[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 47 (Monday, November 24, 1997)]
[Pages 1861-1863]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Signing the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
Year 1998

November 18, 1997

    I have signed into law H.R. 1119, the ``National Defense 
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1998.'' This Act authorizes fiscal 
year 1998 appropriations for military activities of the Department of 
Defense, military construction, and defense activities of the Department 
of Energy. Although I have reservations about some provisions in this 
Act, it supports a large number of my Administration's defense program 
and policy priorities. Moreover, the conferees' revision of the bill 
satisfactorily addresses several onerous provisions that were included 
in previous versions that my Administration opposed.

[[Page 1862]]

    This Act provides for a strong national defense, maintains high 
military readiness, supports our commitments to a better quality of life 
for our Armed Forces and their families, and authorizes investment 
programs necessary to modernize the equipment that our forces use. By 
providing the necessary support for our forces, it ensures continuing 
American global leadership.
    The Act demonstrates that we can maintain a robust defense while 
achieving a balanced Federal budget. It supports a wide range of quality 
of life initiatives, including a 2.8 percent military pay raise, an 
increase in aviation officer career incentive pay, a doubling of the 
aviation officer career retention bonus, and increases in hazardous duty 
pay and the family separation allowance. I am also pleased that this Act 
provides resources to support most of the recommendations of the 
Department of Defense's Quadrennial Defense Review. In particular, it 
supports major  procurement  programs,  such  as  the F-22 and V-22 
aircraft, central to modernizing our forces for the 21st century.
    The Act also provides strong support for the Chemical 
Demilitarization Program, crucial for implementing the Chemical Weapons 
Convention for which the Senate provided advice and consent to 
ratification earlier this year. It also provides the President new 
authority to call up 30,000 volunteers from the Individual Ready Reserve 
for active duty. This gives the Secretary of Defense greater flexibility 
in tailoring reserve call-ups and enables him to make greater use of the 
unique skills found in the Individual Ready Reserve.
    I am very disappointed, however, that H.R. 1119 imposes restrictions 
on the Department of Defense's ability to contract with the private 
sector for the maintenance of weapon systems and components. Both the 
Quadrennial Defense Review and the Defense Reform Task Force recommended 
relief from current laws that constrain the Department's efforts to 
competitively outsource depot maintenance workload. By further 
restricting, rather than facilitating, such competitive outsourcing, the 
Act will limit the Department's flexibility to increase efficiency, 
preserve readiness, and save taxpayer dollars. The Act also changes the 
terms under which public-private competitions for work at closing 
maintenance depots can be conducted. Some of these changes should prove 
helpful, but other changes will likely make the Department's job more 
difficult. Nevertheless, the Secretary of Defense has indicated that the 
Department has flexibility to proceed with the remaining public-private 
competitions in a way that is fair to both sides. The Secretary has 
pledged to implement the Act so as to encourage all bidders, public and 
private, and to do everything possible to ensure that the competitions 
occur on a level playing field. Such an approach will achieve my 
Administration's goals of strongly supporting our military forces while 
providing savings that can be applied to the modernization of our 
forces.
    The Act also attempts to severely limit the President's flexibility 
to conduct foreign policy by mandating permanent controls on the export 
of certain high-performance computers to specific countries, including 
Israel, Russia, and China. It would limit the President's ability to 
adapt computer export controls to changing security needs and technology 
trends. The Act would impose unrealistic congressional notification, 
licensing, and post-shipment requirements that would have the unintended 
effect of decreasing our ability to identify and prevent exports 
affecting national security. My Administration intends to work with the 
Congress to pass legislation that would restore the President's 
flexibility on computer export controls and allow us to concentrate on 
preventing exports of real national security concern.
    Other provisions of H.R. 1119 raise serious constitutional issues. 
Because of the President's constitutional role, the Congress may not 
prevent the President from controlling the disclosure of classified and 
other sensitive information by subordinate officials of the executive 
branch (section 1305). Because the Constitution vests the conduct of 
foreign affairs in the President, the Congress may not dictate the 
President's negotiations with foreign governments (section 1221). Nor 
may the Congress place in its own officers, such as the Comptroller 
General, the power to execute the law (section 217). These provisions 
will be construed and carried out in keeping with the President's 
constitutional responsibilities.

[[Page 1863]]

    Finally, I am disappointed that the Act did not authorize the 
additional two Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) rounds that the 
Secretary of Defense requested. The Quadrennial Defense Review and the 
Secretary's Defense Reform Task Force both concluded that the Department 
of Defense is burdened by the excessive cost of maintaining a base 
infrastructure much larger than is required to support our Armed Forces. 
The money spent maintaining that infrastructure is badly needed for 
modernization of aging weapons and equipment so that our forces remain 
the world's best in the 21st century. I call on the Congress to support 
the Department of Defense request for additional BRAC rounds.
    In summary, though the Act raises some concerns, it strengthens our 
national security by supporting my Administration's plans to modernize 
and prepare our Armed Forces, advances the quality of life for our 
forces, and helps assure continued American leadership.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
November 18, 1997.

Note: H.R. 1119, approved November 18, was assigned Public Law No. 105-
85. This statement was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
November 19.