Opinion ID: 107045
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: conclusion

Text: In my view it is clear that Congress did not mean the 1926 Act to authorize the Executive to impose area restrictions in time of peace, and, with all deference, I disagree with the Court's holding that it did. I agree with the Court that Congress may authorize the imposition of travel restrictions consistent with constitutional guarantees, but I find it plain and evident that Congress has never considered and resolved the problem. After consideration Congress might determine that broad general authority should be delegated to the Secretary of State, or it might frame a narrower statute. I believe that here, as in other areas, appropriate delegation is constitutionally permissible where some standard for the application of delegated power is provided. See, e. g., Lichter v. United States, 334 U. S. 742, 785. However, in light of my conclusion that the 1926 Act did not deal with area restrictions I do not find it necessary to consider the question of whether the language of the 1926 Act might constitute an unconstitutionally broad delegation of power. In view of the different types of need for area restrictions asserted by the Government, the various reasons for travel abroad, the importance and constitutional underpinnings of the right of citizens and a free press to gather information about foreign countriesconsiderations which Congress did not focus uponI would not infer, as the Court does, that Congress resolved the complex problem of area restrictions, which necessarily involves reconciling the rights of the citizen to travel with the Government's legitimate needs, by the re-enactment of a statute that history shows was designed to centralize authority to issue passports in the Secretary of State so as to prevent abuses arising from their issuance by unauthorized persons. Since I conclude that the Executive does not possess inherent power to impose area restrictions in peacetime, and that Congress has not considered the issue and granted such authority to the Executive. I would reverse the judgment of the District Court.