For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
February 20, 2003
Statement by the President
Today I Have Signed Into Law H.j. Res. 2, the "consolidated
Appropriations Resolution, 2003," which contains the remaining 11
annual appropriations acts for fiscal year 2003. The funds appropriated
by this bill will provide valuable resources for priorities such as
homeland security, military operations, and education.
I am very concerned that the Congress failed to provide over $1
billion in funds that my Administration requested for State and local
law enforcement and emergency personnel, and that much of the funding
that the Congress did provide is heavily earmarked for lower-priority
programs that are not best designed to protect Americans against
terrorism. As a result, the shortfall for homeland security First
Responder programs is more than $2.2 billion. Funds that should have
been made available to the Department of Homeland Security are being
diverted to programs unrelated to higher-priority terrorism
preparedness and prevention efforts. My Administration will use all
the tools at its disposal to ensure that as much of this funding as
possible is directed toward terrorism preparedness and prevention.
Further, although the funding level in the bill is largely
consistent with the agreed upon top line level that I urged the
Congress to adopt, the bill is not fully consistent with the agreed
upon non-defense discretionary funding levels due to the expanded use
of budgetary mechanisms, such as advance appropriations. This bill
includes an increase in advance appropriations of $2.2 billion, which
should not be used to evade top line agreements on total discretionary
funding. Therefore, the FY 2004 congressional budget allocations
should be reduced accordingly and the device should not be repeated in
FY 2005. Finally, the bill includes $3.3 billion for unrequested
drought aid and other assistance that is only partially offset by
spending reductions in the recently enacted Farm Bill.
In addition, a number of provisions of H.J. Res. 2 are inconsistent
with the constitutional authority of the President to conduct foreign
affairs, command the Armed Forces, supervise the unitary executive
branch, protect sensitive information, and make recommendations to the
Congress. Other provisions unconstitutionally condition execution of
the laws by the executive branch upon approval by congressional
committees.
Thus, the executive branch shall construe as advisory the
provisions of the bill that purport to: direct or burden the
Executives conduct of international negotiations, such as sections 514,
556, 576, and 577 in the Foreign Operations Appropriations Act; limit
the Presidents authority as Commander in Chief, such as language under
the heading "Andean Counterdrug Initiative" in the Foreign Operations
Appropriations Act and section 609 of the Commerce Appropriations Act;
or limit the President's authority to supervise the unitary executive
branch, such as section 718 of the Agriculture Appropriations Act and
the provisions relating to Office of Management and Budget review of
executive branch orders, activities, regulations, transcripts and
testimony in the Treasury Appropriations Act.
In addition, the executive branch shall construe provisions that
mandate, regulate, or prohibit submission of information to the
Congress or the public, such as sections 561(a), 568(a), and 574(d) of
the Foreign Operations Appropriations Act and sections 620 and 622 of
the Treasury Appropriations Act, in a manner consistent with the
Presidents constitutional authority to withhold information that could
impair foreign relations, national security, the deliberative processes
of the Executive, or the performance of the Executive's constitutional
duties. Also, the executive branch shall construe provisions that
mandate or prohibit submission of recommendations to the Congress, such
as section 723 of the Agriculture Appropriations Act and the provisions
purporting to require submission of a request for a supplemental
appropriation in the Interior Appropriations Act, in a manner
consistent with the President's constitutional authority to submit for
congressional con-sideration such measures as the President judges
necessary and expedient.
Also, the executive branch shall construe as advisory, or as
calling solely for notification, the provisions of this bill that
purport to require congressional committee approval for the execution
of a law. Any other construction would be inconsistent with the
principles enunciated by the United States Supreme Court in INS v.
Chadha. Such provisions include: provisions relating to the "Working
Capital Fund," Food and Drug Administration fund transfers, and
sections 704 and 719 relating to fund transfers in the Agriculture
Appropriations Act; the provision relating to an expenditure plan for
the entry-exit system in the Commerce Appropriations Act; and the
provisions on transfer of United States Customs Service aircraft,
automated commercial environment, business systems modernization, funds
transfers within and among Treasury entities, Secret Service protective
mission travel, museum construction, high-intensity drug trafficking
area and other funding levels, building prospectus funding levels, use
of the Federal building fund for emergency repairs and transfers with
the fund, unobligated balances for salaries and expenses, office
improvements, and law enforcement training facilities in the Treasury
Appropriations Act.
Furthermore, the duty of the President under section 586 of the
Foreign Operations Appropriations Act to issue and provide copies of an
order relating to consideration of the release of information is
assigned to the Attorney General, who shall ensure that the section is
implemented in a manner consistent with the President's constitutional
authority to withhold information, the disclosure of which could impair
foreign relations, national security, the deliberative processes of the
Executive, or the performance of the Executive's constitutional
duties.
Finally, to ensure proper respect for the distinct powers of the
executive and legislative branches and to ensure effective coordination
between them in emergencies, the Attorney General shall serve as the
single officer within the executive branch authorized to receive
requests from the Chief of the Capitol Police and to approve action by
the executive branch in the implementation of section 1017 of the
legislative branch Appropriations Act.
GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE,
February 20, 2002.
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