    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book I)]
    [January 10, 2002]
    [Pages 51-53]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Statement on Signing the Departments of Labor, Health and Human
    Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2002
    January 10, 2002

        Today I have signed into law H.R. 3061, the ``Departments of Labor,
    Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies
    Appropriations Act, 2002.'' The

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    legislation provides funding for key domestic programs, including the
    important education initiatives that have been a top priority of my
    Administration.
        I appreciate the bipartisan effort that has gone into producing this
    Act. The bill abides by the agreed-upon aggregate funding level for
    Fiscal Year 2002 of $686 billion and supports several of my
    Administration's key initiatives with:

        -- $10.4 billion for title I grants to close the achievement gap
            between rich and poor students;
        -- $1 billion for Reading First and Early Reading First to help
            schools meet the goal of ensuring that all students can read
            fluently by third grade;
        -- $2.9 billion for State grants for improving teacher quality;
        -- $7.5 billion for State Grants for Special Education, an increase
            of $1.2 billion over FY 2001;
        -- $23.2 billion for the National Institutes of Health to support
            biomedical research to help prevent, detect, diagnose, and treat
            disease and disability;
        -- full funding for the Consolidated Health Centers to provide
            quality health care to millions of uninsured and underserved
            Americans;
        -- additional resources for Drug Abuse Treatment services to help
            narrow the treatment gap between those in need of treatment and
            those with access to it; and
        -- full funding for Global HIV/AIDS activities to reduce the impact
            of HIV/AIDS in developing countries, including a further U.S.
            contribution to the global trust fund to combat HIV/AIDS,
            malaria, and tuberculosis.

        While I am supportive of the overall bill, I have strong concerns
    that this bill creates a serious fiscal problem for 2002 by underfunding
    the Pell Grant program, which provides critical financial assistance to
    low-income students seeking higher education. The bill mandates a Pell
    Grant maximum award of $4,000, but provides only enough funding to pay
    for a maximum award of $3,600, creating a shortfall of nearly $1.3
    billion. The Congress disregarded my requests to provide resources for
    the Pell Grant program commensurate with the maximum award. My
    Administration will ask the Congress to correct this shortfall in the FY
    2003 Budget. I am committed to maintaining a strong Pell Grant program
    that ensures qualified students have access to college, and budgeting
    responsibly for its full costs.
        I am pleased that the final version of the bill retains the
    prohibition against research in which human embryos are destroyed, and
    reinforces my determination on August 9, 2001, to support federally
    funded stem cell research in an ethical manner.
        I am also pleased that the final version of the bill retains current
    law regarding funding for needle exchange programs.
        The first proviso of section 207 of the Act purports to make certain
    transfers between appropriations for the Department of Health and Human
    Services subject to approval by the congressional appropriations
    committees. Under the principles enunciated by the U.S. Supreme Court in
    INS v. Chadha, the Congress cannot by law make transfers of
    appropriations subject to the approval of committees of the Congress. At
    the same time, the intention of the Congress that the executive branch
    have flexibility to transfer funds among appropriations for the
    Department of Health and Human Services is plain from the language of
    the Act. Accordingly, the executive branch shall treat the portion of
    the proviso of section 207 that purports to provide for congressional
    committee approval of transfers as having no force and severable from
    the remainder of the proviso of section 207 and the Act.
        Also, section 217, addressing the Acting Director of NIH, and
    section 622, amending the Multifamily Assisted Housing Reform and
    Affordability Act of 1997, shall

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    be implemented in a manner consistent with the Appointments Clause of
    the Constitution.
        Several provisions of the Act purport to make funding available for
    particular projects ``in the amounts specified in the statement of the
    managers on the conference report accompanying this Act.'' Although
    specifications of projects and amounts in a statement of managers cannot
    satisfy the constitutional requirements of bicameral approval and
    presentment to the President needed to give them the force of law, my
    Administration will treat these specifications in a manner reflecting
    the comity between the executive and legislative branches on such
    matters.

                                                              George W. Bush

     The White House,

     January 10, 2002.

    Note: H.R. 3061, approved January 10, was assigned Public Law No. 107-
    116.