    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book II)]
    [September 30, 2003]
    [Pages 1217-1219]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Statement on Signing the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2004
    September 30, 2003

        Today, I have signed into law H.R. 2658, the ``Department of Defense
    Appropriations Act, 2004.''
        Sections 8007 and 8103 of the Act prohibit the use of funds to
    initiate a special access program or to initiate a new start program,
    unless the congressional defense committees receive advance notice. The
    Supreme Court of the United States has stated that the President's
    authority to classify and control access to information bearing on the
    national security flows from the Constitution and does not depend upon a
    legislative grant of authority. Although the

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    advance notice contemplated by sections 8007 and 8103 can be provided in
    most situations as a matter of comity, situations may arise, especially
    in wartime, in which the President must act promptly under his
    constitutional grants of executive power and authority as Commander in
    Chief of the Armed Forces while protecting certain extraordinarily
    sensitive national security information. The executive branch shall
    construe sections 8007 and 8103 in a manner consistent with the
    constitutional authority of the President.
        Section 8065 of the Act provides that, notwithstanding any other
    provision of law, no funds available to the Department of Defense for
    fiscal year 2004 may be used to transfer defense articles or services,
    other than intelligence services, to another nation or an international
    organization for international peacekeeping, peace enforcement, or
    humanitarian assistance operations, until 15 days after the executive
    branch notifies six committees of the Congress of the planned transfer.
    To the extent that protection of the U.S. Armed Forces deployed for
    international peacekeeping, peace enforcement, or humanitarian
    assistance operations might require action of a kind covered by section
    8065 sooner than 15 days after notification, the executive branch shall
    construe section 8065 in a manner consistent with the President's
    constitutional authority as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces.
        A proviso in the Act's appropriation for ``Operation and
    Maintenance, Defense-Wide'' prohibits implementation of and purports to
    prohibit planning for consolidation of certain offices within the
    Department of Defense. Also, sections 8010(b), 8041(b), and 8115 purport
    to specify the content of a portion of a future budget request to the
    Congress for the Department of Defense. The executive branch shall
    construe these provisions relating to planning and making of budget
    recommendations in a manner consistent with the President's
    constitutional authority to require the opinions of the heads of
    departments and to recommend for congressional consideration such
    measures as the President shall judge necessary and expedient.
        Section 8005 of the Act relating to requests to congressional
    committees for reprogramming of funds shall be construed as calling
    solely for notification, as any other construction would be inconsistent
    with the principles enunciated by the Supreme Court in INS v. Chadha.
        A proviso within the appropriation for ``Operation and Maintenance,
    Air Force'' earmarks an amount of funds for a grant to a college for the
    purpose of funding minority aviation training, and section 8089 of the
    Act provides that, in implementing a healthcare interagency partnership
    under that section, Native Hawaiians shall have the status of Native
    Americans who are eligible for healthcare services. The executive branch
    shall implement the proviso and section 8089 in a manner consistent with
    the requirement to afford equal protection of the laws under the Due
    Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.
        Sections 8082, 8091, 8117, and 8131 of the Act make clear that the
    classified annex accompanies but is not incorporated as a part of the
    Act, and therefore the classified annex does not meet the bicameralism
    and presentment requirements specified by the Constitution for the
    making of a law. Accordingly, the executive branch shall construe the
    classified annex references in sections 8082, 8091, 8117, and 8131 as
    advisory in effect. My Administration continues to discourage any
    efforts to enact secret law as part of defense funding legislation and
    encourages instead appropriate use of classified annexes to committee
    reports and joint statements of managers that accompany the final
    legislation.

                                                              George W. Bush

     The White House,

     September 30, 2003.

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    Note: H.R. 2658, approved September 30, was assigned Public Law No. 108-
    87. This statement was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on
    October 1.