[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 39 (Monday, September 28, 1998)]
[Page 1847]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on the Military Construction Appropriations Act, 1999

September 20, 1998

    Today I have signed into law H.R. 4059, the ``Military Construction 
Appropriations Act, FY 1999,'' which provides funding for military 
construction and family housing programs of the Department of Defense 
(DOD).
    The Act funds the vast majority of my request for military 
construction projects, including the military family housing program, 
other quality-of-life projects for our military personnel and their 
families, and the DOD base closure and realignment program.
    I do have several concerns with the bill. The Congress has chosen to 
add funds for projects that the DOD has not identified as priorities. In 
particular, $243 million is provided for 38 projects that are not in the 
DOD's Future Years Defense Program. The bill also includes a prohibition 
on the use of any funds appropriated in the Act for Partnership for 
Peace Programs or to provide support for non-NATO countries. This 
restriction could impede NATO activities and could adversely affect 
future NATO-led military operations.
    In addition, the Congress has again included a provision that 
requires the Secretary of Defense to give 30 days advance notice to 
certain congressional committees of any proposed military exercise 
involving construction costs anticipated to exceed $100,000. In 
approving H.R. 4059, I wish to reiterate an understanding, expressed by 
Presidents Reagan and Bush when they signed Military Construction 
Appropriations Acts containing a similar provision, that this section 
encompasses only exercises for which providing 30 days advance notice is 
feasible and consistent with my constitutional authority and duty to 
protect the national security.
    I urge the Congress to complete action on the remaining FY 1999 
appropriations bills as quickly as possible, and to send them to me in 
acceptable form.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
September 20, 1998.

Note: H.R. 4059, approved September 20, was assigned Public Law No. 105-
237.