[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1248 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1248

   To prohibit the consideration of any bill by Congress unless the 
  authority provided by the Constitution of the United States for the 
        legislation can be determined and is clearly specified.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 22, 2011

 Mr. Coburn (for himself, Mr. Paul, Mr. Barrasso, Mr. Blunt, Mr. Burr, 
Mr. Corker, Mr. Crapo, Mr. DeMint, Mr. Enzi, Mr. Graham, Mr. Grassley, 
  Mr. Hatch, Mrs. Hutchison, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Isakson, Mr. Johnson of 
  Wisconsin, Mr. Kyl, Mr. Lee, Mr. McCain, Mr. Risch, Mr. Rubio, Mr. 
    Sessions, Mr. Thune, Mr. Vitter, and Mr. Wicker) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                        Rules and Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To prohibit the consideration of any bill by Congress unless the 
  authority provided by the Constitution of the United States for the 
        legislation can be determined and is clearly specified.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Enumerated Powers Act''.

SEC. 2. CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY CLAUSE.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 2 of title 1, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting after section 102 the following:
``Sec. 102a. Constitutional authority clause
    ``(a) In General.--Each Act of Congress, bill, and resolution, or 
conference report thereon or amendment thereto, shall contain a concise 
explanation of the specific authority in the Constitution of the United 
States relied upon as the basis for enacting each portion of the 
measure.
    ``(b) Federal Activities.--To the extent that any Act of Congress, 
bill or resolution, or conference report thereon or amendment thereto, 
limits or abolishes any Federal activity, spending, or power overall, a 
statement of constitutionality may cite the 9th Amendment or the 10th 
Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
    ``(c) Enumerated Spending Clause.--Invoking a clause included in 
the enumerated spending clause under clause 1 of section 8 of article I 
of the Constitution of the United States, such as the common defense 
clause, the general welfare clause, or the necessary and proper clause, 
in a statement of constitutionality is not sufficient to satisfy the 
requirement of subsection (a).
    ``(d) Commerce Clause.--Invoking the commerce clause of section 8 
of article I of the Constitution of the United States in a statement of 
constitutionality for any purpose other than the regulation of the 
buying and selling of goods or services, or the transporting for those 
purposes, across boundaries with foreign nations, across State lines, 
or with the Indian tribes is not sufficient to satisfy the requirement 
of subsection (a).
    ``(e) Failure To Comply.--
            ``(1) In general.--A failure to comply with subsection (a) 
        shall give rise to a point of order in either House of 
        Congress, which may be raised by any Senator during 
        consideration in the Senate or any Member of the House of 
        Representatives during consideration in the House of 
        Representatives.
            ``(2) Nonexclusivity.--The availability of a point of order 
        under this section shall not affect the availability of any 
        other point of order.
    ``(f) Disposition of Point of Order in the Senate.--
            ``(1) In general.--Any Senator may raise a point of order 
        that any matter is not in order under subsection (a).
            ``(2) Waiver.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Any Senator may move to waive a 
                point of order raised under paragraph (1) by an 
                affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Senators duly 
                chosen and sworn.
                    ``(B) Procedures.--For a motion to waive a point of 
                order under subparagraph (A) as to a matter--
                            ``(i) a motion to table the point of order 
                        shall not be in order;
                            ``(ii) all motions to waive one or more 
                        points of order under this section as to the 
                        matter shall be debatable for a total of not 
                        more than 3 hours, equally divided between the 
                        Senator raising the point of order and the 
                        Senator moving to waive the point of order or 
                        their designees; and
                            ``(iii) a motion to waive the point of 
                        order shall not be amendable.
    ``(g) Disposition of Point of Order in the House of 
Representatives.--
            ``(1) In general.--If a Member of the House of 
        Representatives makes a point of order under this section, the 
        Chair shall put the question of consideration with respect to 
        the proposition of whether any statement of constitutionality 
        made under subsection (a) was adequate or, in the absence of 
        such a statement, whether a statement is required under 
        subsection (a).
            ``(2) Consideration.--For a point of order under this 
        section made in the House of Representatives--
                    ``(A) the question of consideration shall be 
                debatable for 10 minutes, equally divided and 
                controlled by the Member making the point of order and 
                by an opponent, but shall otherwise be decided without 
                intervening motion except one that the House of 
                Representatives adjourn or that the Committee of the 
                Whole rise, as the case may be;
                    ``(B) in selecting the opponent, the Speaker of the 
                House of Representatives should first recognize an 
                opponent from the opposing party; and
                    ``(C) the disposition of the question of 
                consideration with respect to a measure shall be 
                considered also to determine the question of 
                consideration under this section with respect to an 
                amendment made in order as original text.''.
    (b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for 
chapter 2 of title 1, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 
the item relating to section 102 the following:

``102a. Constitutional authority clause.''.

SEC. 3. EXPLANATION OF CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY.

    This Act is enacted pursuant to the power granted to each House of 
Congress to determine the rules of its proceedings under article I, 
section 5, clause 2 of the Constitution of the United States.
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