Shea-Porter Introduces Bill to Curb Presidential Signing Statements

Written by: Mayme Trumble on Jul 18, 2007 8:44 PM EDT

Washington, DC - Congresswoman Carol-Shea Porter (D-NH) introduced a bill on Monday to rein in the use of presidential signing statements. The Presidential Signing Statements Act of 2007 (HR 3045) would prohibit the courts from considering signing statements when interpreting federal laws.

Shea-Porter's legislation is the companion to a bill introduced in the Senate last month by Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"President Bush has trampled on the constitutional separation of powers through his abuse of signing statements," said Congresswoman Shea-Porter. "He has attempted to usurp power that was given to the Congress, not the President, and has severely bruised the system of checks and balances. This is an insult to the founders of this country and to the American people, and it cannot be allowed to continue."

Instead of issuing new regulations for the President or the Executive Branch, Shea-Porter's bill seeks to protect the constitutional separation of powers by defining how the courts may use signing statements when interpreting the law. Specifically, the bill reads: "In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, no Federal or State court shall rely on or defer to a presidential signing statement as a source of authority." H.R. 3045 does not attempt to curtail legitimate uses for signing statements, such as providing instruction to executive branch agencies.

"Every third grader learns about separation of powers and checks and balances - the Congress writes the laws and the President signs them," continued Shea-Porter. "Nowhere in the Constitution does it say that the President can approve part of a law and ignore the rest."

http://campaignsandelections.com/nh/releases/index.cfm?ID=2122

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