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 Con-
gressional prerogative to make laws, and for other pur-
poses. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Congressional Law-
making Authority Protection Act of 2009’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress makes the following 
findings: 
(1) The Framers of the Constitution under-
stood that the power to make laws is such an awe-
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some power that they intended it to be exercised by 
the most democratic branch of government. 
(2) To ensure that the lawmaking power would 
be exercised by the branch of government that is the 
closest and most accountable to the people the Con-
stitution provides that ‘‘All legislative power herein 
granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United 
States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of 
Representatives.’’. 
(3) The Constitution limits the role of the 
President in the lawmaking process to— 
(A) giving Congress information on the 
State of the Union; 
(B) recommending to Congress for consid-
eration such measures as the President deems 
necessary and expedient; and 
(C) approving or vetoing bills and joint 
resolutions presented to him for signature. 
(4) Statements made by the President contem-
poraneously with the signing of a bill or joint resolu-
tion that express the President’s interpretation of 
the scope, constitutionality, and intent of Congress 
in enacting the bill or joint resolution presented for 
signature encroach upon the power to make laws 
that the Framers vested solely in the Congress. 
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(5) According to a May 5, 2006, editorial in the 
New York Times, the current President of the 
United States has issued more than 750 ‘‘presi-
dential signing statements’’ declaring he would not 
do what the laws required, the most notorious exam-
ple of which is the signing statement issued by the 
President asserting he was not bound by the Con-
gressional ban on the torture of prisoners. 
(6) On June 5, 2006, the American Bar Asso-
ciation created a 10-member Blue-Ribbon ‘‘Task 
Force on Presidential Signing Statements and the 
Separation of Powers Doctrine’’ to take a balanced, 
scholarly look at the use and implications of signing 
statements, and to propose appropriate ABA policy 
consistent with the ABA’s commitment to safe-
guarding the rule of law and the separation of pow-
ers in our system of government. 
(7) On July 24, 2006, the Task Force deter-
mined that signing statements that signal the presi-
dent’s intent to disregard laws adopted by Congress 
undermine the separation of powers by depriving 
Congress of the opportunity to override a veto, and 
by shutting off policy debate between the two 
branches of government. According to the Task 
Force, such presidential signing statements operate 
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as a ‘‘line item veto,’’ which the U.S. Supreme Court 
has ruled unconstitutional. The Task Force strongly 
recommended the Congress to enact appropriate leg-
islation to ensure that such presidential signing 
statements do not undermine the rule of law and the 
constitutional system of separation of powers. 
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 
(1) to preserve the separation of powers in-
tended by the Framers by preventing the President 
from encroaching upon the Congressional preroga-
tive to make law; and 
(2) to ensure that no Federal or State executive 
or independent agency, and no Federal or State 
judge, can attach legal significance to any presi-
dential signing statement when construing any law 
enacted by the Congress. 
SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS. 
(a) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS.—None of the 
funds made available to the Executive Office of the Presi-
dent, or to any Executive agency (as defined in section 
105 of title 5 of the United States Code), from any source 
may be used to produce, publish, or disseminate any state-
ment made by the President contemporaneously with the 
signing of any bill or joint resolution presented for signing 
by the President. 
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(b) APPLICATION OF LIMITATION.—Subsection (a) 
shall apply only to statements made by the President re-
garding the bill or joint resolution presented for signing 
that contradict, or are inconsistent with, the intent of Con-
gress in enacting the bill or joint resolution or that other-
wise encroach upon the Congressional prerogative to make 
laws. 
SEC. 4. CONSTRUCTION AND APPLICATION OF ACTS OF 
CONGRESS. 
For purposes of construing or applying any Act en-
acted by the Congress, a governmental entity shall not 
take into consideration any statement made by the Presi-
dent contemporaneously with the President’s signing of 
the bill or joint resolution that becomes such Act. 
Æ 
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