Statement on Signing the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act, 2004

Statement on Signing the Energy and Water Development Appropriations
Act, 2004

December 1, 2003

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.