Section 1. Congress shall have the power to legislate in all cases to which the separate States are incompetent, or in which the harmony of the United States may be interrupted by the exercise of Legislation from individual States.
Section 2. The spending of monies levied among the several States shall not be spent in such a way as to benefit a single State or small number of States.
Section 3. Every law, or resolution having the force of law, shall relate to but one subject, and that shall be expressed in the title.
Section 4. No law shall be revised or amended by reference to its title; but in such case the act revised, or section amended, shall be re-enacted and published at length.
Section 5. Congress shall pass no law that does not contain a concise and definite statement of the constitutional authority relied upon for the enactment of each portion of that law.
Section 6. No person who has been convicted of a felony (unless pardoned) in their State of residence shall be eligible to hold office as a senator or representative, and any sitting senator or representative convicted of a felony in their State of residence shall not be allowed to continue in their office. Senators or representatives who have been indicted of a felony shall not have the right to vote on any business before the House to which they belong. Indictments that do not result in a conviction shall restore the member's voting rights.
The Problem:
Our federal government was designed by the Founding Fathers to be one of limited, delegated powers, operating in spheres of life that rarely effected the day-to-day lives of the American citizenry. The federal government was there to coordinate foreign affairs, defend the Union from foreign attack and insurrection, and regulate interstate commerce. This list is a broad-brushed summary of the areas of responsibility given to the Congress in Article I, Section 8, but it is duly representative to be considered complete.
James Madison lays out this vision in no. 38 of The Federalist Papers:
But if the Government be national with regard to the operation of its powers, it changes its aspect again when we contemplate it in relation to the extent of its powers. The idea of a national Government involves in it, not only an authority over the individual citizens; but an indefinite supremacy over all persons and things, so far as they are objects of lawful Government. Among a people consolidated into one nation, this supremacy is compleatly vested in the national Legislature. Among communities united for particular purposes, it is vested partly in the general, and partly in the municipal Legislatures. In the former case, all local authorities are subordinate to the supreme; and may be controuled, directed or abolished by it at pleasure. In the latter the local or municipal authorities form distinct and independent portions of the supremacy, no more subject within their respective spheres to the general authority, than the general authority is subject to them, within its own sphere. In this relation then the proposed Government cannot be deemed a national one; since its jurisdiction extends to certain enumerated objects only, and leaves to the several States a residuary and inviolable sovereignty over all other objects. It is true that in controversies relating to the boundary between the two jurisdictions, the tribunal which is ultimately to decide, is to be established under the general Government. But this does not change the principle of the case. The decision is to be impartially made, according to the rules of the Constitution; and all the usual and most effectual precautions are taken to secure this impartiality. Some such tribunal is clearly essential to prevent an appeal to the sword, and a dissolution of the compact; and that it ought to be established under the general, rather than under the local Governments; or to speak more properly, that it could be safely established under the first alone, is a position not likely to be combated.
And again, in The Federalist no. 45, James Madison writes:
Due to the contingencies of history and the convenience of the moment brought on by various national crises or challenges, the powers of the national government were incrementally expanded until they encompassed every sphere of everyday life. Even the regulation of water flow in our houses is not beyond the reach of the federal government. And all without one word being added to the U.S. Constitution!The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the Federal Government, are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State Governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negociation, and foreign commerce; with which last the power of taxation will for the most part be connected. The powers reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects, which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties and properties of the people; and the internal order, improvement, and prosperity of the State.
The operations of the Federal Government will be most extensive and important in times of war and danger; those of the State Governments, in times of peace and security. As the former periods will probably bear a small proportion to the latter, the State Governments will here enjoy another advantage over the Federal Government. The more adequate indeed the federal powers may be rendered to the national defence, the less frequent will be those scenes of danger which might favour their ascendency over the governments of the particular States.
The reality of what the federal government is versus what it is delegated by the federal Constitution are sorely out of line, and while most do not see it as any big deal, it will one day come back to haunt us if we do not bring the two back in line. Since reducing the federal government back down to the size envisioned by the Constitution, we are proposing an amendment to bring the Constitution in line with the realities of the day. It must be noted that while we would not have, all things being equal, advocated the current proposed amendment, but all things are not equal, the nation is where it is, and it is our view that less damage will be done in the long run if we amend the Constitution to reflect this fact.
The Explanation
Section 1. Congress shall have the power to legislate in all cases to which the separate States are incompetent, or in which the harmony of the United States may be interrupted by the exercise of Legislation from individual States.
Rather than continually trying to amend the Constitution to keep up with the ever-changing and evolving needs of the country through lists of explicitly-delegated congressional powers, this section would recognize what Congress has become: the sovereign law-making body is all spheres of American political and economic life. The wording of this proposed amendment is taken from wording originally posed by the Constitution's Framers themselves.
There is still a threshhold here that would be intended to protect the competent jurisdictions of the States, but the standard is less rigid that the current one set forth by Article I, Section 8. The realm of the Congress would still be problems or questions of an interstate and/or national scope. When combined with the Tenth Amendment and the proposed amendment to Repeal the Seventeenth Amendment, this would allow the flexibility and practicality of politics to determine the appropriate line between federal and state jurisdiction for whatever specific questions face the country at any given point of time.
This section would also remove any uncertainty regarding the proper scope of congressional power and legitimize the expanded role Congress has taken over the past 100 years. The original list of delegated powers has been stretched beyond recognition, so there is no reason to suspect that a newly updated list would fare any better in restricting congressional power. What is needed is built-in checks and balances, pitting the jealousies of each of the branches and the States between each other.
Section 2. The spending of monies levied among the several States shall not be spent in such a way as to benefit a single State or small number of States.
Since Section 1 would potentially open the doors of congressional power to any and every kind of problem, procedural checks will be important to help States or groups provide a counter-weight to Congress. While the Framers limited the powers of Congress to those listed in Article 1, Section 8 as one means to check congressional overreach, this list has proven to be nothing more than a "parchment barrier" (to use Madison's turn of phrase) as the necessary and proper clause of the Constitution has been used to stretch the originally-delegated congressional powers beyond any recognized shape.
This section would provide one such procedural check to the misapplication of congressional power by prohibiting the spending of money in ways that do not benefit the nation (or a broader group of States) as a whole. This would also have the added benefit of killing much of the present-day "pork barrel" spending that plagues federal budgets. If this provision were violated by the Congress, the States or interest groups would be able to sue the Federal Government is court in order to prevent the spending of the monies that were budgeted in violation of this section.
Section 3. Every law, or resolution having the force of law, shall relate to but one subject, and that shall be expressed in the title.
Section 3 is an adaptation from similar clauses in state constitutions that regulates how the Congress considers bills, adding another procedural check to protect against an enthusiastic Congress. Too many laws are passed that cover a wide-range of subjects, many having nothing to do with the main purpose of the bill. Every bill that is considered should relate to one and only one topic, and the topic that is considered by the bill should be easily understood and communicated.
Section 4. No law shall be revised or amended by reference to its title; but in such case the act revised, or section amended, shall be re-enacted and published at length.
This section carries forward the spirit of Section 3, regulating the revision and amendment of existing laws by Congress. The goal, again, is to bring clarity to what it is the Congress is considering and passing.
Section 5. Congress shall pass no law that does not contain a concise and definite statement of the constitutional authority relied upon for the enactment of each portion of that law.
While this might seem an obvious requirement and has been largely adhered until the recent past (for example, Congress and the Roosevelt Administration went to great pains to lay out the constitutional grounds for the Social Security Act), this would formalize the practice and ensure, at a minimum, that Congress at least gives a passing thought to the Constitution when considering legislation.
Section 6. No person who has been convicted of a felony (unless pardoned) in their State of residence shall be eligible to hold office as a senator or representative, and any sitting senator or representative convicted of a felony in their State of residence shall not be allowed to continue in their office. Senators or representatives who have been indicted of a felony shall not have the right to vote on any business before the House to which they belong. Indictments that do not result in a conviction shall restore the member's voting rights.
Section 6 is in some respects a rider to the amendment, but one we think is necessary to restore confidence in Congress. Currently, the onus is on the House and Senate to vote to remove one of their members convicted of a felony. This section will make mandatory the removal of a member of the House or Senate that has been convicted of a felony.
In addition, too many representatives and senators have wielded too much power while a cloud of suspicion hangs over them. While we wish to respect the American principle of "innocent until proven guilty," the proceedings of Congress must be preserved from the stain on credibility that even an indictment can bring. We recognize that this provision could easily be abused by a rogue district attorney in the senator's or representative's home state, so we would be open to tailoring this section to include protections against such possibilities (e.g., restricting the area covered by this provision to the home district, in the case of a representative).
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