[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 33 (Monday, August 23, 1999)]
[Pages 1644-1645]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Signing the Military Construction Appropriations Act, 2000

August 17, 1999

    Today I have signed into law H.R. 2465, the ``Military Construction 
Appropriations Act, 2000,'' 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, the military housing program, and other quality-
of-life projects for our military personnel and their families. The 
requested projects are critical to supporting military readiness and the 
quality of life of our soldiers and their families. However, I have 
several concerns with the bill:
<bullet>    For the second consecutive year, the Congress has not 
            provided the requested level of construction funding for the 
            Chemical Weapons Demilitarization program. This year's 
            reduction of $93 million to my request substantially 
            increases the risk that the United States will not meet the 
            2007 Chemical Weapons Convention deadline for the 
            destruction of these chemical weapons. The sooner these 
            weapons are destroyed, the safer we will all be.
<bullet>    The Congress has chosen to add funds for projects that DOD 
            has not identified as priorities. In particular, $301 
            million is provided for 40 projects that are not in DOD's 
            Future Years Defense Program (FYDP).

[[Page 1645]]

<bullet>    The Congress has again included a provision (section 113) 
            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. 2465, 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 pass all of the FY 2000 appropriations bills 
as quickly as possible and send them to me in an acceptable form. As of 
today, the Congress has finished its work on only two of the thirteen 
appropriations bills. Moreover, many of the remaining bills would 
require deep cuts in essential government programs, including education, 
law enforcement, science and technology, the environment, and programs 
to advance global security through the peaceful use of diplomacy, 
helping minimize our chances of needing to use military force to the 
same ends.
    When it returns in September, the Congress still has a great deal of 
work to do. I urge the Congress to approach this work responsibly in 
order to pass funding bills which are sufficient to meet our Nation's 
needs in the year 2000.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
August 17, 1999.

Note: H.R. 2465, approved August 17, was assigned Public Law No. 106-52.