For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
April 13, 2004
Statement by the President on H.R. 2584
Today, I have signed into law H.R. 2584, a bill to provide for the
conveyance to the Utrok Atoll local government of a decommissioned
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ship, and for other
purposes.
Section 101(c) of the bill purports to require the Utrok Atoll
local government, in consultation with the Government of the Republic
of the Marshall Islands, to submit a plan to four committees of the
United States Congress for the use of the ship to be conveyed. The
Republic of the Marshall Islands, of which Utrok is a political
subdivision, is a self-governing republic with a sovereign right to
self-determination whose government has the capacity to conduct foreign
affairs. Accordingly, in light of the status of the Republic of the
Marshall Islands and the exclusive authority of the President with
respect to the conduct of the foreign affairs of the United States, the
executive branch shall construe section 101(c) as asking the President
to request, rather than as requiring, that the Utrok political
subdivision submit a plan for use of the ship to be conveyed. The
Secretary of State, after consul-tation with the Secretary of Commerce,
shall communicate on my behalf as appropriate with the Government of
the Republic of the Marshall Islands to effectuate to the extent
permissible the purposes of section 101.
GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE,
April 13, 2004.
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