Congressional Constitution Caucus’ Monthly “Constitution Hour”
A Walk Through the Constitution: Article I, Section 1
Washington,
Sep 27, 2007 -
Mr. Speaker,
Last week, we celebrated the 220th anniversary of the signing of our founding document. On September 17, 1787, thirty nine revolutionary and visionary Founding Fathers changed the course of history. After months of deliberations, they succeeded in securing liberties and freedoms that were unimaginable to previous civilizations. To commemorate this event, and honor civilization’s most ingenious governmental guideline, I introduced House Resolution 646.
Today, I join with my colleagues Mr. Bishop, Mr. King, Ms. Foxx, and Mr. Akin in focusing on various current, constitutional issues. I would like to begin, however, with a discussion of the meaning of Article I, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution.
As Founder and Chairman of the Congressional Constitution Caucus, I have found that for many Americans, including some of my fellow Members, the Constitution is nothing more than a historical document. Too many citizens do not know what the Constitution says about the governance of this nation; let alone how to interpret its meaning. Therefore, one goal of the Constitution Caucus is to educate Members of Congress and the public about the original intent of the Founding Fathers.
Article I of the Constitution specifies the responsibilities given to Congress. As Section 1 states: “All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.” I would like to emphasize two key phrases in this sentence: “All legislative Powers” and “herein granted.”
I believe there are two ways in which these phrases are violated today. First, “legislative Powers” are frequently exercised by the judicial and executive branches, even though the power to make statuary law is granted solely to Congress. In recent decades, many Supreme Court decisions have usurped the intent of Congress and imposed the will of the Court. Meanwhile, executive agencies have in effect used regulations to create new laws.
Admittedly, Congress is sometimes to blame for these unconstitutional behaviors. All too often we pass vague legislation, thereby relinquishing our statutory authority and passing it on to executive agencies or the courts. Just this week, we considered H.R. 2693, the Popcorn Workers Lung Disease Prevention Act. This bill mandated that OSHA set a health standard without adequate scientific evidence on which to base it.
We must learn to exercise our Constitutionally-mandated duties rather than delegating responsibilities to executive bureaucracies or an encroaching court system.
Many people claim that the three branches of government are separate and equal. However, I find it interesting to note that when writing the Constitution, our Founding Fathers intentionally delineated the powers of Congress first, before outlining the powers of the judicial and executive branches in Sections 2 and 3. Similarly, Congress has more enumerated powers than the other two branches combined. If these observations offer any clue, the Founders wished to emphasize the importance of Congress and in particular our legislative power.
I am also reminded of this principle when I step the Old Hall of the House, located just a few yards from here. There, you can see the plaque marking the spot of John Quincy Adam’s desk. He was a remarkable man in many ways. I am always stunned that after serving as a U.S. Representative, and then as President, he again ran for his old House seat and was re-elected. It is unimaginable today that a President of the United States would want to return to Congress. But John Quincy Adams firmly believed that he could best represent the people in the body that was closest to them: the House of Representatives.
Although my second observation about Article I, Section 1 may sound like a contradiction, Congress regularly exercises powers that are not explicitly granted by the Constitution. Let me explain. The Founding Fathers did not intend for Congress to exercise unlimited power and they made this abundantly clear in the very first sentence with the words, “herein granted.” As the 10th Amendment further elaborates, the responsibilities not delegated to the federal government are by default granted to the states.
Yet when we look at the vast scope of the federal government today, it’s clear that Congress has overstepped these Constitutional boundaries. Just this week, we passed several bills to fund programs not even mentioned in the Constitution.
The State Children’s Health Insurance Program, for example, included a number of hidden pork barrel spending provisions, including earmarks for a couple of counties in California and a hospital in Tennessee.
Today, we considered H.R. 3121, the Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act. This bill would expand the National Flood insurance Program coverage to include wind-damage, even though the NFIP is currently $18 billion dollars in debt, and wind-damage is already covered under many homeowners’ insurance policies in the private market. Most importantly, I doubt that our Founding Fathers would have envisioned Congressmen advocating these bills since neither proposal falls within the boundaries created by the Framers.
I believe that many Congressmen have noble intentions when they support unconstitutional bills. However, the federal government was not intended to be a giant manifestation of Santa Claus. Having fought for independence from England, the Founding Fathers realized that a large central government tends to infringe on individual rights. Moreover, a large central government is not equipped to care for the specific needs of its citizens.
Let me demonstrate this with an illustration. I recently held a town hall meeting in New Jersey about No Child Left Behind. Every person who attended had something negative to say about the federal requirements under the current system. At one point in the meeting I asked how many people had contacted and met with their local principal or school board about their respective problems. Everyone raised their hands. I then asked how many had contacted and met with the New Jersey Department of Education, and about half raised their hands. I then asked how many had contacted and met with the U.S. Department of Education, and only one person raised their hand.
My point is this: By transferring responsibility to Washington, DC, we are moving the accountability farther and farther away from where it belongs: close to the people.
It is tremendously easy to let our rights slip away and almost equally hard to get them back. The best weapon we have against either of these happening is to arm ourselves with the knowledge found in the United States Constitution.
I yield back the balance of my time.
