Tom Coburn: “I want to finish my point, if I may. Federalist No. 44 commented on the compact clause saying that it was so clearly…”

“I want to finish my point, if I may. Federalist No. 44 commented on the compact clause saying that it was so clearly needed, that the particulars of the clause fall within reasonings which are either so obvious or have been so fully developed that they may be passed over without remark. Our forefathers had this figured out. All we have to do is follow the Constitution. Senator Shelby in the Banking Committee is looking at CFIUS reform. We have plenty of time to do what we need to do. But to run off in response to a motion without the facts is a dangerous precedent for this body. This is a reasoned body. The more partisanship we have, the less reason will prevail. In several cases, courts have said the application of the compact clause is limited to agreements that are directed to the formation of any combination tending to increase a political power in States which may encroach on or interfere with the just supremacy of the United States. So we already have the power to fix this under the compact clause and the treaty clause, both under article I and article II of the Constitution. That is what we ought to be doing. We have plenty of time to address that, while the appropriate committees within Congress address the actual facts of this case. The United States has no national port authority. Jurisdiction is shared by Federal, State, and local governments, but it does not lessen the power of the U.S. Congress to have control over this. We do need to make some changes.…”