E-Z-Rest Motel is a motel with 216 rooms located in the center of a large city in State Y. It is readily accessible from two interstate highways and three major state highways. The motel solicits patronage from outside State Y through various national advertising media, including magazines of national circulation.
It accepts convention trade from outside State Y, and approximately 75 percent of its registered guests are from out of State Y. An action under the Federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 has been brought against E-ZRest Motel alleging that the motel discriminates on the basis of race and color.
The motel contends that the statute cannot be applied to it because it is not engaged in interstate commerce. Can the federal government regulate this activity under the Interstate Commerce Clause? Why?