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CHAPTER XVII

THE POWERS OF CONGRESS

Powers Granted to Congress. - The Constitution of the United States gives the powers which are granted to Congress, those which are denied Congress, those denied the states, and those which are denied both Congress and the states. The Tenth Amendment declares "that powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution nor probibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states. respectively, or to the people." Certain powers, such as the power of taxation, may be exercised by both states and nation. In case of conflict of authority, the Supreme Court has held that the state government must yield to the nation. The following powers are specifically granted1 to Congress:

I.

To lay and collect taxes, to lay and collect duties on imports, and to pay the debts and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States, but all duties and taxes shall be uniform throughout the United States.

2. To borrow money.

3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, among the several states, and with Indian tribes.

4. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States.

1 Const. Art. I, Sec. 8.

5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures. 6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States.

7. To establish post offices and post roads.

8. To promote the progress of science and the useful arts by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and inventions. 9. To establish courts under the Supreme Court.

IO.

To define and punish piracies and crimes committed on the high seas and offences against the law of nations.

II. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water.

12. To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be made for a longer period than two years.

13. To provide and maintain a navy.

14. To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces.

15. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions.

16. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States.

17. To govern the District of Columbia.

18. To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by the Constitution in the government of the United States.

The

Limitations upon the Authority of Congress.1 Constitution limits the authority of Congress as follows:

1. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended except when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require.

2.

Direct taxes must not be laid unless in proportion to the population of the states.2

3. No preference shall be given to the ports of one state over the ports of another.

4. No taxes shall be levied on exports.

5. The first eight amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, prohibit Congress from interfering with certain civil and personal rights of citizens.

3

Limitations upon the Powers of Congress and of the States. Neither Congress nor the state authorities may pass bills of attainder or ex post facto laws or grant titles of nobility. Nor may slavery legally exist within the United States or any place subject to its jurisdiction.

- The

Exclusive Powers of Each House of Congress. House of Representatives is granted the following exclusive powers:

I. To initiate revenue bills.

2.

To present articles of impeachment.

3. To elect a President in case the Electoral College is unable to elect.

1 Const. Art. I, Sec. 9.

"This limitation has since been rescinded by the passage in 1913

of the XVI Amendment to the Constitution.

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The Senate has the following exclusive powers:

I.

1. To approve or reject the President's nomination of men for certain Federal offices.

2. To approve or reject treaties with foreign powers. For the approval of a treaty a two-thirds vote is required.

In acting on the President's nominations for office and on treaties, the senate may have an executive, or secret, session, a survival of the early days of the Republic when all senate sessions were secret.

3. To try impeachments of the President, Vice-President, and civil (not military or naval) officers of the United States. This judicial function is similar to that exercised by the English House of Lords.

After articles of impeachment have been presented by the House of Representatives, the senate acts for the time as a court, over which the Vice-President, or the President pro tem of the Senate, presides except when the President of the United States is on trial, in which case the Chief-Justice of the United States presides.

The trial is carried on just as in a regular court, and the accused is given every chance to present his side of the case, both personally and by attorney. A two-thirds vote is required for conviction. Should the impeachment succeed, it results in the removal of the defendant from office and disqualifies him from holding any office in the gift of the United States. There have been only nine impeachment trials before the senate, but only three of them all have resulted in convictions. Judge Pickering, a Federal District Judge of New Hampshire, was convicted in 1803 on the charge of making decisions contrary to law and of drunkenness and profanity. Judge Humphries, a Federal District Judge of Tennessee, was impeached in 1862 for

accepting a judicial office under the Confederate government, and was convicted. Judge Archbald, of the recently established United States Commerce Court, was impeached and convicted by the Senate on January 13, 1913, on the charge of using his official position to gain favorable contracts with certain railroads in the purchase of coal banks.

The most famous impeachment trial was that of President Johnson in 1868. The President was accused of violating certain Reconstruction Acts of Congress. The impeachment fortunately failed by one vote.

4. To elect a Vice-President in case the Electoral College is unable to elect.

QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT

1. Name the powers granted exclusively to Congress.

2. What powers are denied Congress?

3. What powers are denied both Congress and the states?

4. State the exclusive powers which are given respectively to the Senate and the House of Representatives.

5. Describe the method followed in impeachment trials.

QUESTIONS SUGGESTED BY THE TEXT

1. What advantage is there in the requirement that all revenue bills shall originate in the House of Representatives'?

2. Under what constitutional authority might Congress vote to acquire and operate a railroad?

3. Why does the Constitution permit the senate to have an executive session?

4. Would it be an improvement to permit the passage of measures over the veto of a President by a simple majority vote of both houses?

5. Was it a misfortune that President Johnson escaped conviction in the impeachment trial? What effect might his conviction have had on the office of President?

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