[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 10884-10885]
[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. CANTOR:
       H.R. 6079.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       In National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, 
     the Supreme Court rejected the constitutional basis offered 
     by proponents of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care 
     Act, the interstate commerce clause found in Article I, 
     Section 8, Clause 3 of the Constitution. Having eliminated 
     the requirement that all Americans buy insurance, the Supreme 
     Court recast the law's penalty for not buying insurance as a 
     tax, which Americans would pay in lieu of purchasing 
     insurance, and five Justices upheld this tax under the taxing 
     power of Congress, found in Article I, Section 8, Clause 1. 
     With the individual requirement to buy insurance having been 
     found unconstitutional, and, with the compulsory nature of 
     that requirement being central to the funding mechanism 
     contemplated under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care 
     Act, Congress hereby repeals the Act in its entirety. 
     Furthermore, Congress did not intend and does not now intend 
     to invoke its taxing power in relation to the individual 
     requirement to buy insurance.
       The Congress, the Executive, and the Judiciary are 
     obligated to act according to the

[[Page 10885]]

     principle of coordinate branch construction based on their 
     respective obligations to ensure that all their actions are 
     constitutional. This is the clear meaning of the Vesting 
     Clauses of Articles I, II, and III along with the Supremacy 
     Clause of Article VI, as well as of the Oath of Office that 
     each constitutional officer of the Federal government must 
     take pursuant to Article VI. James Madison made this clear in 
     1834 stating, ``As the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial 
     departments of the United States are co-ordinate, and each 
     equally bound to support the Constitution, it follows that 
     each must in the exercise of its functions be guided by the 
     text of the Constitution according to its own interpretation 
     of it.''
       The ``Repeal of Obamacare Act'' repeals the Patient 
     Protection and Affordable Care Act and title I and subtitle B 
     of title II of the Health Care and Education Affordability 
     Reconciliation Act of 2010, which included several specific 
     provisions that extend beyond the enumerated powers granted 
     to Congress by the Constitution, including, in particular, 
     the Commerce, Taxing, and the Spending Clauses of Article I, 
     Section 8, as well as the Necessary and Proper Clauses 
     contained therein, and that otherwise improperly extend 
     authority to Federal agencies in a manner inconsistent with 
     the Vesting Clause of Article I, Section 1.
       The general repeal of this legislation is consistent with 
     the powers that are reserved to the States and to the people 
     as expressed in Amendment X to the United States 
     Constitution.
           By Mr. SMITH of Texas:
       H.R. 6080.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation, which 
     makes improvements in the enactment of title 41, United 
     States Code, into a positive law title and improves the Code, 
     pursuant to Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 of the 
     Constitution.
           By Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas:
       H.R. 6081.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following: Article I, section 8 of the Constitution of 
     the United States.
           By Mr. HASTINGS of Washington:
       H.R. 6082.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article IV, Section 3, clause 2
           By Mr. LUCAS:
       H.R. 6083.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following: The ability to regulate interstate commerce 
     pursuant to Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3.
           By Mr. SMITH of New Jersey:
       H.R. 6084.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I, Section 8, Clause I of the Constitution
           By Mr. BOUSTANY:
       H.R. 6085.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article 1, Section 9, Clause 7 which states that no money 
     shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of 
     Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and 
     Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money 
     shall be published from time to time. The Appropriations 
     Clause provides Congress with a mechanism to control or to 
     limit spending by the federal government
           By Mr. HEINRICH:
       H.R. 6086.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following: Article IV, Section 3 of the United States 
     Constitution.
           By Ms. McCOLLUM:
       H.R. 6087.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I, Section 8, Clause 18, which gives Congress the 
     power ``To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper 
     for carrying into Execution the foregoing powers.''
           By Mr. SCHWEIKERT:
       H.R. 6088.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Amendment 16 of the Constitution states: The Congress shall 
     have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever 
     source derived, without apportionment among the several 
     States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.
           By Mr. TIPTON:
       H.R. 6089.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article 4, 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.

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