Commerce Clause and the Powers

¶ … Commerce Clause and the Powers it Gives Congress Commerce Clause The United States Congress is the most powerful authority within the North American country, and not only this, but it exercises its power onto most global regions. The current research will focus on the powers of the Congress as stipulated by the U.S. Constitution, with emphasis on the Commerce Clause. Additionally, it will also analyze the implied and the necessary and probable clause.

Powers of the Congress The powers of the United States Congress are stipulated in the Constitution, within the first article, the eight section: Scope of Legislative Power, which, amongst other things, mentions the following rights of the Congress: The financial responsibility falls on the shoulders of the Congress, which is able to collect taxes and borrow money; the condition is however for it to ensure an even distribution of the financial resources collected The Congress has the power to regulate trade operations with various states, as well as the Indian tribes The Congress has the power to regulate the matter of naturalization and bankruptcies through the issuing of the necessary legislation The Congress has the power to coin money and set the exchange rates against other international currencies The Congress has the power to establish post offices and post roads, to promote activities related to art and science and to establish courts of law, inferior in power and importance to the Supreme Court (Cornell University Law School) The Commerce Clause The Commerce Clause is one of the many powers granted to the United States Congress and it states that the political formation has the right to "regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes" (Cornell University Law School).

This simple clause simultaneously grants the U.S. Congress the right to regulate international trade onto three distinct channels: the trade operations between the United States and other countries, the trade operations among the foreign countries themselves and the trade operations between the United States and the tribes of Native Americans.

Along the years, the Commerce Clause has been interpreted in four distinct manners: (1) the clause allows the United States Congress unlimited rights to regulate trade operations -- U.S.' trade partners are divested from any ability to control commerce operations (2) the clause allows the United States and its concurrent countries to regulate trade; in this case, commerce decisions can only be implemented in full accordance with the federal legislation (3) the clause grants equal rights to the United States and its trade partners to regulate specific areas; whenever conflicts appear, these are settled in courts of law (4) the Commercial Clause sees that the United States and the concurrent countries share power in trade operations in numerous aspects, but the U.S.

Congress is superior as it has an increased ability to control certain aspects of commercial operations (University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law). Implied Powers, the Necessary and Proper Clause The United States Constitution is at times ambiguous and leaves room for interpretation.

This is the stage at which the implied powers of the Congress come into discussion and probably the most relevant example in this sense is given by the Commerce Clause, which, as shown in the previous section, implies the reduced ability of trade partner states to regulate the operations with the United States.

The right to implied powers and the necessary and proper clause is written under the eighteenth paragraph of the eight section in the first article and states that the Congress has the right to "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof" (Cornell University Law School).

In this light of events, it becomes obvious that the United States Congress has the ability to implement the decisions it considers necessary within a given context. They will not make use of this right only in critical circumstances, but also when they feel that a new direction or a new action is likely to benefit the current endeavor. "The phrase is not limited to such measures as are absolutely necessary, but includes all appropriate means that are conducive to the end to be accomplished, and.