Signing statement: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 03:30, 14 September 2009

Revision as of 20:51, 13 October 2009

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A '''signing statement''' is a written pronouncement issued by the [[President of the United States]] upon the signing of a [[Bill (proposed law)|bill]] into [[law]]. They are usually printed along with the bill in [[United States Code Congressional and Administrative News]] (USCCAN).

During the administration of President [[George W. Bush]], there was a controversy over the President's use of signing statements, which critics charged was unusually extensive and modified the meaning of statutes. The practice predates the Bush administration, however, and has since been continued by the [[Obama administration]].<ref name="Obama Signing Statements">{{cite press release|publisher=[[New York Times]]|date=[[August 9]], [[2009]]|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/us/politics/09signing.html?ref=todayspaper|title=Obama’s Embrace of a Bush Tactic Riles Congress }}</ref> In July 2006, a task force of the [[American Bar Association]] stated that the use of signing statements to modify the meaning of duly enacted laws serves to "undermine the [[rule of law]] and our [[United States Constitution|constitutional]] system of [[separation of powers]]".<ref name="ABA Taskforce">{{cite press release|publisher=[[American Bar Association]]|date=[[July 24]], [[2006]]|url=http://www.abanet.org/media/releases/news072406.html|title=Blue-Ribbon Task Force Finds President Bush's Signing Statements Undermine Separation of Powers}}</ref>

== Types ==