For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
November 22, 2003
President Signs Military Construction Appropriations Act
Statement by the President
Today, I have signed into law H.R. 2559, the "Military Construction
Appropriations Act, 2004." The Act appropriates funds for construction
to support the operations of the U.S. Armed Forces and for military
family housing.
Sections 107, 110, and 113 provide for notice to the Congress of
relocation of activities between military installations, initiation of
a new installation abroad, or U.S. military exercises involving
$100,000 in construction costs. The Supreme Court of the United States
has stated that the President's authority to classify and control
access to information bearing on national security flows from the
Constitution and does not depend upon a legislative grant of
authority. Although notice can be provided in most situations as a
matter of comity, situations may arise, especially in wartime, in which
the President must act promptly under his constitutional grants of
executive power and authority as Commander in Chief while protecting
sensitive national security information. The executive branch shall
construe these sections in a manner consistent with the constitutional
authority of the President.
Section 119 provides for the Secretary of Defense to submit a
report to Congress with details of proposed actions to encourage
certain cooperating nations to assume a greater share of the common
defense burden. Section 128 of the Act establishes a commission of
eight congressionally-designated members to study the U.S. military
facility structure overseas and provides for commission access to
information. The executive branch shall construe sections 119 and 128
in a manner consistent with the President's constitutional authority to
withhold information the disclosure of which could impair foreign
relations, the national security, the deliberative processes of the
Executive, or the performance of the Executive's constitutional
duties.
GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE,
November 22, 2003.
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