812
Breyer, J., concurring
therefore be "a matter for arrangement and settlement between the States themselves, with the consent of Congress." Indiana v. Kentucky, 136 U. S., at 508; see Minnesota v. Wisconsin, 252 U. S. 273, 283 (1920) ("It seems appropriate to repeat the suggestion . . . that the parties endeavor with consent of Congress to adjust their boundaries").
IV
The exception of the State of New Jersey to Part VII of the Special Master's report, which concerns our authority to adjust the original boundary line between the two States, is sustained. The other exceptions of New Jersey and those of the State of New York are overruled. The case will be recommitted to the Special Master for preparation of a proposal for a decree consistent with this opinion.
It is so ordered.
Justice Breyer, with whom Justice Ginsburg joins, concurring.
Many of us have parents or grandparents who landed as immigrants at "Ellis Island, New York." And when this case was argued, I assumed that history would bear out that Ellis Island was part and parcel of New York. But that is not what the record has revealed. Rather, it contains a set of facts, set forth with care by Justice Souter and Justice Stevens (who do not disagree about the facts), which shows, in my view, that the filled portion of Ellis Island belongs to New Jersey.
I cannot agree with Justice Scalia that custom, assumption, and late 19th-century history fills in, and explains, an ambiguity in the original Compact between the States, for I do not find sufficient, relevant ambiguity. The word "relevant" is important, for the document, in fact, is highly ambiguous. But what I find the more serious and difficult ambiguity arises in sections upon which New York State does not
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