For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
November 13, 2001

President Signs Treasury Appropriations Bill
Statement by the President

I have signed into Law H.R. 2590, the "Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 2002."

I appreciate the bipartisan effort that has gone into producing this Act.  The bill abides by the agreed upon aggregate funding level for Fiscal Year 2002 of $686 billion and supports several of my Administration's key initiatives with funding for:

$    the Prevention of Youth and Gang Violence Initiative, enabling the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms to continue its two programs that focus on youth violence reduction;

$    the Western Hemisphere Drug Elimination Act Initiative, which will allow continued implementation of this Act by the United States Customs Service;

$    the New Counterdrug Research and Technology Initiative, which doubles the FY 2000 request for the Counterdrug Technology Assessment Center; and,

$    the Drug Free Communities Initiative.

The Act funds the Department of the Treasury's law enforcement bureaus at $4.8 billion, which is comprised of $2.7 billion for the U.S. Customs Service to protect our Nation's borders and to facilitate the flow of legitimate trade and passengers, and $924 million for the protective operations of the United States Secret Service, including $45 million for additional special agents.  The Act augments funding for Treasury's ongoing efforts to target, detect, and dismantle terrorist fund-raising and money laundering at home and abroad.  In addition, the Act provides $139 million for the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center to train Federal, State, and local law enforcement personnel.

I am pleased that the bill continues current law provisions that prohibit the use of Federal funds to pay for abortions in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, except in cases where the life of the mother is endangered, or the pregnancy is the result of an act of rape or incest.

Unfortunately, the Act does not include my proposal to consolidate the eighteen separate appropriations into a single appropriation for the Executive Office of the President.  The Congress' continued insistence on specifying in extraordinary detail the specific operations of the Executive Office of the President unnecessarily infringes on my ability to freely manage my own office to meet the Nation's needs.

My Administration appreciates that the Congress has worked expeditiously during this difficult and trying time in our Nation's history to consider the FY 2002 appropriations bills.  Now, through a renewed sense of bipartisanship, the Congress and the Administration must work together to ensure the timely enactment of the remaining bills.

GEORGE W. BUSH

THE WHITE HOUSE,

November 12, 2001.

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