Powers of Congress

1. Powers of Congress By 5th Period *Note: Only includes those slides received thus far

2. Declare War • In the Constitution it says that congress shall have the power to declare war. • What this means that no other can declare war with out the approve of congress, not even the president of the united states. • This one of the many powers congress is granted under the Constitution of the united states of america.

4. Clause 7.“To establish Post Offices and Post Roads” ‘Congress has the power to set up Post Offices and to build roads connecting them.’ ‘The Clause has been construed to give Congress the power to designate mail routes and construct or designate post offices, with the implied authority to carry, deliver, and regulate the mail of the United States as a whole.’ Citation: http://www.shmoop.com/constitution/article-1-section-8.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postal_Clause

5. Clause 11To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water This clause grants Congress one of its most important powers: the power to declare war. Congress, and only Congress, can officially do so. (The President can't!) This clause also grants Congress one of its more bizarre powers: the power to hire pirates to attack the nation's enemies. (That's what a "Letter of Marque" is... a letter that gives a pirate official permission to do his thing in the name of the national interest. Avast, ye mateys!) Five wars have been declared under the Constitution: the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Spanish-American War, World War I, and World War II

6. Implied Power

7. Modern Definition/Usage Implied powers are not stated directly in the constitution. They derive from the law of congress to make all laws “necessary and proper” to carry out its enumerated powers

8. Clause wording from Constitution The supreme court upheld the concept of the Implied powers in the landmark case Mcculloch v. Maryland, ruling that the federal government had the right to establish a national bank under the power of delegated to congress to bower money and control commerce.

9. illustration

10. The Commerce Clause • Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3 • “To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;” • Modern Meaning: • Congress has the power to regulate trade with other countries, between the states (interstate trade), and Indian Tribes.

11. Opinion of the Commerce Clause from the Supreme Court • Gonzales v. Raich, 545 U.S. 1 (2005) • “The Commerce Clause emerged as the Framers' response to the central problem giving rise to the Constitution itself: the absence of any federal commerce power under the Articles of Confederation. For the first century of our history, the primary use of the Clause was to preclude the kind of discriminatory state legislation that had once been permissible. Then, in response to rapid industrial development and an increasingly interdependent national economy, Congress “ushered in a new era of federal regulation under the commerce power,” beginning with the enactment of the Interstate Commerce Act in 1887 and the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1890.”

12. Potential Abuses • Often paired with the Necessary and Proper Clause • Strict Constitutionalists view the Federal Gov. oversteps its power with too much regulation • The Affordable Care Act • The Supreme Court ruled the Affordable Care Act constitutional under the Commerce Clause. This decision has been criticized by Constitutionalists as a power grab in the world of health care.