[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book III)]
[October 18, 2004]
[Pages 2575-2576]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Statement on Signing the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations 
Act, 2005
October 18, 2004

    Today, I have signed into law H.R. 4567, the ``Department of 
Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2005.'' The Act provides funds to 
protect the United States against terrorism and to carry out other 
departmental functions.

    The executive branch shall construe as calling solely for 
notification the provisions of the Act that purport to require 
congressional committee approval for the execution of a law. Any other 
construction would be inconsistent with the principles enunciated by the 
Supreme Court of the United States in INS v. Chadha. Such provisions 
include the purported approval requirements in the appropriations for 
expenses for the development of the United States Visitor and Immigrant 
Status Indicator Technology project; customs and border protection 
automated systems; immigration and customs enforcement automated 
systems; operations, maintenance, and procurement of marine vessels, 
aircraft, and other related equipment of the air and marine program; 
United States Secret Service protective travel; and in sections 504 
relating to unobligated balances, 508 relating to training facilities, 
and 510 relating to prospectuses.
    Under the heading ``Customs and Border Protection,'' the Act 
purports to require the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection to 
relocate its tactical checkpoints in the Tucson, Arizona, sector at 
least an average of once every 14 days. Decisions on deployment and 
redeployment of law enforcement officers in the execution of the laws 
are a part of the executive power vested in the President by Article II 
of the Constitution. Accordingly, the executive branch shall construe 
the relocation provision as advisory rather than mandatory.
    The executive branch shall construe the provision relating to the 
Coast Guard under the heading ``Acquisition, Construction, and 
Improvements'' that purports to require inclusion of an amount for a 
particular purpose in the President's proposed budget for fiscal year 
2006, in a manner consistent with the President's exclusive authority 
under the Constitution to recommend for the consideration of the 
Congress such

[[Page 2576]]

measures, including proposals for appropriations, as the President 
judges necessary and expedient.
    To the extent that provisions of the Act, including section 514, 
call for submission of legislative recommendations to the Congress, the 
executive branch shall construe such provisions in a manner consistent 
with the President's constitutional authority to supervise the unitary 
executive branch and to recommend for the consideration of the Congress 
such measures as the President shall judge necessary and expedient. 
Accordingly, the affected departments and agencies shall ensure that any 
reports or recommendations submitted to the Congress are subjected to 
appropriate executive branch review.
    Section 518 of the Act purports to direct the conduct of security 
and suitability investigations. To the extent that section 518 relates 
to access to classified national security information, the executive 
branch shall construe this provision in a manner consistent with the 
President's exclusive constitutional authority, as head of the unitary 
executive branch and as Commander in Chief, to classify and control 
access to national security information and to determine whether an 
individual is suitable to occupy a position in the executive branch with 
access to such information.
    To the extent that section 522 of the Act purports to allow an agent 
of the legislative branch to prevent implementation of the law unless 
the legislative agent reports to the Congress that the executive branch 
has met certain conditions, the executive branch shall construe such 
section as advisory, in accordance with the constitutional principles 
enumerated in the Chadha decision.
    As is consistent with the text of the Act, the executive branch 
shall construe section 528 as relating to the integrity and supervision 
of the United States Secret Service only within the Department of 
Homeland Security. The executive branch therefore shall construe section 
528 neither to affect the functions and supervision of personnel of the 
Secret Service assigned or detailed to duty outside the Department of 
Homeland Security nor to limit participation by the Secret Service in 
cooperative command and other arrangements with other governmental 
entities for the conduct of particular operations.

                                                          George W. Bush

 The White House,

 October 18, 2004.

Note: H.R. 4567, approved October 18, was assigned Public Law No. 108-
334.