    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book II)]
    [August 23, 2002]
    [Page 1471]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 1471]]

    Statement on Signing Legislation on the Codification of Laws Related to
    Public Buildings, Property, and Works
    August 23, 2002

        I have signed into law H.R. 2068, a bill ``to revise, codify, and
    enact without substantive change certain general and permanent laws,
    related to public buildings, property, and works, as title 40, United
    States Code, `Public Buildings, Property, and Works'.'' This measure is
    the latest in a series that is intended to enact all titles of the
    United States Code into positive law.
        In approving this bill, I note that section 312(b)(2), concerning
    cert in transfers of funds for equipment purchases, and section
    3305(a)(3), concerning the use of land as a site for a public building,
    state that the executive branch may take action only after receiving the
    approval of certain committees of Congress. The constitutional
    requirement of bicameralism and presentment is infringed whenever a
    single house, committee, or agent of Congress attempts to direct the
    execution of the laws or to promulgate rules or standards intended to
    bind the actions of executive or administrative officials that have not
    been approved by both houses and presented to the President. INS v.
    Chadha, 462 U.S. 919, 958-59 (1983). The executive branch will therefore
    interpret these and similar provisions to require advance notification
    only, since any other interpretation would contradict the Supreme
    Court's ruling in INS v. Chadha.

                                                              George W. Bush

     The White House,

     August 23, 2002.

    Note: H.R. 2068, approved August 21, was assigned Public Law No. 107-
    217.