South Carolina H 3649: U.S. Senate Accountability Act

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 3649 Text of Previous Version (Dec. 12, 2024) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 3649

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

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A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS by enacting THE 
"U.S. SENATE ACCOUNTABILITY ACT" BY ADDING CHAPTER 21 TO TITLE 2 SO AS TO 
PROVIDE FOR THE MANNER IN WHICH THE TWO UNITED STATES SENATORS FROM SOUTH 
CAROLINA SHALL APPEAR ANNUALLY BEFORE A JOINT SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 
TO DISCUSS AND REVIEW VARIOUS TOPICS AND ACTIONS TAKEN BY THE UNITED STATES 
SENATE AND BY THEM.

Whereas, the 
Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States specifies that 
United States Senators are "elected by the people," but the Constitution, in 
Article V, further states that "no state, without its consent, shall be 
deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate"; and

Whereas, nothing has 
altered the constitutional responsibility of the United States Senate to be the 
voice of the states in the federal government, and thus this responsibility is 
still enforceable. Even though popularly elected following the adoption of the 
Seventeenth Amendment, United States Senators are in fact representatives of 
the state legislature of the state from which they are elected, and as such, 
accountable to the state legislature for their conduct. The will of the South 
Carolina General Assembly and the citizens they represent, therefore, is to be 
expressed in the federal government by and through the two United States 
Senators elected by the people of this State; and

Whereas, the federal 
government of the United States has not remained within the boundaries and 
enumerated powers to which it was restricted by the Constitution of the United 
States, creating a need for the states to take appropriate actions to rein in 
its exercise of undelegated power; and

Whereas, the State of 
South Carolina intends to set an example of leadership to uphold our founding 
constitutional principles toward renewed liberty; and

Whereas, it is the 
desire of the South Carolina General Assembly by this act to ensure 
accountability and transparency in government, with appropriate venues for the 
exchange of ideas and the review of actions taken. Now, therefore,

Be it enacted by the 
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. This act may be cited as the "U.S. Senate Accountability Act."

SECTION 2. Title 2 of the S.C. Code is amended by adding:

CHAPTER 21

Joint Appearance of United States Senators

From South Carolina

 Section 
2-21-10. The two United States Senators from the State of South Carolina shall 
appear before a Joint Session of the South Carolina General Assembly in the 
Hall of the House of Representatives on March twenty-six of each year if this 
is a regular statewide session day and if not, on the next regular statewide 
session day thereafter. The purpose of this joint session is to exchange 
information by and between the State of South Carolina and the United States 
Congress through its duly elected United States Senators.

 Section 
2-21-20. A joint legislative committee is hereby established consisting of six 
members of the House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House 
of Representatives and six members of the State Senate appointed by the 
President of the Senate. Each appointing authority must appoint at least two 
members from the majority party and at least one member from the minority party. 
This committee shall be styled the "Joint Legislative Committee on the United 
States Senate." Upon convening, the members of the committee shall appoint two 
cochairs, one from each house of the General Assembly. No later than thirty 
calendar days prior to this annual meeting, the United States Senators shall 
provide to this committee certified copies of their most recent calendar year 
voting record on all bills and resolutions on which they voted while serving in 
the United States Senate. This annual meeting shall occur on the date specified 
in this chapter beginning in the year 2026.

 Section 
2-21-30. Each United States Senator shall be eligible to speak to the Joint 
Session to discuss the actions of the Congress of the United States as they 
pertain to the relationship of the several states to the federal system, to 
discuss pending legislation of the United States Congress as it pertains to 
this relationship, to justify their actions and voting record as they pertain 
to the State of South Carolina and the General Assembly and citizens of this 
State, and to discuss other matters the Senators wish to convey to the General 
Assembly.

 Section 
2-21-40. The Presiding Officers of both houses of the General Assembly shall 
convey to the United States Senators from this State copies of any and all 
resolutions passed by this General Assembly express