For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 23, 2002
Statement by the President
Today I have signed into law H.R. 5010, the "Department of Defense
Appropriations Act, 2003," which provides $354.8 billion for national
security programs administered by the Department of Defense.
I appreciate the bipartisan effort that has gone into producing
this Act. It abides by an aggregate FY 2003 funding level that I
support of $759 billion, which is consistent with the House-passed
Budget Resolution. My Administration appreciates that the Congress
has completed the FY 2003 Defense and Military Construction
appropriations bills.
I am disappointed that the Act does not fund the $10 billion I
requested to support the war on terrorism. I am also concerned that
the Act cuts $2.7 billion from my request for operations and
maintenance activities at the very time our Armed Forces are engaged in
a battle against global terrorism. Without these funds, we may be
forced to reduce other important programs to finance the war on
terrorism.
Sections 8007 and 8111 of the Act prohibit the use of funds to
initiate a special access program or to initiate a new start program,
unless the congressional defense committees receive advance notice of
such initiation. The U.S. Supreme Court 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 the advance
notice contemplated by sections 8007 and 8111 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 of the Armed Forces while protecting certain extraordinarily
sensitive national security information. The executive branch shall
construe sections 8007 and 8111 in a manner consistent with the
constitutional authority of the President.
Section 8066 of the Act provides that, notwithstanding any other
provision of law, no funds available to the Department of Defense for
fiscal year 2003 may be used to transfer defense articles or services,
other than intelligence services, to another nation or an international
organization for international peacekeeping, peace-enforcement, or
humanitarian assistance operations, until 15 days after the executive
branch notifies six committees of Congress of the planned transfer.
The provision does not affect transfers using funds available to the
Department of Defense if the recipient is other than a nation or an
international organization or if the transfer is of intelligence
services, such as provision of or accommodation procurements for
imagery intelligence, geospatial information, or cryptological
support. The provision also does not affect transfers of defense
articles or defense services using funds contained in the Act that are
available to the Central Intelligence Agency rather than the Department
of Defense. To the extent that protection of the U.S. Armed Forces
deployed for international peacekeeping, peace-enforcement, or
humanitarian
assistance operations might require action of a kind covered by
section 8066 sooner than 15 days after notification, the executive
branch shall construe section 8066 in a manner consistent with my
constitutional duty as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces.
A proviso in the Act's appropriation for "Operation and
Maintenance, Defense-Wide" prohibits implementation of, and purports to
prohibit planning for, consolidation of certain offices within the
Department of Defense. Similarly, section 8121 of the Act purports to
specify the content of future Department of Defense budgetary and
programming plans. The executive branch shall construe these
provisions relating to planning in a manner consistent with the
President's constitutional authority to require the opinions of the
heads of departments and to recommend for congressional consideration
such measures as the President shall judge necessary and expedient.
Section 8094 of the Act provides that, in implementing a healthcare
interagency partnership under that section, Native Hawaiians shall have
the status of Native Americans who are eligible for the healthcare
services provided by the Indian Health Service. The executive branch
shall implement section 8094 in a manner consistent with the
requirement to afford equal protection of the laws under the Due
Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.
Section 8116 of the Act makes certain appropriated funds available
for transportation, food, lodging, supplies, fees, and training
materials for members of the Armed Forces and their immediate family
members while participating in chaplain-led programs, such as retreats
and conferences, that assist them in building and maintaining a strong
family structure. In implementing this provision, the executive branch
shall accord the fullest respect to the fundamental constitutional
right of free exercise of religion, subject to the constitutional
limitation on establishment of religion and any other applicable law.
GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE,
October 23, 2002.
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