Presidential Signing Statements 2001

Signing Statements Issued in 2008

To read the annotated White House version of a signing statement, click the statement's number (e.g., "2008-01")

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To read the law to which the statement applies, click the public law number (e.g., "P.L. 110-181")

Annotated Text of
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Affected Congressional Enactment
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2008-01

44 WCPD 115 (February 4, 2008)

H.R. 4986, the "National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008" (P.L. 110-181)

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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
January 28, 2008

President Bush Signs H.R. 4986, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 into Law
[2008-01] -- 44 WCPD 115 (February 4, 2008)

Today, I have signed into law H.R. 4986, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008. The Act authorizes funding for the defense of the United States and its interests abroad, for military construction, and for national security-related energy programs.

Provisions of the Act, including sections 841, 846, 1079, and 1222, purport to impose requirements that could inhibit the President's ability to carry out his constitutional obligations to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, to protect national security, to supervise the executive branch, and to execute his authority as Commander in Chief. The executive branch shall construe such provisions in a manner consistent with the constitutional authority of the President.

GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE,
January 28, 2008.

# # #

►[This signing statement is also found at:]
[link to document at www.whitehouse.gov]
[plain text at the GPO]
[PDF from GPO]

ANNOTATIONS FOR 2008-01, PERTAINING TO H.R. 4986
The "National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008," the law to which this signing statement pertains, is H.R. 4986 (P.L. 110-181)
READ the "National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008" (H.R. 4986)	File from GPO: PDF (digitally signed by GPO) Link to GPO: plain text at GPO
CITATIONS to the "National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008" (H.R. 4986)	H.R. 4986 is Public Law 110-181 122 STAT 3
Congressional Documents	1. Hearing of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee on the impact of the Presidential signing statement on the Department of Defense’s implementation of the Fiscal Year 2008 National Defense Authorization Act (March 11, 2008). Opening Statement of Subcommittee Chairman Vic Snyder Audio File of Hearing (direct link to audio file) Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Statement of T.J. Halstead, Legislative Attorney, American Law Division, Congressional Research Service Statement of Gary L. Kepplinger, General Counsel, U.S. Government Accountability Office Statement of Bruce Fein, Constitutional Attorney, Bruce Fein & Associates, Member, ABA Task Force on Presidential Signing Statements Statement of Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz, Associate Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center 2. Sen. Joseph Biden: Press Release on President's Signing Statement on Permanent Bases in Iraq (January 31, 2008) 3. Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA): Press Release addressing President Bush’s signing statement accompanying the Defense Authorization bill (January 29, 2008) 4. Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI): Floor Statement Concerning the President’s Signing Statement on the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (January 29, 2008) 5. Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va): Press release concerning remarks from Senate floor with respect to the Commission on Wartime Contracting and the President’s signing statement (January 29, 2008) 6. U.S. Representative Tom Allen (D-Maine): Message to Maine: "Signing Statement Attempts to Thwart Iraq Policy Changes" (March 7, 2008) 7. HR 5626, introduced by Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-Ma) on 13 March 2008, notes, in §2 (1)(4), that “President George W. Bush indicated in a signing statement accompanying the bill that he would not be bound by a provision of that law that prohibits the United States from establishing permanent military bases in Iraq.” HR 5626 seeks to “reassert the constitutional role of Congress in making long-term security commitments, to defer significant long-term security commitments to Iraq to the next Administration and Congress, and to maintain international legal authority and immunity for United States Armed Forces in Iraq by promoting the extension of the United Nations mandate.” The GPO print of HR 5626, as introduced, is available here.