    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book II)]
    [December 29, 1995]
    [Pages 1933-1934]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 1933]]

    Statement on Signing the ICC Termination Act of 1995
    December 29, 1995

        I have today signed into law H.R. 2539, the ``ICC Termination Act of
    1995.'' In my State of the Union address this year, I called upon the
    Congress to terminate the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). I also
    called for further reductions in unnecessary regulations. This
    legislation is consistent with those goals, but it does not go far
    enough.
        The bill eliminates the ICC, transferring many of its functions to a
    new Surface Transportation Board (STB) located within the Department of
    Transportation (DOT). The bill reduces some ICC functions, including
    those that overlap with DOT with regard to overseeing safety and
    insurance requirements in the trucking industry. With the sunset of the
    ICC and the consolidation of motor carrier functions at DOT, the bill
    will produce moderate budget savings.
        The bill will also help provide a smooth transition now that
    appropriations for the ICC have been terminated. And the bill empowers
    the new STB to promote deregulation administratively on a case-by-case
    basis. I call upon the Board to use this authority to the fullest extent
    to benefit consumers and facilitate economic growth.
        I am also satisfied that the Congress addressed my Administration's
    strong objections to earlier versions of this legislation, which would
    have severely curtailed labor protection for railroad employees
    adversely affected by certain railroad transactions, including mergers.
    And I note that the final version of the bill continues intact the
    important rail reforms of 1980, which have helped improve rail service
    and bring the railroad industry back to profitability.
        Nevertheless, I am disappointed in this bill. While it eliminates
    the ICC, it creates a new independent agency, the STB, within the
    Transportation Department. Overall, the bill falls short of my
    Administration's much bolder proposal for extensive deregulation of
    transportation industries.
        Regulatory reform of the Nation's transportation industries has been
    an outstanding success. Beginning with air cargo deregulation in 1977
    and continuing with sweeping rail and trucking reforms over the past 15
    years, much of the stranglehold of government regulation has been
    broken. Today, only about 20 percent of all domestic freight
    transportation is regulated, compared with 75 percent 20 years ago.
    These reforms have reduced the cost of transporting everything we buy
    and use. They have also enabled U.S. producers and retailers to employ
    ``just in time'' manufacturing and inventory systems to save many
    billions of dollars in warehousing and distribution costs.
        The Congress had an opportunity to build on this success but,
    instead, provided for only very modest reform. While this legislation
    eliminates a number of obsolete and unnecessary functions of the ICC, it
    still exempts transportation industries from many of the disciplines of
    competition. These exemptions are no longer justified in today's strong
    and competitive market economy.
        For example, the Nation's trucking industry has enjoyed antitrust
    immunity for collective ratemaking for the last 47 years. Continuation
    of this immunity reduces potential benefits to consumers and protects
    inefficient carriers. This bill also maintains special merger standards
    for railroads. The railroad industry should be subject to the same
    merger standards as other transportation industries.
        The bill vests the Chairman of the Surface Transportation Board with
    the authority to appoint ``officers and employees of the Board.'' The
    Appointments Clause of the Constitution, Art. II, sec. 2, cl. 2, permits
    the Congress to vest the appointment of inferior officers in the head of
    a department. Because the Board is ``established within the Department
    of Transportation,'' it is a bureau or component of a department, and
    cannot be a department unto itself for purposes of the Appointments
    Clause. Accordingly, it would be unconstitutional for the Chairman to
    appoint persons to serve as ``officers'' in the constitutional sense.
    Therefore, I am signing this bill with the understanding that it does
    not authorize the Chairman to appoint ``officers'' in the constitutional
    sense.
        The bill provides for the authorization of appropriations for the
    Board to expire after 3 years. During this period, my Administration
    will monitor the regulatory activities of the Board to determine whether
    it should continue and

    [[Page 1934]]

    whether further reforms would be beneficial. My Administration remains
    committed to continued deregulation of the transportation industry.

                                                          William J. Clinton

    The White House,

    December 29, 1995.

    Note: H.R. 2539, approved December 29, was assigned Public Law No. 104-
    88. This statement was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on
    December 30.