[House Document 109-94]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                     

109th Congress, 2d Session - - - - - - - - - - - - - House Document 109-94

 
   LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL ENTITLED ``LEGISLATIVE LINE ITEM VETO ACT OF 
                                 2006''

                               __________

                                MESSAGE

                                  from

                   THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

                              transmitting

  A LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL TO GIVE THE PRESIDENT LINE ITEM AUTHORITY TO 
 REDUCE WASTEFUL SPENDING ENTITLED ``LEGISLATIVE LINE ITEM VETO ACT OF 
                                 2006''






   March 18, 2006.--Message and accompanying papers referred to the 
     Committees on the Budget and Rules, and ordered to be printed
To the Congress of the United States:
    In my State of the Union Address, I asked the Congress to 
give the President a line item veto. Today, I am sending the 
Congress a legislative proposal to give the President line item 
authority to reduce wasteful spending. This legislation will 
help to limit spending and ensure accountability and 
transparency in the expenditure of taxpayer funds.
    Although the Congress achieved significant spending 
restraint this past year, appropriations and other bills that 
are sent to my desk still contain spending that is not fully 
justified, is a low priority, or is earmarked to avoid the 
discipline of competitive or merit-based reviews. When this 
legislation is presented to me, I now have no ability to line 
out unnecessary spending. In 1996, the Congress gave the 
President a line item veto--an important tool to limit wasteful 
spending--but the Supreme Court struck down that version of the 
law in 1998.
    My proposed legislation, the ``Legislative Line Item Veto 
Act of 2006,'' would provide a fast-track procedure to require 
the Congress to vote up-or-down on rescissions proposed by the 
President. There has been broad bipartisan support for similar 
proposals in the past. Under this proposal, the President could 
propose legislation to rescind wasteful spending, and the 
Congress would be obligated to vote quickly on that package of 
rescissions, without amendment. The same procedure would apply 
to new mandatory spending and to special interest tax breaks 
given to small numbers of individuals.
    Forty-three Governors have a line item veto to reduce 
spending. The President needs similar authority to help control 
unjustified and wasteful spending in the Federal budget. I urge 
you to promptly consider and send me this legislation for 
enactment to reduce unnecessary spending and help achieve my 
goal of cutting the deficit in half by 2009.

                                                    George W. Bush.
    The White House, March 6, 2006.

                                  
