Congressional Constitutional Contempt

http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/wew/articles/07/congressionalconstitutionalcontempt.htm

A MINORITY VIEW
BY WALTER E. WILLIAMS
RELEASE: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2007, AND THEREAFTER

Congressional Constitutional Contempt

Here's the oath of office administered to members of
the House and Senate: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm)
that I will support and defend the Constitution of the
United States against all enemies, foreign or
domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance
to the same; that I take this obligation freely,
without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion;
and that I will well and faithfully discharge the
duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So
help me God." A similar oath is sworn to by the
president and federal judges.

In each new Congress since 1995, Rep. John Shadegg,
R-Ariz., has introduced the Enumerated Powers Act (HR
1359). The Act, which has yet to be enacted into law,
reads: "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."

Simply put, if enacted, the Enumerated Powers Act
would require Congress to specify the basis of
authority in the U.S. Constitution for the enactment
of laws and other congressional actions. HR 1359 has
28 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives.

When Shadegg introduced the Enumerated Powers Act, he
explained that the Constitution gives the federal
government great, but limited, powers. Its framers
granted Congress, as the central mechanism for
protecting liberty, specific rather than general
powers. The Constitution gives Congress 18 specific
enumerated powers, spelled out mostly in Article 1,
Section 8. The framers reinforced that enumeration by
the 10th Amendment, which reads: "The powers not
delegated to the United States by the Constitution,
nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved for
the States respectively, or to the people."

Just a few of the numerous statements by our founders
demonstrate that their vision and the vision of
Shadegg's Enumerated Powers Act are one and the same.
James Madison, in explaining the Constitution in
Federalist Paper No. 45, said, "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, negotiation, and foreign
commerce."

Regarding the "general welfare" clause so often used
as a justification for bigger government, Thomas
Jefferson said, "Congress has not unlimited powers to
provide for the general welfare, but only those
specifically enumerated." James Madison said, "If
Congress can do whatever in their discretion can be
done by money, and will promote the general welfare,
the government is no longer a limited one possessing
enumerated powers, but an indefinite one subject to
particular exceptions."

Congressmen, openly refusing to live up to their oath
of office, exhibit their deep contempt for our
Constitution. The question I've not been able to
answer satisfactorily is whether that contempt simply
mirrors a similar contempt held by most of the
American people. I'm sure that if founders such as
James Madison, John Adams or Thomas Jefferson were
campaigning for the 2008 presidential elections,
expressing their vision of the federal government's
role, today's Americans would run them out of town on
a rail. Does that hostility reflect constitutional
ignorance whereby the average American thinks the
Constitution authorizes Congress to do anything upon
which they can get a majority vote or anything that's
a good idea? Or, are Americans contemptuous of the
constitutional limitations placed on the federal
government?

I salute the bravery of Rep. Shadegg and the 28
co-sponsors of the Enumerated Powers Act. They have a
monumental struggle. Congress is not alone in its
constitutional contempt, but is joined by the White
House and particularly the constitutionally derelict
U.S. Supreme Court.

Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at
George Mason University. To find out more about Walter
E. Williams and read features by other Creators
Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators
Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com