[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 3]
[House]
[Pages 4444-4446]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

  Pursuant to clause 7 of rule XII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives, the following statements are submitted regarding the 
specific powers granted to Congress in the Constitution to enact the 
accompanying bill or joint resolution.

           By Mr. CUMMINGS:
       H.R. 1144.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 of the Constitution of the 
     United States grants the Congress the power to enact this 
     law.
           By Mr. REICHERT:
       H.R. 1145.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Clause 3, of section 8, of article I of the Constitution, 
     which states that the United States Congress shall have power 
     ``To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the 
     several States, and with the Indian Tribes.''
           By Mr. PAUL:
       H.R. 1146.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution.
           By Mr. NUNES:
       H.R. 1147.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Clause 1 of section 8 of article I of the Constitution of 
     the United States.
           By Mr. WALZ of Minnesota:
       H.R. 1148.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       This bill is enacted pursuant to Sections 5 and 8 of 
     Article I of the United States Constitution.
           By Mr. BILBRAY:
       H.R. 1149.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I, Section 8, Clause 1: The Congress shall have 
     Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, 
     to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and 
     general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts 
     and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States.
           By Mr. GOSAR:
       H.R. 1150.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I, Section 8, Clause 3. ``The Congress shall have 
     Power * * * To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and 
     among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes.'' 
     Further, pursuant to the Supreme Court ruling in United 
     States v. South-Eastern Underwriters Association, 322 U.S. 
     533, 552-53 (U.S. 1944), insurance is constitutionally 
     subject to Congressional regulation. As set forth by the 
     Court:

     Our basic responsibility in interpreting the Commerce Clause 
     is to make certain that the power to govern intercourse among 
     the states remains where the Constitution placed it. That 
     power, as held by this Court from the beginning, is vested in 
     the Congress, available to be exercised for the national 
     welfare as Congress shall deem necessary. No commercial 
     enterprise of any kind which conducts its activities across 
     state lines has been held to be wholly beyond the regulatory 
     power of Congress under the Commerce Clause. We cannot make 
     an exception of the business of insurance.
       Speaking directly on the power of Congress to regulate 
     insurance, or to exempt the insurance industry from 
     monopolistic practices under the Sherman Act, the Court 
     explained:

     Whether competition is a good thing for the insurance 
     business is not for us to consider. Having power to enact the 
     Sherman Act, Congress did so; if exceptions are to be written 
     into the Act, they must come from the Congress, not this 
     Court.
       United States v. South-Eastern Underwriters Association, 
     322 U.S. 533, 561 (U.S. 1944). This bill eliminates the 
     exemption created by Congress, under powers expressly 
     enumerated in the Constitution. As for the proscription on 
     class action suits based on antitrust legal theories against 
     insurers, the Constitution does not guarantee the right to a 
     class action lawsuit. Rather, individuals are simply 
     guaranteed an individual jury trial under the Seventh 
     Amendment. There is no collective right to a civil legal 
     remedy. This act preserves private rights of action brought 
     by aggrieved individuals and therefore comports with the 
     Seventh Amendment and maintains enforcement of the public 
     goals by the appropriate public entities, the states or the 
     federal government.
       That the Interstate Commerce Clause has been construed to 
     grant Congress the power to regulate unfair or 
     anticompetitive business practices that harm interstate 
     commerce, was recently commented upon by the U.S. Supreme 
     Court in Gonzales v. Raich, 545 U.S. 1 (2005):

     The Commerce Clause emerged as the Framers' response to the 
     central problem giving rise to the Constitution itself: the 
     absence of any federal commerce power under the Articles of 
     Confederation. For the first century of our history, the 
     primary use of the Clause was to preclude the kind of 
     discriminatory state legislation that had once been 
     permissible. Then, in response to rapid industrial 
     development and an increasingly interdependent national 
     economy, Congress ``ushered in a new era of federal 
     regulation under the commerce power,'' beginning with the 
     enactment of the Interstate Commerce Act in 1887 and the 
     Sherman Antitrust Act in 1890.
       Gonzales v. Raich, 545 U.S. 1 (2005). Finally, this Bill 
     respects the Tenth Amendment and preserves the rights of each 
     state to establish and enforce their own anti-trust or unfair 
     competition statutes, and it narrowly construes the 
     Interstate Commerce Clause to actions that involve actual 
     commerce, a product that is purchased and sold, administered 
     and utilized across state lines, and has a clear effect on 
     national commerce. In this manner, this Act would satisfy 
     even Justice Thomas' concurring view of the Interstate 
     Commerce Clause, set forth in United States v. Lopez, 514 
     U.S. 549, 586-87 (1995), that the Commerce Clause empowers 
     Congress only to regulate the buying and selling of goods and 
     services trafficked across state lines. Modern class action 
     lawsuits typically seek out class members from multiple 
     jurisdictions, advertise nationwide, and predominate 
     interstate issues to such a degree courts of multi-district 
     jurisdiction are sometimes appointed. In this regard, class 
     action lawsuits also engage in commerce across state lines 
     and have been subjected to Congressional regulation, 
     including the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005.
       The Interstate Commerce Clause does not, as some have 
     suggested, contain federal powers that are ``unlimited'' and 
     indeed, the original application of this clause was quite 
     narrow, as most aptly described in Federalist No. 42. In that 
     tract, James Madison explains that the purpose undergirding 
     the regulation of commerce among the States was to prevent 
     each state from imposing taxes, duties or tariffs on goods 
     from another state that would in effect limit trade among the 
     states and create animus that ``would nourish unceasing 
     animosities, and not improbably terminate in serious 
     interruptions of the public tranquility.'' We follow here 
     today, however, an accepted and long standing interpretation 
     of the Commerce Clause that is not broad in that it regulates 
     actual commerce involved between or transacted across state 
     lines.
           By Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts:
       H.R. 1151.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 (the Commerce Clause).
           By Mr. RANGEL:
       H.R. 1152.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Congress is given the power under the Constitution ``To 
     raise and support Armies,'' ``To provide and maintain a 
     Navy,'' and ``To make Rules for the Government and Regulation 
     of the land and naval Forces.''Art. I, Sec. 8, cls. 12-14. 
     See also: Rostker v. Goldberg, 453 U.S. 57 (1981).
           By Mr. SMITH of Texas:
       H.R. 1153.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       The authority to enact this bill is derived from, but may 
     not be limited to, Article I, Section 8, Clauses 1 and 3 and 
     the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution.
           By Mr. CARTER:
       H.R. 1154.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       This bill is enacted pursuant to the power granted to 
     Congress under the Fourteenth Amendment, Section 1 of the 
     United States Constitution.
           By Mr. PETERS:
       H.R. 1155.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I, Section 5, Clause 2.
       Article I, Section 9, Clause 7.
       Article I, Section 8, Clause 1.
           By Mr. DENT:
       H.R. 1156.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution.
           By Mr. REHBERG:
       H.R. 1157.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Clause 2 of Section 3 of Article IV of the Constitution: 
     ``The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all 
     needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or 
     other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in 
     this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any 
     Claims of the United States, or of any particular State.''
       The specific Constitutional Authority cited here is not 
     intended and should not be

[[Page 4445]]

     construed to be exclusive of any other general or specific 
     Constitutional Authority that is otherwise applicable.
           By Mr. REHBERG:
       H.R. 1158.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Clause 2 of Section 3 of Article IV of the Constitution: 
     ``The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all 
     needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or 
     other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in 
     this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any 
     Claims of the United States, or of any particular State.''
       The specific Constitutional Authority cited here is not 
     intended and should not be construed to be exclusive of any 
     other general or specific Constitutional Authority that is 
     otherwise applicable.
           By Mr. HASTINGS of Washington:
       H.R. 1159.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I, Section 8, Clause 3. To regulate Commerce with 
     foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the 
     Indian Tribes.
           By Mr. KISSELL:
       H.R. 1160.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2. The Congress shall have 
     Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and 
     Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property 
     belonging to the United States; and nothing in this 
     Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims 
     of the United States, or of any particular State.
           By Mr. CHAFFETZ:
        H.R. 1161.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       This law is enacted pursuant to Article I, Section 8, 
     Clauses 1 and 3, and the 10th and 21st Amendments to the U.S. 
     Constitution.
           By Mr. DICKS:
       H.R. 1162.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I, Section 8.
            By Ms. SCHAKOWSKY:
        H.R. 1163.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I, Section 8, Clause 3. The Congress shall have 
     Power--To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among 
     the several States, and with the Indian Tribes.
       Article I, Section 8, Clause 1. The Congress shall have 
     Power to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, 
     to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and 
     general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts 
     and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States.
           By Mr. KING of New York:
        H.R. 1164.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I, Section 8, Clause 4. The Congress shall have 
     Power to establish a uniform Rule of Naturalization, and 
     uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the 
     United States.
            By Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas:
        H.R. 1165.
        Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Commerce Clause of the Constitution.
           By Mr. ISSA:
       H.R. 1166.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution.
           By Mr. JORDAN:
       H.R. 1167.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       The bill makes specific changes to existing law in a manner 
     that returns power to the States and to the people, in 
     accordance with Amendment X of the United States 
     Constitution.
            By Mr. RIGELL:
       H.R. 1168.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Amendment I, Section 6, Clause 1 of the United States 
     Constitution. ``All Senators and Representatives shall 
     receive a Compensation for their Services to be ascertained 
     by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States.''
            By Mr. ANDREWS:
        H.R. 1169.
        Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       The constitutional authority of Congress to enact this 
     legislation is provided by Article I, Section 8 of the United 
     States Constitution (Clauses 12, 13, 14, 16, and 18), which 
     grants Congress the power to raise and support an Army; to 
     provide and maintain a Navy; to make rules for the government 
     and regulation of the land and naval forces; to provide for 
     organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia; and to make 
     all laws necessary and proper for carrying out the foregoing 
     powers, and any other constitutional authority appropriate 
     and relevant to the provisions of this bill.
            By Mr. BACA:
        H.R. 1170.
        Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution, 
     Clauses 12, 13, 14, 16, and 18.
           By Mr. FARR:
       H.R. 1171.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Section 8 of Article I of the Constitution.
            By Ms. BERKLEY:
        H.R. 1172.
        Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article 1, Section 8, Clause 1.
           By Mr. BOUSTANY:
       H.R. 1173.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I, Section 7.
           By Mr. CAMPBELL:
       H.R. 1174.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Clause 2 of Section 3 of Article IV of the Constitution of 
     the United States.
           By Mr. CARDOZA:
       H.R. 1175.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to its authority under Clause 9 of Section 8 of Article I and 
     Section 1 of Article III of the Constitution to create and 
     regulate Federal Courts.
           By Mr. COURTNEY:
       H.R. 1176.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       The Constitutional authority for this legislation can be 
     found in Article I, Clause 8, Section 18, that grants 
     Congress the power to make all laws necessary and proper for 
     carrying out the powers vested by Congress in the 
     Constitution of the United States or in any department or 
     officer thereof.
           By Mr. CRITZ:
       H.R. 1177.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I, Section 8.
           By Mr. FORTENBERRY:
       H.R. 1178.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I, Section 8, Clause 1 of the United States 
     Constitution.
           By Mr. FORTENBERRY:
       H.R. 1179.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I, Section 8, Clause 1 of the United States 
     Constitution.
            By Mr. GARDNER:
       H.R. 1180.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Clause 1, Section 8 of Article I of the United States 
     Constitution which reads:
       ``The Congress shall have Power to lay and collect Taxes, 
     Duties, Imposts, and Excises, to pay the Debts, and provide 
     for the common Defense and General Welfare of the United 
     States; but all Duties and Imposts and Excises shall be 
     uniform throughout the United States.''
           By Mr. GRIFFIN of Arkansas:
       H.R. 1181.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I Section 8 Clause 4 (Bankruptcy Clause).
       Article I Section 8 Clause 18 (Necessary and Proper 
     Clause).
           By Mr. HENSARLING:
       H.R. 1182.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Under Article I, Section 9, Clause 7 of the United States 
     Constitution, which states: ``No Money shall be drawn from 
     the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by 
     Law . . .''
           By Mr. HERGER:
       H.R. 1183.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I, Section 8, Clause 3.
           By Mr. ISSA:
       H.R. 1184.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I, Section 8 the Commerce Clause.
           By Mr. ISSA:
        H.R. 1185.
        Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I, Section 8 the Commerce Clause.
            By Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas:
        H.R. 1186.
        Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       ``The constitutional authority of Congress to enact this 
     legislation is provided by Article I, section 8 of the United 
     States Constitution, specifically clause 1 (relating to 
     providing for the general welfare of the United States) and 
     clause 18 (relating to the power to make all laws necessary 
     and proper for carrying out the powers vested in Congress), 
     and Article IV, section 3, clause 2 (relating to the power of 
     Congress to dispose of and make all needful rules and 
     regulations respecting the territory or other property 
     belonging to the United States).''
           By Mr. KINZINGER of Illinois:
        H.R. 1187.

[[Page 4446]]

        Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       According to clause 7 of Section 9 of Article I of the 
     Constitution, Congress has the authority to control the 
     expenditures of the federal government.
            By Mr. LANCE:
        H.R. 1188.
        Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I, Section 8, Clause 1: The Congress shall have 
     Power to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, 
     to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and 
     general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts 
     and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States.
            By Mr. LATTA:
        H.R. 1189.
        Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I, Section 8, Clause 3. The Congress shall have 
     Power to . . . . regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and 
     among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes.
            By Mr. LEWIS of Georgia:
        H.R. 1190.
        Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       This bill is enacted pursuant to the powers granted to 
     Congress under Article I of the United States Constitution 
     and its subsequent amendments, and as further clarified and 
     interpreted by the Supreme Court of the United States.
            By Mr. LEWIS of Georgia:
        H.R. 1191.
        Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       This bill is enacted pursuant to the powers granted to 
     Congress under Article I of the United States Constitution 
     and its subsequent amendments, and as further clarified and 
     interpreted by the Supreme Court of the United States.
           By Mrs. LUMMIS:
        H.R. 1192.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article IV, Section 3. The Congress shall have power to 
     dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations 
     respecting the territory or other property belonging to the 
     United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so 
     construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States, or 
     of any particular state.
            By Mrs. MALONEY:
        H.R. 1193.
        Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I, Section 8, Clause 3, which reads: ``To regulate 
     Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, 
     and with Indian Tribes.''
            By Mr. McDERMOTT:
        H.R. 1194.
        Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution that grants 
     Congress the authority, ``To make all Laws which shall be 
     necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the forgoing 
     Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in 
     the Government of the United States, or in any Department or 
     Officer thereof.''
            By Mrs. McMORRIS RODGERS:
        H.R. 1195.
        Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       The bill is enacted pursuant to the power granted to 
     Congress under Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 to regulate 
     Commerce among the several States.
            By Mr. GARY G. MILLER of California:
        H.R. 1196.
        Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Section 5 of Amendment XIV to the Constitution.
       Clause 1 of Section 8 of Article I of the Constitution.
           By Ms. NORTON:
        H.R. 1197.
        Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Clauses 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, and 18 of Section 8 of Article 
     I of the Constitution.
           By Ms. NORTON:
       H.R. 1198.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Clause 17 of Section 8 of Article I of the Constitution.
           By Mr. PASCRELL:
       H.R. 1199.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 of the United States 
     Constitution.
           By Mr. McDERMOTT:
       H.R. 1200.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Clause 1, Section 8 of Article I of the United States 
     Constitution, and Clause 3, Section 8 of Article I of the 
     United States Constitution.
           By Mr. PAUL:
       H.R. 1201.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       This legislation is authorized by Article I, Section 8 of 
     the Constitution: ``To make all Laws which shall be necessary 
     and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, 
     and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the 
     Government of the United States, or in any Department or 
     Officer thereof.''
       This includes the ability to hire staff to assist in the 
     execution of the foregoing powers and to define the salaries 
     and benefits of those staff.
           By Mr. PEARCE:
       H.R. 1202.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article 4, Section 3, Clause 2 of the Constitution of the 
     United States grants Congress the power to enact this law.
           By Mr. PIERLUISI:
       H.R. 1203.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       The constitutional authority on which this bill rests is 
     the power of the Congress to enact copyright law, as 
     enumerated in Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the United 
     States Constitution, and to regulate commerce among the 
     several states, as enumerated in Article I, Section 8, Clause 
     3 of the Constitution.
           By Mr. POLIS:
       H.R. 1204.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Clause 3 of Section 8 of Article I of the Constitution.
           By Mr. QUIGLEY:
       H.R. 1205.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2. The Congress shall have 
     Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and 
     Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property 
     belonging to the United States; and nothing in this 
     Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims 
     of the United States, or of any particular State.
           By Mr. ROGERS of Michigan:
       H.R. 1206.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I, Section 8, Clause 1: The Congress shall have 
     Power to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, 
     to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and 
     general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts 
     and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States.
       Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 of the Constitution, which 
     states ``To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper 
     for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all 
     other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of 
     the United States or in any Department or Officer thereof.''
           By Mr. SABLAN:
       H.R. 1207.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Under Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 and Article IV, 
     Section 3, Clause 2 of the Constitution.
           By Mr. VAN HOLLEN:
       H.R. 1208.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       This bill is enacted pursuant to Clause 1 and Clause 18 of 
     Section 8 of Article I of the United States Constitution.
           By Ms. WATERS:
       H.R. 1209.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I, Section 8, Clause I of the Constitution of the 
     United States.
           By Mr. YOUNG of Alaska:
       H.R. 1210.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I, Section 8, Clause 3.

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