Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution, known as the Commerce Clause, empowers the United States Congress
"To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes."
Courts and commentators have tended to discuss each of these three areas as a separate power granted to Congress. It is therefore common to see references to the Foreign Commerce Clause, the Interstate Commerce Clause, and the Indian Commerce Clause, each of which refers to the power granted to Congress in this section.
The founders' understanding of the word "commerce" is unclear. Although commerce means economic activity today, it had much broader and non-economic meanings at the time.
For example, in 18th century writing one finds expressions such as "the free and easy commerce of social life" and "our Lord's commerce with his disciples".
Further, interpreting interstate commerce to mean "interstate human interaction" makes more sense for the foreign and Indian commerce clauses as one would expect Congress to be given authority to regulate non-economic relations with other nations and with Indian tribes.
COMMERCE is dominated by human interaction, however, "The Commerce Clause" does not lend interpretation in my opinion over the humans so much as the commerce in regard to the benevolence of the public trust. It certainly is never to be so interpreted that human well being as in the roll back of environmental laws adversely affect the health of a nation, it's interactions with other nations or the aesthetics of living. Civil Rights, Environmental Law is grossly in the balance in the USA under this administration and Congress. Law is not a toy, however, it is all too frequently being treated as such by today's legislators.
