The agreements made by states among themselves and with foreign powers are known as compacts. Compacts are formal agreements that are binding on the states that enter into them. They can cover a wide range of topics, including water rights, trade, transportation, and criminal justice.
Constitutional Requirements for Compacts
The United States Constitution imposes several requirements on compacts between states. First, compacts must be approved by Congress before they can go into effect. Second, compacts cannot impair the sovereignty of the United States or any state. Third, compacts cannot discriminate against citizens of other states.
Types of Compacts
There are two main types of compacts: interstate compacts and international compacts. Interstate compacts are agreements between two or more states. International compacts are agreements between the United States and one or more foreign countries.
Interstate Compacts
Interstate compacts are typically used to address issues that affect multiple states. For example, states may enter into compacts to regulate water use in shared rivers or to establish uniform laws for traffic safety.
International Compacts
International compacts are typically used to address issues of mutual interest to the United States and other countries. For example, the United States has entered into compacts with Canada to manage water resources in the Great Lakes and to establish border security measures.
Compacts and the Supremacy Clause
The Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution states that federal law is the supreme law of the land. This means that if there is a conflict between a compact and a federal law, the federal law will prevail.