We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence,[note 1] promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
^見雅各布森訴馬薩諸塞州案（英語：Jacobson v. Massachusetts），197 U.S. 11, 22 (1905)（「雖然序言中說明了建立憲法的目的，但這一段話從來就沒有被視為是美國聯邦政府或任何部門實質性權力的來源。」）；還可參見美國訴波爾案（United States v. Boyer），85 F. 425, 430–31 (W.D. Mo. 1898)（「序言真正的作用只是闡明憲法是政府權力的來源和依據，而並沒有直接創建這些權力；它永遠都不能夠用來擴大政府或其任何部門的任何權力，它本身也並不直接包含有任何權力，它也不可能暗示任何政府權力還存在其它任何隱含的來源。」(quoting 1 JOSEPH STORY, COMMENTARIES ON THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES § 462 (1833)) (internal quotation marks omitted)).
^In Jacobs v. Pataki, 68 F. App'x 222, 224 (2d Cir. 2003), the plaintiff made the bizarre argument that "the 'United States of America' that was granted Article III power in the Constitution is distinct from the 'United States' that currently exercises that power"; the court dismissed this contention with 3 words ("it is not") and cited a comparison of the Preamble's reference to the "United States of America" with Article III's vesting of the "judicial Power of the United States."
^It is difficult to prove a negative, but courts have at times acknowledged this apparent truism. See, e.g., Boyer, 85 F. at 430 ("I venture the opinion that no adjudicated case can be cited which traces to the preamble the power to enact any statute.").
