[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 45 (Monday, November 12, 2001)]
[Pages 1601-1602]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Signing the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies 
Appropriations Act, 2002

November 5, 2001

    Today I have signed into law H.R. 2217, the ``Department of the 
Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2002.''
    I appreciate the bipartisan effort that has gone into producing this 
Act. The bill abides by the agreed upon aggregate funding level for 
Fiscal Year 2002 of $686 billion and supports several of my 
Administration's key initiatives with:
<bullet>     funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund to 
            acquire and conserve lands in national parks, forests, 
            refuges, and public lands, and assist States in promoting 
            conservation and outdoor recreation;
<bullet>     funding to reduce the National Park Service deferred 
            maintenance backlog and meet the growing demands on park 
            facilities and resources;
<bullet>     funding for Indian school construction to keep us on the 5-
            year path to eliminate the current school repair and 
            maintenance backlog by 2006; and
<bullet>     full funding for key energy programs, such as the Clean 
            Coal Power initiative, to work in partnership with industry 
            to direct research towards reducing the environmental impact 
            of coal used for power generation in the United States.

[[Page 1602]]

    I am disappointed that my initiative to increase the Low-Income 
Weatherization Assistance Program by $120 million was reduced by $43 
million in the final version of this bill. This reduction will deny 
program benefits for over 17,000 low-income families, compared with my 
request.
    Several provisions in the bill purport to require congressional 
approval before executive branch execution of aspects of the bill. I 
will interpret such provisions to require notification only, since any 
other interpretation would contradict the Supreme Court ruling in INS v. 
Chadha.
                                                George W. Bush
The White House,
November 5, 2001.

Note: H.R. 2217, approved November 5, was assigned Public Law No. 107-
63.