Statement on Signing the Consolidated Appropriations Resolution, 2003

Statement on Signing the Consolidated Appropriations Resolution, 2003

February 20, 2003

Today I have signed into law H.J. Res. 2, the ``Consolidated
Appropriations Resolution, 2003,'' which contains the remaining 11
annual appropriations acts for fiscal year 2003. The funds appropriated
by this bill will provide valuable resources for priorities such as
homeland security, military operations, and education.
I am very concerned that the Congress failed to provide over $1
billion in funds that my Administration requested for State and local
law enforcement and emergency personnel, and that much of the funding
that the Congress did provide is heavily earmarked for lower-priority
programs that are not best designed to protect Americans against
terrorism. As a result, the shortfall for homeland security First
Responder programs is more than $2.2 billion. Funds that should have
been made available to the Department of Homeland Security are being
diverted to programs unrelated to higher-priority terrorism preparedness
and prevention efforts. My Administration will use all the

tools at its disposal to ensure that as much of this funding as possible
is directed toward terrorism preparedness and prevention.
Further, although the funding level in the bill is largely
consistent with the agreed upon top line level that I urged the Congress
to adopt, the bill is not fully consistent with the agreed upon non-
defense discretionary funding levels due to the expanded use of
budgetary mechanisms, such as advance appropriations. This bill includes
an increase in advance appropriations of $2.2 billion, which should not
be used to evade top line agreements on total discretionary funding.
Therefore, the FY 2004 congressional budget allocations should be
reduced accordingly and the device should not be repeated in FY 2005.
Finally, the bill includes $3.3 billion for unrequested drought aid and
other assistance that is only partially offset by spending reductions in
the recently enacted Farm Bill.
In addition, a number of provisions of H.J. Res. 2 are inconsistent
with the constitutional authority of the President to conduct foreign
affairs, command the Armed Forces, supervise the unitary executive
branch, protect sensitive information, and make recommendations to the
Congress. Other provisions unconstitutionally condition execution of the
laws by the executive branch upon approval by congressional committees.
Thus, the executive branch shall construe as advisory the provisions
of the bill that purport to: direct or burden the Executive's conduct of
international negotiations, such as sections 514, 556, 576, and 577 in
the Foreign Operations Appropriations Act; limit the President's
authority as Commander in Chief, such as language under the heading
``Andean Counterdrug Initiative'' in the Foreign Operations
Appropriations Act and section 609 of the Commerce Appropriations Act;
or limit the President's authority to supervise the unitary executive
branch, such as section 718 of the Agriculture Appropriations Act and
the provisions relating to Office of Management and Budget review of
executive branch orders, activities, regulations, transcripts and
testimony in the Treasury Appropriations Act.
In addition, the executive branch shall construe provisions that
mandate, regulate, or prohibit submission of information to the Congress
or the public, such as sections 561(a), 568(a), and 574(d) of the
Foreign Operations Appropriations Act and sections 620 and 622 of the
Treasury Appropriations Act, in a manner consistent with the President's
constitutional authority to withhold information that could impair
foreign relations, national security, the deliberative processes of the
Executive, or the performance of the Executive's constitutional duties.
Also, the executive branch shall construe provisions that mandate or
prohibit submission of recommendations to the Congress, such as section
723 of the Agriculture Appropriations Act and the provisions purporting
to require submission of a request for a supplemental appropriation in
the Interior Appropriations Act, in a manner consistent with the
President's constitutional authority to submit for congressional
consideration such measures as the President judges necessary and
expedient.
Also, the executive branch shall construe as advisory, or as calling
solely for notification, the provisions of this bill that purport to
require congressional committee approval for the execution of a law. Any
other construction would be inconsistent with the principles enunciated
by the United States Supreme Court in INS v. Chadha. Such provisions
include: provisions relating to the ``Working Capital Fund,'' Food and
Drug Administration fund transfers, and sections 704 and 719 relating to
fund transfers in the Agriculture Appropriations Act; the provision
relating to an expenditure plan for the entry-exit system in the
Commerce Appropriations Act; and the provisions on transfer of United
States Customs Service aircraft, automated commercial environment,
business systems modernization, funds transfers within and among
Treasury entities, Secret Service protective mission travel, museum
construction, high-intensity drug trafficking area and other funding
levels, building prospectus funding levels, use of the Federal building
fund for emergency repairs and transfers with the fund, unobligated
balances for salaries and expenses, office improvements, and law
enforcement training facilities in the Treasury Appropriations Act.

Furthermore, the duty of the President under section 586 of the
Foreign Operations Appropriations Act to issue and provide copies of an
order relating to consideration of the release of information is
assigned to the Attorney General, who shall ensure that the section is
implemented in a manner consistent with the President's constitutional
authority to withhold information, the disclosure of which could impair
foreign relations, national security, the deliberative processes of the
Executive, or the performance of the Executive's constitutional duties.
Finally, to ensure proper respect for the distinct powers of the
executive and legislative branches and to ensure effective coordination
between them in emergencies, the Attorney General shall serve as the
single officer within the executive branch authorized to receive
requests from the Chief of the Capitol Police and to approve action by
the executive branch in the implementation of section 1017 of the
legislative branch Appropriations Act.
George W. Bush
The White House,
February 20, 2003.