408
Opinion of Thomas, J.
This grant of authority, however, cannot be read in isolation. As the first Justice Harlan once observed: "It is a familiar rule in the interpretation of . . . statutes that 'a passage will be best interpreted by reference to that which precedes and follows it.' " Neal v. Clark, 95 U. S. 704, 708 (1878). Section 201(a) refers exclusively to "interstate or foreign communication by wire or radio," and the first sentence of § 201(b) refers to "charges, practices, classifications, and regulations for and in connection with such communication service." "Under the principle of ejusdem generis, when a general term follows a specific one, the general term should be understood as a reference to subjects akin to the one with specific enumeration." Norfolk & Western R. Co. v. Train Dispatchers, 499 U. S. 117, 129 (1991). Applying this principle here, it is clear that the last sentence of § 201(b) only gives the FCC authority to promulgate regulations governing interstate and foreign communications. By failing to read § 201(b)'s grant of rulemaking authority in light of the limitation that precedes it, the majority attributes to the provision "a meaning so broad that it is inconsistent with its accompanying words, thus giving 'unintended breadth to the Acts of Congress.' " Gustafson v. Alloyd Co., 513 U. S. 561, 575 (1995) (quoting Jarecki v. G. D. Searle & Co., 367 U. S. 303, 307 (1961)).
That Congress apparently understood § 201(b) to be so limited is demonstrated by the fact that the FCC is specifically charged, under the 1996 Act, with issuing regulations that implement particular portions of § 251, as I have described, supra, at 406. If Congress believed, as does the majority, that § 201(b) provided the FCC with plenary authority to promulgate regulations implementing all of the 1996 Act's provisions, it presumably would not have needed to make clear that the FCC had regulatory authority with respect to particular matters.
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