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My favorite piece of legislation - H.R. 384
H.R. 384...
Quote:
Enumerated Powers Act (Introduced in House)
HR 384 IH
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 384
To require Congress to specify the source of authority under the United States Constitution for the enactment of laws, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 27, 2003
Mr. SHADEGG introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To require Congress to specify the source of authority under the United States Constitution for the enactment of laws, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Enumerated Powers Act'.
SEC. 2. SPECIFICATION OF CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY FOR ENACTMENT OF LAW.
(a) CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY FOR THIS ACT- This Act is enacted pursuant to the power granted Congress under article I, section 8, clause 18, of the United States Constitution and the power granted to each House of Congress under article I, section 5, clause 2, of the United States Constitution.
(b) CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT REQUIRED- Chapter 2 of title 1, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 102 the following new section:
`Sec. 102a. Constitutional authority clause
`Each Act of Congress shall contain a concise and definite statement of the constitutional authority relied upon for the enactment of each portion of that Act. The failure to comply with this section shall give rise to a point of order in either House of Congress. The availability of this point of order does not affect any other available relief.'
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT- The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 2 of title 1, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 102 the following new item:
`102a. Constitutional authority clause.'.
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Brilliantly simple. In short... this bill would require that each piece of legislation brought before congress cite the specific text of the Constitution authorizing Congress to act in that capacity. I think this would be a great way to ensure that each and every law passed has it's authority granted by the U.S. Constitution.
I would certainly support similar measures taken for every Executive order and every Supreme Court decision.
Cheers to John Shadegg for bringing this up.
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If you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly, you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance for survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.
~ Winston Churchill
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