Constitution | ViceZilla's Views

“Signing Statements” revisited

I was reading Ron West’s Blog Revolt Today where he asked a pointed question regarding Bush’s recent Veto of the Iraq spending bill. The question asked was why Bush didn’t sign the bill, and then issue a signing statement behind closed doors and nullify certain aspects of the bill that he deemed necessary.

This question got me to thinking about the subject of “Signing Statements”. Firstly, let’s look at what a Signing Statement is.
The American Presidency Project website, which also lists every “Signing Statement” from President Hoover to Bush, defines a Signing Statement as:

A “Signing Statement” is a written comment issued by a President at the time of signing legislation. Often signing statements merely comment on the bill signed, saying that it is good legislation or meets some pressing needs. The more controversial statements involve claims by presidents that they believe some part of the legislation is unconstitutional and therefore they intend to ignore it or to implement it only in ways they believe is constitutional. Some critics argue that the proper presidential action is either to veto the legislation (Constitution, Article I, section 7) or to “faithfully execute” the laws (Constitution, Article II, section 3).

When I read this definition, it sounds to me like it should be renamed to “The Presidential Constitution Screw-Over Privilege.” I’m sure that when the law was enacted to give the President “Signing Statement” powers, it was intended to be used as a “guideline” to enable the President to define certain aspects of the new laws as it pertains to the Constitution.

As stated above, the Constitution is quite clear as to the requirements of the President. He should either Veto the legislation, or faithfully execute the laws. But it seems that if a President is so inclined, he can modify the newly enacted laws any way he feels. This of course is all done behind closed doors, after the cameras are turned off, and the media reporters have left the building.

Now I’m sure that some Presidents have used this privilege to do good, but on the other hand, some Presidents have probably abused this privilege to make the Constitution look like a piece of Swiss Cheese.

As an example, let’s look at some of President Bush’s skill at the art of making cheese. These examples were compiled by the Boston Globe.

March 9: Justice Department officials must give reports to Congress by certain dates on how the FBI is using the USA Patriot Act to search homes and secretly seize papers.
Bush’s signing statement: The president can order Justice Department officials to withhold any information from Congress if he decides it could impair national security or executive branch operations.

Dec. 30, 2005: US interrogators cannot torture prisoners or otherwise subject them to cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.
Bush’s signing statement:The president, as commander in chief, can waive the torture ban if he decides that harsh interrogation techniques will assist in preventing terrorist attacks.

Dec. 30: When requested, scientific information ”prepared by government researchers and scientists shall be transmitted [to Congress] uncensored and without delay.”
Bush’s signing statement: The president can tell researchers to withhold any information from Congress if he decides its disclosure could impair foreign relations, national security, or the workings of the executive branch.

Aug. 8: The Department of Energy, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and its contractors may not fire or otherwise punish an employee whistle-blower who tells Congress about possible wrongdoing.
Bush’s signing statement: The president or his appointees will determine whether employees of the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission can give information to Congress.

Dec. 23, 2004: Forbids US troops in Colombia from participating in any combat against rebels, except in cases of self-defense. Caps the number of US troops allowed in Colombia at 800.
Bush’s signing statement: Only the president, as commander in chief, can place restrictions on the use of US armed forces, so the executive branch will construe the law ”as advisory in nature.”

Dec. 17: The new national intelligence director shall recruit and train women and minorities to be spies, analysts, and translators in order to ensure diversity in the intelligence community.
Bush’s signing statement: The executive branch shall construe the law in a manner consistent with a constitutional clause guaranteeing ”equal protection” for all. (In 2003, the Bush administration argued against race-conscious affirmative-action programs in a Supreme Court case. The court rejected Bush’s view.)

Oct. 29: Defense Department personnel are prohibited from interfering with the ability of military lawyers to give independent legal advice to their commanders.
Bush’s signing statement: All military attorneys are bound to follow legal conclusions reached by the administration’s lawyers in the Justice Department and the Pentagon when giving advice to their commanders.

Aug. 5: The military cannot add to its files any illegally gathered intelligence, including information obtained about Americans in violation of the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches.
Bush’s signing statement: Only the president, as commander in chief, can tell the military whether or not it can use any specific piece of intelligence.

Nov. 6, 2003: US officials in Iraq cannot prevent an inspector general for the Coalition Provisional Authority from carrying out any investigation. The inspector general must tell Congress if officials refuse to cooperate with his inquiries.
Bush’s signing statement: The inspector general ‘’shall refrain” from investigating anything involving sensitive plans, intelligence, national security, or anything already being investigated by the Pentagon. The inspector cannot tell Congress anything if the president decides that disclosing the information would impair foreign relations, national security, or executive branch operations.

Nov. 5, 2002: Creates an Institute of Education Sciences whose director may conduct and publish research ”without the approval of the secretary [of education] or any other office of the department.”
Bush’s signing statement: The president has the power to control the actions of all executive branch officials, so ”the director of the Institute of Education Sciences shall [be] subject to the supervision and direction of the secretary of education.”

Cheese anyone?