For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
December 19, 2002

Statement by the President

Today I have signed into law H.R. 4883, an Act to reauthorize the Hydrographic Services Improvement Act of 1998, and for other purposes.

The executive branch shall construe sections 221(a)(4), 223(b), and 241(a)(2) of the Act as providing statutory bases for revocation of commissions or removal from service that are separate from, in addition to, and not in derogation of the President's constitutional authority to remove officers of the United States. The executive branch also shall construe sections 222 and 224 in a manner consistent with the President's constitutional authority to nominate and appoint candidates who are not the subject of recommendations under those sections.

GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE,
December 19, 2002.

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