[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 29 (Monday, July 21, 2003)]
[Pages 917-918]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Signing Legislation To Provide Bill Emerson and Mickey 
Leland Hunger Fellowships

July 14, 2003

    Today I am signing into law H.R. 2474, which would permit the 
Congressional Hunger Center to spend up to $3 million in funds 
appropriated for each of fiscal years 2003 and 2004 to provide Bill 
Emerson and Mickey Leland Hunger Fellowships.
    Upon signing the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 on 
May 13, 2002, I stated that the method of appointing members to the 
Board of Trustees for the Hunger Fellowship Program runs afoul of the 
Appointments Clause of the Constitution. The current legislation does 
not adequately address this constitutional problem, in that it simply 
provides that the Hunger Fellowship Program will be administered for 2 
years by a private, nonprofit corporation, the Congressional Hunger 
Center. Again, I remain prepared to work with the Congress on 
legislation that will provide a long-term solution for this 
constitutional infirmity. To avoid any constitutional concerns stemming 
from the

[[Page 918]]

provision of funds to the Congressional Hunger Center, I instruct the 
head of the department to whose agency these funds are appropriated to 
treat the money as a grant and ensure the Center's compliance with the 
terms of its grant.
                                                George W. Bush
 The White House,
 July 14, 2003.

Note: H.R. 2474, approved July 14, was assigned Public Law No. 108-58. 
An original was not available for verification of the content of this 
statement.