I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 149 

To promote congressional and public awareness, understanding, and political 

accountability of presidential signing statements. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 6, 2009 

Mr. JONES introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To promote congressional and public awareness, understanding, and political accountability of presidential signing statements. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Presidential Signing 

5 Statements Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The purpose of this Act is to promote congressional 

8 and public awareness, understanding, and political ac9 countability of Presidential signing statements. 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
2 

•HR 149 IH

1 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) Signing statements that declare the Presi4 dent’s intent to disregard provisions of bills he has 

5 signed into law because he believes they may offend 

6 the Constitution raise serious constitutional con7 cerns. 

8 (2) The statements are in tension with the 

9 President’s constitutional obligation to take care 

10 that the laws be faithfully executed. 

11 (3) The statements are in tension with the 

12 President’s duty to defend and uphold the Constitu13 tion. 

14 (4) The statements are in tension with the deci15 sion of the United States Supreme Court holding the 

16 line-item veto unconstitutional in Clinton v. New 

17 York; the statements seem indistinguishable from an 

18 absolute line-item veto which Congress has no oppor19 tunity to override, and which skew the balance of 

20 power over legislation in favor of the President. 

21 (5) Seeking judicial review of the constitu22 tionality of signing statements is problematic be23 cause of the difficulty of discovering a plaintiff with 

24 ‘‘standing’’ under Article III of the Constitution. 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
3 

•HR 149 IH

1 (6) Most Members of Congress and the public 

2 neither know nor understand the significance of 

3 presidential signing statements. 

4 (7) Congressional and public understanding of 

5 presidential signing statements would be increased 

6 by clear access to the statements and the President’s 

7 reasoning for their inclusion. 

8 SEC. 4. TRANSMITTING AND PUBLISHING PRESIDENTIAL 

9 SIGNING STATEMENTS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall transmit to 

11 the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the 

12 chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary of the House 

13 of Representatives and the majority leader of the Senate 

14 and the chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary of 

15 the Senate each signing statement that declares or insinu16 ates the intention of the President to disregard provisions 

17 of any bill he has signed into law because he believes it 

18 is unconstitutional. The transmissions shall be made no 

19 later than three calendar days after the issuance of the 

20 statements. The President shall also have such statements 

21 published in the Federal Register according to the same 

22 terms and conditions as if they were substantive final rules 

23 issued by the Department of Justice. 

24 (b) LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS.—On the same day 

25 that the President transmits any signing statement under 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
4 

•HR 149 IH

1 subsection (a), the President shall transmit that signing 

2 statement to the Librarian of Congress who shall place 

3 such statement on the Thomas Web site administered by 

4 the Library of Congress with all other signing statements 

5 transmitted under this subsection during that Congress. 

6 SEC. 5. TESTIMONY BY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL, DEPUTY 

7 ATTORNEY GENERAL, OR WHITE HOUSE 

8 COUNSEL. 

9 The Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General, or 

10 White House Counsel shall testify before the Committees 

11 on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives or Sen12 ate at the behest of any single Member of either committee 

13 to explain the meaning and justification of every presi14 dential signing statement covered by this Act. Executive 

15 privilege shall not be recognized as a valid basis for refus16 ing to appear or refusing to answer a question pertinent 

17 to the legal reasoning behind a signing statement or its 

18 legal ramifications. 

19 SEC. 6. LIMITATION. 

20 No monies of the United States shall be authorized 

21 or expended to implement any law accompanied by a sign22 ing statement covered by this Act if either section 4 or 

23 section 5 have been violated in any respect. 

Æ 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS