    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book I)]
    [April 9, 1996]
    [Pages 559-560]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Statement on Signing the Line Item Veto Act
    April 9, 1996

        Today I am very pleased to sign into law S. 4, the Line Item Veto
    Act.

        This new law shows what we can achieve when we put our partisan
    differences aside and work together for the Nation. Members of both
    parties have fought for this legislation because they believed that no
    matter which party has control of the White House or the Congress, the
    line item veto would be good for the country.

        I have consistently supported a Presidential line item veto as a
    Governor, as a candidate for President in 1992, and as President the
    last 3 years.

        Starting with Ulysses S. Grant, Presidents of both parties have
    sought the line item veto so they could eliminate waste in the Federal
    budget. Most recently, Presidents Reagan and Bush called for its
    passage, as did many Members of Congress.

        With this authority, Presidents will have a valuable new tool to
    ensure that the Federal Government is spending public resources as
    wisely as possible. It will permit the President to cancel discretionary
    spending, new entitlement authority, and tax provisions that benefit
    special interests at the expense of the public interest.

        This carefully defined authority is also a practical and principled
    means of serving the constitutional balance of powers. The modern
    congressional practice of presenting the President with omnibus
    legislation reduces the President's ability to play the role in enacting
    laws that the Constitution intended. This new authority brings us closer
    to the Founders' view of an effective executive role in the legislative
    process. The President will be able to prevent the Congress from
    enacting special interest provisions under the cloak of a 500- or 1,000-
    page bill. Special interest provisions that do not serve the national
    interest will no longer escape proper scrutiny.

        No one, of course, believes the line item veto is a cure-all for the
    budget deficit. Indeed, even without the line item veto, we are already
    cutting the deficit in half--as I had promised to do when I ran for
    President. But the line item veto will provide added discipline by
    ensuring that as tight budgets increasingly squeeze our resources, we
    will put our public funds to the best possible uses.

        I call on the leaders of the Congress, in the spirit of
    bipartisanship reflected in today's bill signing, to join me in
    continuing to make progress. We should move ahead by reaching an
    agreement to balance the budget by 2002.

        Over the last several months, I have worked closely with
    congressional leaders to reach such an agreement. In fact, we have about
    $700 billion in common savings. We should finish our work this year.

                                                          William J. Clinton

    [[Page 560]]

    The White House,

    April 9, 1996.

    Note: S. 4, approved April 9, was assigned Public Law No. 104-130.