Bar Association Slams Bush for Disregard for Law
The American Bar Association issued a report yesterday criticizing President Bush for attaching bill-signing statements to more than 750 laws during his presidency. Presidents attach such statements to bills when they sign them into law to declare that the president questions the law on constitutional or national security grounds. Bill-signing statements are nothing new, but President Bush has attached more such statements than all 42 previous presidents combined, and has operated as if such statements give him a pass to disregard the very laws he signs.
Says ABA president Michael Greco:
This report raises serious concerns crucial to the survival of our democracy. If left unchecked, the president’s practice does grave harm to the (doctrine of the) separation of powers and the system of checks and balances that have sustained our democracy for more than two centuries.
The president’s spokesman has responded to such criticism by defending the practice of signing statements. But the practice is not what is at question, but Bush’s prolific and manipulative use of it. Lawmakers have pointed out the obvious connection between the President’s little use of his veto power and his broad use of signing statements. The president’s recent veto of the embryonic stem cell research bill was the first veto of his presidency.
When the president vetoes a bill, with sufficient votes the Congress can override his veto. By signing bills into law but stating upfront that he has no intention of obeying them, the president avoids confrontation and political embarrassment, and then just does whatever he chooses. In other words, this president, more than any other in our history, believes that he is above the law.
Sen Arlen Specter (R-Penn.) says he will introduce a bill by the end of this week which would empower Congress to sue the president in federal court to challenge bill-signing statments.
The ABA report was prepared by a 10-member task force which includes former FBI director William Sessions and former Congressman Mickey Edwards. The ABA report is available here.
[...] Recent commentators, including my own erstwhile colleague, have noted President Bush’s appendage to bills signed into law, recently called “signing statements,” some of which written by President Bush are critical of the scope or reach of the law. Terry noted the ABA’s report on it. Terry’s comment was picked up by a prestigious national commentator. [...]