Congress will never be sure what it is doing. or what will be the effect of its enactments upon the rights of the States and the laws of the States. There is a subtle and insidious twist to this doctrine of a preemption which has gone largely unnoticed. Under the Constitution. there ale two fields in which Congress may legislate: Those where Federal power is exclusive. such as foreign relations. declaration of war. naturalization. and regulation of the coinage. and fields where concurrent State and Federal jurisdiction may exist. The tendency of the doctrine of preemption is to narrow the area of concurrent Federal and State jurisdiction and broaden the area of exclusive Federal jurisdiction. The preemption doctrine necessarily involves. to a greater or lesser degree. the idea that mere enactment of Federal legislation in a field. thereby expressing national interest and concern in the field. results in making the field exclusively a Federal one.
Keywords matched
naturalization