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| | WHETHER URUGUAY ROUND AGREEMENTS REQUIRED RATIFICATION AS A TREATY |
 | | In 1880, the House asserted that the negotiation of a commercial treaty that fixed duties on foreign imports would be an unconstitutional invasion of its prerogatives over the origination of revenues; in 1883, it demanded, in connection with a proposed commercial treaty with Mexico, to have a voice in treaties affecting revenue. |
 | | The use of these procedures, in which both political branches deploy sweeping constitutional powers, fully satisfies the Constitution's requirements; the Treaty Clause's provision for concurrence by two-thirds of the Senators present is not constitutionally mandatory for international agreements of this kind. |
 | | Again, in 1844, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, under Senator Rufus Choate, presented a report on the Prussian and Germanic Confederation Treaty, in which the Committee urged rejection of the treaty because "the legislature is the department of government by which commerce should be regulated and laws of revenue be passed. |
| www.justice.gov /olc/gatt.htm (8088 words) |
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