the General Assembly of North Carolina, approved in 1881 (N.C. Gen.
Stat. 141-1 to 6 (1964)), the General Assembly of North Carolina authorized the
Governor of North Carolina to appoint commissioners and a surveyor from North
Carolina to act with the commissioners and surveyors appointed or to be
appointed by any of the states contiguous to North Carolina to resurvey and mark
the boundary lines between these states; and
WHEREAS,
no official record of any such commissioners and surveyors as provided for in
said Act exists; and
WHEREAS,
by an Act of the General Assembly of Georgia, approved October 15, 1887
(Ga. L. 1886-87, p. 105), the General Assembly of Georgia directed the
Governor to communicate with the Governor of Tennessee for the purpose of having
a joint survey and settlement of the disputed boundary question and authorized
the appointment of a committee to meet with an assembly committee representing
the State of Tennessee, whose duty it would be to survey, establish, and
proclaim the true boundary line; and
WHEREAS,
by an Act approved April 8, 1889, the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee
enacted a similar authorization; and
WHEREAS,
by a resolution approved March 6, 1941 (Ga. L. 1941, p. 1850), the General
Assembly directed the Governor of Georgia to communicate with the Governor of
Tennessee for the purpose of having a joint survey and settlement of the
disputed question and further resolved that a standing committee of the House of
Representatives be created to meet with a similar committee of the State of
Tennessee to establish, survey, and proclaim the true boundary line between
Georgia and Tennessee; and
WHEREAS,
by a resolution approved March 27, 1947 (Ga. L. 1947, p. 1728), the General
Assembly appointed a commission to negotiate with the proper authorities of the
State of Tennessee and to agree upon and to fix a definite boundary line, and,
in the failure of the commission to reach a settlement, the General Assembly
authorized and directed Attorney General of the State of Georgia to institute
suit in the federal courts for purposes of accurately determining the boundary
line between Georgia and Tennessee; and
WHEREAS,
by a resolution approved March 6, 1971 (Ga. L. 1971, p. 2374), the General
Assembly directed the Governor of Georgia to communicate with the Governors of
North Carolina and Tennessee for the purpose of having joint surveys and
settlements of the disputed boundary questions and further resolved that a
Georgia-North Carolina and Georgia-Tennessee Boundary Line Commission be created
to meet with similar commissions of the legislatures of the states of North
Carolina and Tennessee to establish, survey, and proclaim the true boundary
lines between Georgia and North Carolina and between Georgia and Tennessee, and
to take such further or other action or pursue such remedy or remedies as the
joint Commission of the Georgia General Assembly, by a majority vote, deems
proper to establish the definite and true boundary lines between Georgia and
North Carolina and Georgia and Tennessee; and
WHEREAS,
by suggestion of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the
Chairman of the Tennessee Public Service Commission and the Chairman of the
Georgia Public Service Commission agreed in 1974 to reserve resolution of the
general boundary issue until a later date (15 FERC, p. 61240), the resolution of
which has never been reached;
and
WHEREAS, notwithstanding these authorizations and directions, the boundary lines have never been accurately resurveyed and marked and remain in doubt; and
WHEREAS, notwithstanding these authorizations and directions, the boundary lines have never been accurately resurveyed and marked and remain in doubt; and
WHEREAS,
it is to the public interest and welfare that accurate and exact lines between
the said states be established and proclaimed and that the correct populations
of these states should be reflected accurately and accordingly by the United
States Census Bureau.
NOW,
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES that the United States
Census Bureau is urged to utilize the correct Georgia-North Carolina and
Georgia-Tennessee boundary lines at the 35th parallel for all census
purposes.
BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Clerk of the House of Representatives is authorized
and directed to transmit an appropriate copy of this resolution to the United
States Census Bureau.