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Page Number: 47

6 

BOND v. UNITED STATES 

THOMAS, J., concurring in judgment 

provides  no  support  for  using  treaties  to  regulate  purely
domestic affairs. 

II
 
A 

Debates  preceding  the  ratification  of  the  proposed  Con-
stitution confirm the limited scope of the powers possessed 
by  the  Federal  Government  generally;  the  Treaty  Power 
was  no  exception.  The  Framers  understood  that  most 
regulatory matters were to be left to the States.  See The 
Federalist  No.  45,  at  313  (J.  Madison)  (“The  powers  dele-
gated  by  the  proposed  Constitution  to  the  Federal  Gov-
ernment, are few and defined”); see also Lopez, 514 U. S., 
at  590–592  (THOMAS,  J.,  concurring)  (citing  sources). 
Consistent  with  that  general  understanding  of  limited 
federal  power,  evidence  from  the  ratification  campaign 
suggests  that  the  Treaty  Power  was  limited  and,  in  par-
ticular,  confined  to  matters  of  intercourse  with  other 
nations. 

In essays during the ratification campaign in New York,
James  Madison  took  the  view  that  the  Treaty  Power  was 
inherently  limited.  The  Federal  Government’s  powers, 
Madison  wrote,  “will  be  exercised  principally  on  external 
objects,  as  war,  peace,  negotiation,  and  foreign  com-
merce”—the  traditional  subjects  of  treaty-making.    The 
Federalist No. 45, at  313.  If the “external”  Treaty  Power 
contained a capacious domestic regulatory authority, that
would  plainly  conflict  with  Madison’s  firm  understanding
that “[t]he powers delegated by the proposed Constitution 
to  the  Federal  Government,  are  few  and  defined.”      Ibid. 
Madison  evidently  saw  no  conflict,  however,  because  the
Treaty  Power  included  authority  to  “regulate  the  inter-
course  with  foreign  nations”  rather  than  all  domestic 
affairs.  Id., No. 42, at 279. 

Madison  reiterated  that  understanding  at  the  1788 
Virginia  ratifying  convention,  where  the  most  extensive