I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 258 

To prevent the President from encroaching upon the Congressional prerogative 

to make laws, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 7, 2009 

Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

A BILL 

To prevent the President from encroaching upon the Congressional prerogative to make laws, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Congressional Law5 making Authority Protection Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress makes the following 

8 findings: 

9 (1) The Framers of the Constitution under10 stood that the power to make laws is such an aweVerDate Nov 24 2008 17:50 Jan 11, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H258.IH H258

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1 some power that they intended it to be exercised by 

2 the most democratic branch of government. 

3 (2) To ensure that the lawmaking power would 

4 be exercised by the branch of government that is the 

5 closest and most accountable to the people the Con6 stitution provides that ‘‘All legislative power herein 

7 granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United 

8 States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of 

9 Representatives.’’. 

10 (3) The Constitution limits the role of the 

11 President in the lawmaking process to— 

12 (A) giving Congress information on the 

13 State of the Union; 

14 (B) recommending to Congress for consid15 eration such measures as the President deems 

16 necessary and expedient; and 

17 (C) approving or vetoing bills and joint 

18 resolutions presented to him for signature. 

19 (4) Statements made by the President contem20 poraneously with the signing of a bill or joint resolu21 tion that express the President’s interpretation of 

22 the scope, constitutionality, and intent of Congress 

23 in enacting the bill or joint resolution presented for 

24 signature encroach upon the power to make laws 

25 that the Framers vested solely in the Congress. 


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1 (5) According to a May 5, 2006, editorial in the 

2 New York Times, the current President of the 

3 United States has issued more than 750 ‘‘presi4 dential signing statements’’ declaring he would not 

5 do what the laws required, the most notorious exam6 ple of which is the signing statement issued by the 

7 President asserting he was not bound by the Con8 gressional ban on the torture of prisoners. 

9 (6) On June 5, 2006, the American Bar Asso10 ciation created a 10-member Blue-Ribbon ‘‘Task 

11 Force on Presidential Signing Statements and the 

12 Separation of Powers Doctrine’’ to take a balanced, 

13 scholarly look at the use and implications of signing 

14 statements, and to propose appropriate ABA policy 

15 consistent with the ABA’s commitment to safe16 guarding the rule of law and the separation of pow17 ers in our system of government. 

18 (7) On July 24, 2006, the Task Force deter19 mined that signing statements that signal the presi20 dent’s intent to disregard laws adopted by Congress 

21 undermine the separation of powers by depriving 

22 Congress of the opportunity to override a veto, and 

23 by shutting off policy debate between the two 

24 branches of government. According to the Task 

25 Force, such presidential signing statements operate 


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1 as a ‘‘line item veto,’’ which the U.S. Supreme Court 

2 has ruled unconstitutional. The Task Force strongly 

3 recommended the Congress to enact appropriate leg4 islation to ensure that such presidential signing 

5 statements do not undermine the rule of law and the 

6 constitutional system of separation of powers. 

7 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 

8 (1) to preserve the separation of powers in9 tended by the Framers by preventing the President 

10 from encroaching upon the Congressional preroga11 tive to make law; and 

12 (2) to ensure that no Federal or State executive 

13 or independent agency, and no Federal or State 

14 judge, can attach legal significance to any presi15 dential signing statement when construing any law 

16 enacted by the Congress. 

17 SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS. 

18 (a) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS.—None of the 

19 funds made available to the Executive Office of the Presi20 dent, or to any Executive agency (as defined in section 

21 105 of title 5 of the United States Code), from any source 

22 may be used to produce, publish, or disseminate any state23 ment made by the President contemporaneously with the 

24 signing of any bill or joint resolution presented for signing 

25 by the President. 


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1 (b) APPLICATION OF LIMITATION.—Subsection (a) 

2 shall apply only to statements made by the President re3 garding the bill or joint resolution presented for signing 

4 that contradict, or are inconsistent with, the intent of Con5 gress in enacting the bill or joint resolution or that other6 wise encroach upon the Congressional prerogative to make 

7 laws. 

8 SEC. 4. CONSTRUCTION AND APPLICATION OF ACTS OF 

9 CONGRESS. 

10 For purposes of construing or applying any Act en11 acted by the Congress, a governmental entity shall not 

12 take into consideration any statement made by the Presi13 dent contemporaneously with the President’s signing of 

14 the bill or joint resolution that becomes such Act. 

Æ 


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