American Insurance Association v. Garamendi, 539 U.S. 396, 32 (2003)

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Cite as: 539 U. S. 396 (2003)

Opinion of the Court

state statute could not give the State the benefit of any doubt in resolving the conflict with national policy.

C

The basic fact is that California seeks to use an iron fist where the President has consistently chosen kid gloves. We have heard powerful arguments that the iron fist would work better, and it may be that if the matter of compensation were considered in isolation from all other issues involving the European Allies, the iron fist would be the preferable policy. But our thoughts on the efficacy of the one approach versus the other are beside the point, since our business is not to judge the wisdom of the National Government's policy; dissatisfaction should be addressed to the President or, perhaps, Congress. The question relevant to preemption in this case is conflict, and the evidence here is "more than sufficient to demonstrate that the state Act stands in the way of [the President's] diplomatic objectives." Crosby, supra, at 386.

V

The State's remaining submission is that even if HVIRA does interfere with Executive Branch foreign policy, Congress authorized state law of this sort in the McCarran-Ferguson Act, 59 Stat. 33, ch. 20, 15 U. S. C. §§ 1011-1015, and the more recent U. S. Holocaust Assets Commission Act of 1998 (Holocaust Commission Act), 112 Stat. 611, note following 22 U. S. C. § 1621. There is, however, no need to consider the possible significance for preemption doctrine of tension between an Act of Congress and Presidential foreign policy, cf. generally Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, 343 U. S., at 637-638 (Jackson, J., concurring in judgment and opinion of Court), for neither statute does the job the commissioner ascribes to it.

The provisions of the McCarran-Ferguson Act said to be relevant here specify that "[t]he business of insurance" shall be recognized as a subject of state regulation, 15 U. S. C.

427

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