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Skriven 2006-06-15 23:34:08 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (060615e) for Thu, 2006 Jun 15
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President's Statement on Signing of Emergency Supplemental Appropriations
Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Hurricane Recovery, 2006
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June 15, 2006

President's Statement on Signing of Emergency Supplemental Appropriations
Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Hurricane Recovery, 2006


˙˙˙˙˙ Fact Sheet: President Signs Emergency Funding Bill


Today, I have signed into law H.R. 4939, the "Emergency Supplemental
Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Hurricane
Recovery, 2006." The Act provides additional 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 1209 and 2202 of the Act prohibit use of certain funds
appropriated in the Act to initiate new start programs unless the
congressional defense committees receive advance written 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 1209 and 2202 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.

Subsection 1304(a) of the Act amends section 550 of Public Law 109-102 to
purport to require the President to consult with committees of the Congress
prior to exercising authority granted to the President by section 550.
Subsection 1304(b) purports to require the Secretary of State to consult
such committees prior to exercising authority under that provision. 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 references in the provisions to consulting to require only
notification.

The provision under the heading, "Joint Explosive Device Defeat Fund,"
Department of Defense-Military, that calls for the reporting to
congressional committees of information that may include highly sensitive
and classified national security information, will be construed
consistently with the President's constitutional responsibility to control
the dissemination of such information.

The executive branch shall construe the provision in the Act under the
heading "Disaster Relief," Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department
of Homeland Security, that purports to require the Secretary of Homeland
Security to submit a housing proposal and expenditure plan for
congressional committee approval 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.

Sections 7030 through 7033 of the Act, inclusive, purport to make changes
in or in relation to statements of managers that accompanied various
appropriations bills reported from House-Senate conferences in the past.
Also, a provision in chapter 9 of the Act under the heading "Emergency
Relief Program," Federal Highway Administration, Department of
Transportation, purports to give binding effect to a document not presented
to the President. The executive branch shall construe 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,

June 15, 2006.

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