[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 2 (Monday, January 14, 2002)]
[Pages 49-50]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Signing the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and 
Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2002

January 10, 2002

    Today I have signed into law H.R. 2506, the ``Foreign Operations, 
Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2002.'' The 
Act provides the funds needed to support U.S. foreign policy objectives 
abroad and reflects the restraint on spending that has been a key goal 
of my Administration.
    I appreciate the bipartisan effort that has gone into producing this 
Act. It abides by the agreed upon aggregate funding level for Fiscal 
Year 2002 of $686 billion. The Act will provide $15.4 billion, largely 
along the lines of my request, and includes essential funding to support 
America's war on terrorism. The Act supports such key Administration 
initiatives as the campaign against HIV/AIDS, with up to $100 million 
available for the global fund to fight HIV/AIDS, malaria, and 
tuberculosis and an additional $100 million is also provided by the 
Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and 
Related Agencies Appropriations Act.
    I also welcome the additional flexibility that the Act provides 
through the reduction in earmarks and added waiver authorities, 
including the changes to the annual counternarcotics certification 
process and the waiver provision allowing me the flexibility to provide 
additional assistance to Azerbaijan. This flexibility will allow my 
Administration to meet the diplomatic requirements stemming from the 
September 11th attacks, as well as

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to continue to address the ever-changing foreign policy challenges we 
face.
    The Act does not interfere with our policies regarding bilateral 
international family planning assistance, and ensures that U.S. funds 
are not made available to organizations supporting or participating in 
the management of a program of coercive abortion or involuntary 
sterilization. The Act provides additional discretion to determine the 
appropriate level of funding for the United Nations Population Fund.
    Several provisions of the Act purport to direct or burden the 
conduct of negotiations by the executive branch with foreign 
governments, international organizations, or other entities abroad, or 
otherwise interfere with the President's constitutional authority to 
conduct the Nation's foreign affairs. These include sections 514, 560, 
and 581(a), and the appropriations heading related to the International 
Development Association, which purport to direct the Secretary of the 
Treasury to require the U.S. representatives to take particular 
positions for the United States in international organizations or 
require the Secretary to accord priority to a particular objective in 
negotiations with such an organization. Another such provision is 
section 567(b), which purports to direct the Secretary of State to 
consult certain international organizations in determining the state of 
events abroad. These provisions shall be construed consistent with my 
constitutional authorities to conduct foreign affairs, participate in 
international negotiations, and supervise the executive branch.
    Section 573 of the Act calls for the Department of State to provide 
regular and detailed briefings to congressional committees on any 
discussions between the executive branch and a particular government 
abroad on any potential purchase of defense articles or defense services 
by that government. This provision shall be construed as advisory only, 
given the constitutional powers of the President to supervise the 
executive branch and to conduct the Nation's foreign affairs, which 
includes the authority to determine what information about international 
negotiations may, in the public interest, be made available to the 
Congress and when such disclosure should occur. The Secretary of State 
will, however, as a matter of comity between the executive and 
legislative branches, keep the Congress appropriately informed of the 
matters addressed by section 573.
    Finally, section 577 requires that the President direct executive 
agencies possessing information relevant to specified deaths abroad to 
declassify and release that information. I will direct the Attorney 
General to coordinate the implementation of this section within the 
executive branch, so as to produce the requested information in a manner 
consistent with my constitutional and statutory responsibilities to 
protect various kinds of sensitive information.
    Many provisions of the Act make funds available for particular 
purposes subject to, in accordance with, or under ``the regular 
notification procedures of the Committee on Appropriations.'' The 
executive branch shall construe the reference to the ``regular 
notification procedures'' to be a reference to the procedures in section 
515 of the Act.
                                                George W. Bush
 The White House,
 January 10, 2002.

Note: H.R. 2506, approved January 10, was assigned Public Law No. 107-
115.