The Constitution in Congress: Substantive Issues in the First Congress, 1789-1791 David P
The University of Chicago Law Review VOLUME 61 NUMBER 3 SUMMER 1994 of Chicago © 1994 by The University The Constitution in Congress: Substantive Issues in the First Congress, 1789-1791 David P. Curriet Judicial review of legislative and executive action has been such a success in the United States that we tend to look exclu- sively to the courts for guidance in interpreting the Constitution. The stock of judicial precedents is rich, accessible, and familiar, but it does not exhaust the relevant materials. Members of Congress and executive officers, no less than judges, swear to uphold the Constitution, and they interpret it every day in making and applying the law.' Like judges, they often engage in t Edward H. Levi Distinguished Service Professor and Interim Dean, The University of Chicago Law School. The author wishes to thank the Kirkland & Ellis Faculty Research Fund, the Mayer, Brown & Platt Faculty Research Fund, the Morton C. Seeley Fund, the Raymond & Nancy Goodman Feldman Fund, and the Sonnenschein Faculty Research Fund for financial support; Charlene Bangs Bickford, Kenneth R. Bowling, and Helen E. Veit of the First Federal Congress Project for access to hitherto unpublished reports of the debates; Kenneth Bowling, Gerhard Casper, Richard Posner, and Richard Ross for invalu- able advice and encouragement; and Keith Garza for exemplary research assistance. ' "M[T]he whole business of Legislation," said Representative Theodore Sedgwick in 1791, "was a practical construction of the powers of the Legislature. ." Gales & Seaton, eds, 2 Annals of Congress 1960 (1791) ("Annals"). See generally Frank H. Easterbrook, PresidentialReview, 40 Case W Res L Rev 905 (1989-90); Jefferson Powell, ed, Languages of Power: A Source Book of Early American ConstitutionalHistory xi-xii (Carolina Aca- demic Press, 1991).
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