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Skriven 2005-12-30 23:33:14 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0512308) for Fri, 2005 Dec 30
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Statement by the President
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
December 30, 2005

Statement by the President



Today, I have signed into law H.R. 2863, the "Department of Defense,
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations to Address Hurricanes in the Gulf of
Mexico, and Pandemic Influenza Act, 2006." The Act provides resources
needed to fight the war on terror, help citizens of the Gulf States recover
from devastating hurricanes, and protect Americans from a potential
influenza pandemic.

Sections 8007, 8011, and 8093 of the Act prohibit the use of funds to
initiate a special access program, a new overseas installation, or a new
start program, unless the congressional defense committees receive advance
notice. The Supreme Court of the United States has stated that the
President's authority to classify and control access to information bearing
on the national security flows from the Constitution and does not depend
upon a legislative grant of authority. Although the advance notice
contemplated by sections 8007, 8011, and 8093 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 these sections in a manner
consistent with the constitutional authority of the President.

Section 8059 of the Act provides that, notwithstanding any other provision
of law, no funds available to the Department of Defense for fiscal year
2006 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 the Congress of the planned transfer. 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 8059 sooner than 15 days
after notification, the executive branch shall construe the section in a
manner consistent with the President's constitutional authority as
Commander in Chief.

A proviso in the Act's appropriation for "Operation and Maintenance,
Defense-Wide" purports to prohibit planning for consolidation of certain
offices within the Department of Defense. Also, sections 8010(b), 8032,
8037(b), and 8100 purport to specify the content of portions of future
budget requests to the Congress. The executive branch shall construe these
provisions relating to planning and making of budget recommendations in a
manner consistent with the President's constitutional authority to require
the opinions of the heads of departments, to supervise the unitary
executive branch, and to recommend for congressional consideration such
measures as the President shall judge necessary and expedient.

Section 8005 of the Act, relating to requests to congressional committees
for reprogramming of funds, shall be construed as calling solely for
notification, as any other construction would be inconsistent with the
constitutional principles enunciated by the Supreme Court of the United
States in INS v. Chadha.

The executive branch shall construe section 8104, relating to integration
of foreign intelligence information, in a manner consistent with the
President's constitutional authority as Commander in Chief, including for
the conduct of intelligence operations, and to supervise the unitary
executive branch. Also, the executive branch shall construe sections 8106
and 8119 of the Act, which purport to prohibit the President from altering
command and control relationships within the Armed Forces, as advisory, as
any other construction would be inconsistent with the constitutional grant
to the President of the authority of Commander in Chief.

The executive branch shall construe provisions of the Act relating to race,
ethnicity, gender, and State residency, such as sections 8014, 8020 and
8057, in a manner consistent with the requirement to afford equal
protection of the laws under the Due Process Clause of the Constitution's
Fifth Amendment.

The executive branch shall construe Title X in Division A of the Act,
relating to detainees, in a manner consistent with the constitutional
authority of the President to supervise the unitary executive branch and as
Commander in Chief and consistent with the constitutional limitations on
the judicial power, which will assist in achieving the shared objective of
the Congress and the President, evidenced in Title X, of protecting the
American people from further terrorist attacks. Further, in light of the
principles enunciated by the Supreme Court of the United States in 2001 in
Alexander v. Sandoval, and noting that the text and structure of Title X do
not create a private right of action to enforce Title X, the executive
branch shall construe Title X not to create a private right of action.
Finally, given the decision of the Congress reflected in subsections
1005(e) and 1005(h) that the amendments made to section 2241 of title 28,
United States Code, shall apply to past, present, and future actions,
including applications for writs of habeas corpus, described in that
section, and noting that section 1005 does not confer any constitutional
right upon an alien detained abroad as an enemy combatant, the executive
branch shall construe section 1005 to preclude the Federal courts from
exercising subject matter jurisdiction over any existing or future action,
including applications for writs of habeas corpus, described in section
1005.

Language in Division B of the Act, under the heading "Office of Justice
Programs, State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance," purports to require
the Attorney General to consult congressional committees prior to
allocating appropriations for expenditure to execute the law. Because the
President's constitutional authority to supervise the unitary executive
branch and take care that the laws be faithfully executed cannot be made by
law subject to a requirement to consult with congressional committees or to
involve them in executive decision-making, the executive branch shall
construe the provision to require only notification. At the same time, the
Attorney General shall, as a matter of comity between the executive and
legislative branches, seek and consider the views of appropriate committees
in this matter as the Attorney General deems appropriate.

Certain provisions in the Act purport to allocate funds for specified
purposes as set forth in the joint explanatory statement of managers that
accompanied the Act or other Acts; to make changes in statements of
managers that accompanied various appropriations bills reported from
conferences in the past; or to direct compliance with a committee report.
Such provisions include section 8044 in Division A, and sections 5022,
5023, and 5024 and language under the heading "Natural Resources
Conservation Service, Conservation Operations" in Division B, of the Act.
Other provisions of the Act, such as sections 8073 and 8082 in Division A,
purport to give binding effect to legislative documents not presented to
the President. The executive branch shall construe all these provisions in
a manner consistent with the bicameral passage and presentment requirements
of the Constitution for the making of a law.

GEORGE W. BUSH

THE WHITE HOUSE,

December 30, 2005.

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