[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book II)]
[October 4, 2006]
[Pages 1774-1776]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Statement on Signing the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations 
Act, 2007
October 4, 2006

    Today, I have signed into law H.R. 5441, the ``Department of 
Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2007'' (the ``Act''). The Act 
appropriates the funds needed to protect the United States against 
terrorism, secure the Nation's borders, assist States and localities in 
dealing with natural disasters, and perform the other important 
functions of the Department of Homeland Security. The Act also 
strengthens the capabilities of the Federal Emergency Management Agency 
to prepare for and respond to emergencies requiring action by the 
Federal Government.
    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. These provisions 
include those under the headings ``United States Visitor and Immigrant 
Status Indicator Technology;'' ``Automation Modernization, Customs and 
Border Protection;'' ``Border Security Fencing, Infrastructure, and 
Technology, Customs and Border Protection;'' ``Air and Marine 
Interdiction, Operations, Maintenance, and Procurement, Customs and 
Border Protection;'' ``Automation Modernization, Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement;'' ``Protection, Administration, and Training, United States 
Secret Service;'' ``Preparedness, Management and Administration;'' 
``United States Citizenship and Immigration Services;'' ``Management 
Administration, Science and Technology;'' ``Research, Development, 
Acquisition, and Operations, Science and Technology;'' and sections 504, 
505, 509, 511, and 552.
    Section 513 of the Act purports to direct the conduct of security 
and suitability investigations. To the extent that section 513 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 514 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

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branch shall construe such section as advisory, in accordance with the 
constitutional principles enumerated in the Chadha decision.
    The executive branch shall construe section 522 of the Act, relating 
to privacy officer reports, in a manner consistent with the President's 
constitutional authority to supervise the unitary executive branch.
    To the extent that provisions of the Act, such as section 558, 
purport to direct or burden the conduct of negotiations by the executive 
branch with foreign governments or other entities abroad, the executive 
branch shall construe them as advisory. Such provisions, if construed as 
mandatory rather than advisory, would impermissibly interfere with the 
President's constitutional authorities to conduct the Nation's foreign 
affairs, participate in international negotiations, and supervise the 
unitary executive branch.
    Provisions of the Act, including under the heading ``Office of the 
Secretary and Executive Management'' and sections 521, 539, 540, and 
559, refer to joint explanatory statements of managers accompanying 
conference reports on specified acts. Such statements do not satisfy the 
constitutional requirements of bicameral approval and presentment to the 
President needed to give them the force of law.
    Section 503(c) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as amended by 
section 611 of the Act, provides for the appointment and certain duties 
of the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Section 
503(c)(2) vests in the President authority to appoint the Administrator, 
by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, but purports to limit 
the qualifications of the pool of persons from whom the President may 
select the appointee in a manner that rules out a large portion of those 
persons best qualified by experience and knowledge to fill the office. 
The executive branch shall construe section 503(c)(2) in a manner 
consistent with the Appointments Clause of the Constitution. Also, 
section 503(c)(4) purports to regulate the provision of advice within 
the executive branch and to limit supervision of an executive branch 
official in the provision of advice to the Congress. The executive 
branch shall construe section 503(c)(4) in a manner consistent with the 
constitutional authority of the President to require the opinions of 
heads of departments and to supervise the unitary executive branch. 
Accordingly, the affected department and agency shall ensure that any 
reports or recommendations submitted to the Congress are subjected to 
appropriate executive branch review and approval before submission.
    Section 507(f)(6) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as amended 
by section 611 of the Act, and sections 689i(a)(4)(B)(iv) and 
689j(b)(2)(E) of the Act, purport to require in certain circumstances 
that an executive branch official submit legislation for the 
consideration of 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 
congressional consideration such measures as the President shall judge 
necessary and expedient.
    Several provisions of the Act purport to direct the President to 
perform the President's duties ``acting through'' a particular officer. 
These provisions include section 303(b) of the Robert T. Stafford 
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, as amended by section 633 
of the Act, section 1802 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as 
amended by section 671 of the Act, and sections 643, 644, 689i, and 689j 
of the Act. The executive branch shall construe such provisions in a 
manner consistent with the constitutional authority of the President to 
supervise the unitary executive branch.
    The executive branch shall construe provisions of the Act relating 
to race, ethnicity, and gender, such as sections 623 and 697 of the Act, 
in a manner consistent with the requirement of the Due Process Clause

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of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution to afford equal protection of 
the laws.
    Section 1802(a) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as amended by 
section 671 of the Act, calls for the Secretary of Homeland Security 
``in cooperation with the Department of National Communications System 
(as appropriate)'' and others to develop and update a National Emergency 
Communications Plan. An examination of the text and structure of the Act 
reveals that the term ``Department of National Communications System'' 
in section 1802(a) is most reasonably construed as a reference to the 
National Communications System in the Preparedness Directorate of the 
Department of Homeland Security, to which section 611 of the Act refers 
in amending section 505 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, and the 
executive branch shall so construe it.

                                                          George W. Bush

 The White House,

 October 4, 2006.

Note: H.R. 5441, approved October 4, was assigned Public Law No. 109-
295.