[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 46 (Monday, November 19, 2001)]
[Page 1651]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Signing the Treasury and General Government Appropriations 
Act, 2002

November 12, 2001

    Today I have signed into law H.R. 2590, the ``Treasury and General 
Government 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 funding for:
 <bullet>    the Prevention of Youth and Gang Violence Initiative, 
            enabling the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms to 
            continue its two programs that focus on youth violence 
            reduction;
 <bullet>    the Western Hemisphere Drug Elimination Act Initiative, 
            which will allow continued implementation of this Act by the 
            United States Customs Service;
 <bullet>    the New Counterdrug Research and Technology Initiative, 
            which doubles the FY 2000 request for the Counterdrug 
            Technology Assessment Center; and,
 <bullet>    the Drug Free Communities Initiative.
    The Act funds the Department of the Treasury's law enforcement 
bureaus at $4.8 billion, which is comprised of $2.7 billion for the U.S. 
Customs Service to protect our Nation's borders and to facilitate the 
flow of legitimate trade and passengers, and $924 million for the 
protective operations of the United States Secret Service, including $45 
million for additional special agents. The Act augments funding for 
Treasury's ongoing efforts to target, detect, and dismantle terrorist 
fund-raising and money laundering at home and abroad. In addition, the 
Act provides $139 million for the Federal Law Enforcement Training 
Center to train Federal, State, and local law enforcement personnel.
    I am pleased that the bill continues current law provisions that 
prohibit the use of Federal funds to pay for abortions in the Federal 
Employees Health Benefits Program, except in cases where the life of the 
mother is endangered, or the pregnancy is the result of an act of rape 
or incest.
    Unfortunately, the Act does not include my proposal to consolidate 
the eighteen separate appropriations into a single appropriation for the 
Executive Office of the President. The Congress' continued insistence on 
specifying in extraordinary detail the specific operations of the 
Executive Office of the President unnecessarily infringes on my ability 
to freely manage my own office to meet the Nation's needs.
    My Administration appreciates that the Congress has worked 
expeditiously during this difficult and trying time in our Nation's 
history to consider the FY 2002 appropriations bills. Now, through a 
renewed sense of bipartisanship, the Congress and the Administration 
must work together to ensure the timely enactment of the remaining 
bills.
                                                George W. Bush
 The White House,
 November 12, 2001.

 Note:  H.R. 2590, approved November 12, was assigned Public Law No. 
107-67. This statement was released by the Office of the Press Secretary 
on November 13.