[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 44 (Monday, November 4, 1996)]
[Pages 2192-2193]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Signing the Presidential and Executive Office 
Accountability Act

October 26, 1996

    I am pleased to sign in law H.R. 3452, the ``Presidential and 
Executive Office Accountability Act.'' This Act broadens the workplace 
protections available to employees in the White House and Executive 
Office of the President (EOP). My Administration supported this 
legislation and worked hard with the Congress to secure its passage.
    This Act is closely modeled on the Congressional Accountability Act 
of 1995, which, in a comprehensive manner, has guaranteed employees in 
the legislative branch the protections of 11 basic workplace laws, 
including civil rights, labor, and health and safety laws. This Act 
applies those 11 workplace laws to the employees of the agencies and 
offices of the EOP, including the White House. In contrast to the 
Congressional Accountability Act, however, most of these 11 workplace 
laws already apply to EOP employees, as a matter of law or policy. This 
Act will, therefore, have a less dramatic impact than the Congressional 
Accountability Act on the employees it protects. Nevertheless, it is 
still a welcome broadening of existing protections.
    There were three principles that guided my Administration in 
announcing support for H.R. 3452 shortly after it was introduced.
    First, the Nation's leaders should abide by the same laws that the 
people must follow.
    Second, such laws must not infringe on basic constitutional 
principles, including separation of powers. The Congress apparently 
shared this concern when it enacted the Congressional Accountability 
Act.
    Third, there must be balance, or symmetry, between the separate 
branches of Government. The same laws should be applied to the separate 
branches of Government in the same way, insofar as is practicable and 
constitutional.
    While supporting the principles in H.R. 3452, my Administration 
expressed serious practical and constitutional concerns about specific 
provisions in earlier versions of the bill. These included a provision 
that, perhaps inadvertently, would have eliminated the White House 
Volunteer Program, and an- 

[[Page 2193]]

other provision that the Department of Justice advised would have 
unconstitutionally infringed upon the President's appointment powers 
under the Constitution. I am pleased that, working closely with Members 
of Congress in both the House and Senate, great strides were taken to 
address each of these important concerns.
    In signing H.R. 3452, I am particularly gratified that it extends, 
as a matter of law, the protections of the Family and Medical Leave Act 
(FMLA) to White House employees. I took steps after the passage of the 
FMLA to apply its protections to White House staff as a matter of 
policy--so that White House staff have enjoyed the same protections that 
the FMLA has brought to 12 million American families. This Act now 
applies FMLA as a matter of law, so that future Presidents will be bound 
to give their employees the same rights that I have afforded 
voluntarily.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
October 26, 1996.

Note: H.R. 3452, approved October 26, was assigned Public Law No. 104-
331.