[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 49 (Monday, December 9, 2002)]
[Pages 2114-2115]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
<R04>
Statement on Signing the Bob Stump National Defense Authorization Act
for Fiscal Year 2003
December 2, 2002
Today I have signed into law H.R. 4546, the ``Bob Stump National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003.'' The Act authorizes the
funding necessary to protect the United States and advance its interests
abroad. In particular, it authorizes the resources necessary to continue
the war against terrorists of global reach, to equip and train our Armed
Forces for success in combat, and to support the members of the Armed
Forces and their families with a substantial and fully merited increase
in basic pay. The Act also grants new authorities to the Department of
Defense that will assist in transforming the armed forces to meet future
challenges.
A number of provisions of the Act establish new requirements for the
executive branch to furnish sensitive information to the Congress on
various subjects, including sections 221, 1043, 1065 (enacting 10 U.S.C.
127b(f)(2)(C)(ii) and (iii)), 1205, 1206, 1207, and 1209 (enacting
section 722 of Public Law 104-293). The executive branch shall construe
such provisions in a manner consistent with the President's
constitutional authority to withhold information the disclosure of which
could impair foreign relations, the national security, the deliberative
processes of the Executive, or the performance of the Executive's
constitutional duties.
Many provisions of the Act call for executive branch officials to
submit recommendations and plans to the Congress, including sections
112(b), 142(c), 221(c), 231 (enacting
[[Page 2115]]
10 U.S.C. 196), 234(c), 241(c)(3)(D), 366, 404(c), 513(e), 534(c), 582,
721 (enacting 38 U.S.C. 8111(c)(4) and (f)(2)(C) and (F)), 723, 813,
924, 1043(b)(2), 1061 (enacting 10 U.S.C. 113a), 1207, 1208 (enacting
section 1503(b)(8) of Public Law 103-337), 3141(e), 3143, 3176(b)(4) and
(d), and 3504(c)(4). The executive branch shall construe such provisions
in a manner consistent with the President's constitutional authority to
supervise the unitary executive branch. In addition, with respect to
provisions that purport to require executive branch officials to submit
legislative proposals to the Congress, including sections 513(e), 813,
1061, and 3143, the executive branch also shall construe such provisions
in a manner consistent with the President's constitutional authority to
submit for the consideration of the Congress such measures as the
President judges necessary and expedient.
The executive branch shall construe section 133(2)(B) of the Act as
requiring only notification to the Congress and not any form of
congressional approval following notification, as any other construction
would be inconsistent with the constitutional principles enunciated by
the Supreme Court in 1983 in INS v. Chadha.
The executive branch shall construe section 2308(e)(1) of title 10
of the United States Code, as enacted by section 801 of the Act, as
neither giving the force of law to any quantity set forth in a table,
chart, or explanatory text in a joint explanatory statement of a House-
Senate committee of conference or in any congressional committee report,
nor requiring the exercise of waiver authority under section 2308 to
acquire more than a quantity specified in such a table, chart, or
explanatory text. Construing the section otherwise would not be
consistent with the bicameralism and presentment requirements of the
Constitution for the making of a law.
The executive branch shall implement section 2323 of title 10 of the
United States Code, as extended through fiscal year 2006 by section 816
of the Act, in a manner consistent with the equal protection
requirements of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the
Constitution.
Section 242 of the Act vests authority to direct the provision of
funds for designated projects, and to select certain projects for
funding, in an official who is to be designated by the Under Secretary
of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics. Under the
Constitution, such authority should be exercised only by officers of the
United States appointed in accordance with the provisions of the
Appointments Clause. Accordingly, the Secretary of Defense shall ensure
that the official designated by the Under Secretary under this section
is a duly appointed constitutional officer or that the official's
exercise of the authority vested is supervised and reviewed by the Under
Secretary or another appropriate constitutional officer.
Finally, the executive branch shall construe sections 3155, 3156,
and 3160, which purport to require executive branch officials to conduct
programs with a foreign country, in a manner consistent with the
President's constitutional authority to conduct the foreign affairs of
the United States.
George W. Bush
The White House,
December 2, 2002.
Note: H.R. 4546, approved December 2, was assigned Public Law No. 107-
314.