'Necessary and Proper' Clause
in the Constitution
Note the Congress establishment of
authority Article I's 'necessary
' clause:
To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing
Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States
or in any Department or Officer thereof.
The has been an ongoing appropriations battle in the congress
about spending some 500 million
dollars to refurbish the Capitol Mall, which requires no imagination
at all to see the need with its
several million visitors a year.
The Congress has been reluctant to
fund something that doesn't relate
directly to their own districts, but
the Capitol
 District should be an
exception to that reluctance.
It wisely set up the National
Arboretum in 1927 as a plant
research and garden center, which
has developed over the years into a
national visual and sensory
attraction. Of course the
Arboretum plants and gardening
arrangements are intended for
research and minor seeding
activities, not farm-like mass
replanting of grasses, flowers and
shrubs. The Arboretum is a
nearly perfect example of Article I,
Section 8's 'To promote the progress
of Science and useful Arts' clause.
Many of these oxygen producing
plants could be reproduced on a
large scale in the DuPont Park area
as the 'DuPont Gardens', with acres
of grass turf that could be used
throughout the Capitol.
In this case the objective would be
to have a 'federal reserve' of
grass (the Mall has to be
re-carpeted every other year to look
reasonable), flowers, shrubs
and trees that could be used to
beatify not only the Capitol Mall,
but other parks and waterways of the
District, such as the Constitution
Gardens, Rock Creek, the Anacostia wetlands area and
the Georgetown waterfront.
Landscaping has been a very
expensive process in the past
because of the 'one-time' mentality
of the Congress and District
Community. There is no system
for the
wear and tear on the District to be
replaced seasonally only on a decade
or generation basis which might
quadruple the costs.
A 200 (500?) acre Botanical Garden
at the Fort DuPont Park might allow
for the nearly instantaneous
replacement of grounds in the
Washington area. If open to
Districts residents, it might have
an interesting effect all over the
District and the original Maryland
counties that ceded it to the
Federal government in 1789.
The 10 year cost of one and a half
billion might be reduced to forty
million a year for each year. This
might be dependent on the many
volunteers and supporters who
already contribute to Capitol
beatification along with the
landscaping contractors, Capitol
Architect, and Congress. How high is
Section 8's powers of the Congress
'To promote the progress of
Science and useful Arts' clause
in terms of the priorities of
'Necessary and Proper'?
- Budget considerations
(to be added)
- PROS: Maintenance
is less expensive than
rebuilds. Citizens can be
proud of Capitol.
- CONS: Requires
citizen participation and
volunteers, Permanent
government organization
- Ecological
considerations. Better
local air?
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