Our Federal Government is often accused of using certain sections of the Constitution (such as the Elastic Clause) to justify the bills they pass. This issue has become even more pronounced since the institution of a new rule in the House which requires all bills to carry a “Constitutional Authority Statement.” Though implemented to help show that the new GOP majority in the House respects the restrictions placed on the Federal Government in the Constitution, this rule has only made more prominent the use of the Constitution to pass any law Congress wants.
This article on Washingtonpost.com gives examples of this problem pointing out instances such as when the House used article I, Section 8, Clause 3 as justification for passing a bill that prohibits pointing lasers at aircrafts. The article also shows, however, that this rule has been put to good use as well. A bill to repeal the health care law cited articles 1, 2, 3, and 6, the 10th amendment and quoted James Madison. This shows that the new rule is not useless.
Though this new rule hasn’t made huge improvements in regards to the problem of the Federal Government using the Constitution to justify passing whatever laws they want, it does require representatives to constantly check themselves against the Constitution. This article does a wonderful job of showing that. It also shows that even though the House is still using the Constitution to their advantage, this rule has helped to pronounce that problem and thus it will be easier to eliminate the problem in the future.
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