[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.