[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 21 (Thursday, February 10, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H681-H682]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

           By Mr. RUSH:
       H.R. 611.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       [The Congress shall have Power] To regulate Commerce with 
     foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the 
     Indian tribes. U.S. Const., Art. I, Sec. 8, Cl. 3. More 
     specifically, the Interstate Commerce

[[Page H682]]

     Clause--the second of the three enumerated commerce clause 
     powers that the Constitution confers upon Congress--serves as 
     the constitutional basis for this legislation. Further, per 
     the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case, Griswold v. Connecticut 
     (1965), the Court held that the Constitution protects an 
     individual's right to privacy, which is contained in the 
     ``penumbras'' and ``emanations'' of other constitutional 
     protections. Three of the concurrences to the majority 
     Griswold opinion based the right to privacy on both the Ninth 
     Amendment and the due process clause found in the Fourteenth 
     Amendment. Finding such support in the Fourteenth Amendment 
     is notable, in part, as at least ten (10) states (AL, AZ, CA, 
     FL, HI, IL, LA, MO, SC, WA) expressly recognize a person's 
     right to privacy in their own state constitutions. Elected 
     federal public officials, federal and state policy makers, 
     industry, consumer and privacy advocacy groups all agree that 
     personal privacy of consumer information must be protected in 
     order for e-commerce business models and businesses (in 
     particular), which make use of Internet- and intranet-based 
     platforms and networks to be successful and sustainable.