For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
December 1, 2003
Statement on H.R. 2754
Statement by the President
Today, I have signed into law H.R. 2754, the "Energy and Water
Development Appropriations Act, 2004." The Act funds programs of the
Department of Energy, the Department of the Interior's Bureau of
Reclamation, the Army Corps of Engineers, and several other agencies,
and provides funds to help protect the Nation's environment.
The executive branch shall construe provisions of the Act that
direct the Secretary of a military department to perform the
Secretary's duties through a particular military officer in a manner
consistent with the statutory authority of the Secretary of Defense to
exercise authority, direction, and control of the Department of Defense
and the constitutional authority of the President to supervise the
unitary executive branch and as Commander in Chief.
Provisions in sections 209 and 303 and under the heading
"Construction, General" in title I purport to require the approval of
committees of the Congress before executive branch execution of aspects
of the Act or to preclude executive branch execution of a provision of
the Act upon the written disapproval of such a committee. The
executive branch shall construe such provisions to require only
notification to the Congress, as any other construction would
contravene the constitutional principles set forth by the Supreme Court
in INS v. Chadha.
GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE,
December 1, 2003.
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