For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
November 5, 2001
President Signs Interior Appropriations Bill
Statement by the President
Today I have signed into law H.R. 2217, the "Department of the
Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2002."
I appreciate the bipartisan effort that has gone into producing
this Act. The bill abides by the agreed upon aggregate
funding level for Fiscal Year 2002 of $686 billion and supports several
of my Administration's key initiatives with:
- funding from the Land and Water
Conservation Fund to acquire and conserve lands in national parks,
forests, refuges, and public lands, and assist States in promoting
conservation and outdoor recreation;
- funding to reduce the National Park
Service deferred maintenance backlog and meet the growing demands on
park facilities and resources;
- funding for Indian school construction to
keep us on the 5-year path to eliminate the current school repair and
maintenance backlog by 2006; and
- full funding for key energy programs, such
as the Clean Coal Power initiative, to work in partnership with
industry to direct research towards reducing the environmental impact
of coal used for power generation in the United States.
I am disappointed that my initiative to increase the Low-Income
Weatherization Assistance Program by $120 million was reduced by $43
million in the final version of this bill. This reduction
will deny program benefits for over 17,000 low-income families,
compared with my request.
Several provisions in the bill purport to require congres-sional
approval before executive branch execution of aspects of the
bill. I will interpret such provisions to require
notification only, since any other interpretation would contradict the
Supreme Court ruling in INS v. Chadha.
GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE,
November 5, 2001.
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