[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 11 (Wednesday, January 26, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H512]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

           By Mr. GOSAR:
       H.R. 489.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I, Sec. 8, to exercise exclusive legislation over 
     federal lands in addition to the Congressional power to 
     control obstructions to navigable waters, including dams, and 
     the historical doctrine recognizing that the States possess 
     dominion over the beds of all navigable streams within their 
     borders, and the servitude that Congress' power to regulate 
     commerce imposes upon such streams. United States v. 
     Chandler-Dunbar Co., 229 U.S. 53, 73 (U.S. 1913) (recognizing 
     Congressional authority over dams obstructing navigable 
     waters and the re-sale of hydroelectric water power). See 
     also Arizona v. California, 283 U.S. 423 (U.S. 1931) (Court 
     deferred to Congress for establishment of the Boulder Canyon 
     Project Act and reasoning that ``As the river is navigable 
     and the means which the Act provides are not unrelated to the 
     control of navigation . . . the erection and maintenance of 
     such dam and reservoir are clearly within the powers 
     conferred upon Congress. . . . And the fact that purposes 
     other than navigation will also be served could not 
     invalidate the exercise of the authority conferred, even if 
     those other purposes would not alone have justified an 
     exercise of congressional power.'' Finally, the Court has 
     construed Congressional regulation over navigable waters 
     broadly concluding that ``that authority is as broad as the 
     needs of commerce. United States v. Appalachian Power Co., 
     311 U.S., 407, 409-410 (U.S. 1940).