[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11946]
[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 Ms. KELLY of Illinois:
       H.R. 5093.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       US Const. Art. I, Sec. 8, Cl. 3 (``Congress shall have the 
     power . . . To regulate Commerce with Foreign Nations, and 
     among the several States, and with the Indian tribes[.]'').
           By Mr. MILLER of Florida:
       H.R. 5094.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Clauses 12, 13, 14, and 18 of Section 8 of Article 1 of the 
     United States Constitution.
           By Mr. CICILLINE:
       H.R. 5095.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I, Section 8
           By Mr. PRICE of North Carolina:
       H.R. 5096.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I, Section 8, clauses 1 (``[to] provide for the 
     common Defense and general Welfare of the United States'') 
     and 10 (``[t]o define and punish. . . Offenses against the 
     Law of Nations'').
       However, the Supreme Court has held that Congress's 
     authority to legislate with respect to matters outside U.S. 
     boundaries is based on national sovereignty in foreign 
     affairs and, consequently, is not limited by the enumerated 
     powers delegated to Congress. For example, in United States 
     v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp. (1936), the Supreme Court 
     ruled that the ``broad statement that the federal government 
     can exercise no powers except those specifically enumerated 
     in the Constitution, and such implied powers as are necessary 
     and proper to carry into effect the enumerated powers, is 
     categorically true only in respect of our internal affairs.''
       On March 30, 2011, in United States v. Brehm, the United 
     States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia 
     upheld the constitutionality of the Military Extraterritorial 
     Jurisdiction Act (MEJA, on which the current legislation is 
     modeled), on this basis.
           By Mr. BOUSTANY:
       H.R. 5097.
       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. DAINES:
       H.R. 5098.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I, Section 8, Clause 1, and Article I, Section 8, 
     Clause 3.
           By Mr. GRAYSON:
       H.R. 5099.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I, Section 8, of the U.S. Constitution.
           By Mr. PRICE of North Carolina:
       H.R. 5100.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I, Section 8, Clause 1 of the Constitution provides 
     Congress with the authority to ``make all Laws which shall be 
     necessary and proper'' to provide for the ``general Welfare'' 
     of Americans. In the Department of Education Organization Act 
     (P.L. 96-88), Congress declared that ``the establishment of a 
     Department of Education is in the public interest, will 
     promote the general welfare of the United States, will help 
     ensure that education issues receive proper treatment at the 
     Federal level, and will enable the Federal Government to 
     coordinate its education activities more effectively.'' The 
     Department of Education's mission is to ``promote student 
     achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by 
     fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access.''
           By Ms. HAHN:
       H.R. 5101.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       According to Article 1: Section 8: Clause 18: of the United 
     States Constitution, seen below, this bill falls within the 
     Constitutional Authority of the United States Congress.
       Article 1: Section 8: Clause 18: 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. LEWIS:
       H.R. 5102.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       This bill is enacted pursuant to the power granted to 
     Congress under Article I of the United States Constitution 
     and its subsequent amendments, and further clarified and 
     interpreted by the Supreme Court of the United States.
           By Mr. ROHRABACHER:
       H.R. 5103.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article I, section 8 of the U.S. Constitution
           By Mr. ROSS:
       H.R. 5104.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Welfare Clause (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 1); Commerce 
     Clause (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3)
           By Mr. TERRY:
       H.R. 5105.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Art. I, Sec. 8, Cl. 4, granting Congress the authority ``To 
     establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, . . .''
           By Mr. THOMPSON of California:
       H.R. 5106.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article 1, Section 8, Clause 6
       The Congress shall have Power...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. DEUTCH:
       H.J. Res. 119.
       Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       Article V of the Constitution: The Congress, whenever two 
     thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose 
     amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of 
     the legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall 
     call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either 
     case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of 
     this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three 
     fourths of the several states or by conventions in three 
     fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification 
     may be proposed by the Congress; provided that no amendment 
     which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight 
     hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and 
     fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article; and 
     that no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its 
     equal suffrage in the Senate.

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