Text 226, 62 rader
Skriven 2004-12-23 23:32:52 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0412234) for Thu, 2004 Dec 23
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President's Statement on H.R. 5419
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
December 23, 2004

President's Statement on H.R. 5419




Today, I have signed into law H.R. 5419, a bill consisting of three titles.
Title I is the "ENHANCE 911 Act of 2004," which strengthens the ability of
Americans to use the 911 telephone number to seek emergency assistance.
Title II is the "Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act," which facilitates
the spectrum relocation of Federal entities so that certain spectrum can be
reallocated to commercial users. Title III is the "Universal Service
Antideficiency Temporary Suspension Act," which makes the Antideficiency
Act temporarily inapplicable to certain collections, receipts, expenditures
and obligations relating to universal communications service.

Section 104 amends section 158(a)(2) of the National Telecommunications and
Information Administration Organization Act to call for executive branch
officials to submit to congressional committees funding profiles for a
specified 5-year program. The executive branch shall construe the provision
in a manner con-sistent with the constitutional authority of the President
to recommend for the consideration of the Congress such measures, including
proposals for appropriations, as he judges necessary and expedient.

Sections 202 and 204 enact sections 113(g)(5) and 118(d) of the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization Act, which
purport to condition the execution of a law upon notification to
congressional committees coupled with either approval by the committees or
the absence of disapproval by the committees within a specified time. The
executive branch shall construe the provisions to legally require only
notifi-cation to the committees, as any other construction would be
inconsistent with the principles enunciated by the Supreme Court of the
United States in INS v. Chadha. The Secretary of Commerce will continue as
a matter of comity to work with the committees on matters addressed by
these provisions.

As is consistent with the principle of statutory construction of giving
effect to each of two statutes addressing the same subject whenever they
can co-exist, the executive branch shall construe section 302 of the Act in
a manner consistent with section 254 of the Communications Act of 1934,
which provides the Federal Communications Commission with the authority to
maintain funding caps for Universal Service Fund programs.

GEORGE W. BUSH

THE WHITE HOUSE,

December 23, 2004.

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