For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
July 11, 2006

President Signs H.R. 889, the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2006

I have today signed into law H.R. 889, the "Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2006." The Act authorizes funding for and strengthens the ability of the United States Coast Guard to perform its missions.

The executive branch shall construe the reference to the "National Intelligence Director" in section 309 of the Act, amending section 70105(c) of title 46, United States Code, to be a reference to the position of Director of National Intelligence established by law (50 U.S.C. 403(a)(1)).

The executive branch shall construe section 408(c) of the Act, which purports to make consultation with a legislative agent a precondition to execution of the law, to call for but not mandate such consultation, as is consistent with the Constitution's provisions concerning the separate powers of the Congress to legislate and the President to execute the laws.

Section 801 of the Act purports to require the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to work at the International Maritime Organization with foreign nations toward specified international objectives. The executive branch shall construe the provision to be advisory, as is consistent with the constitutional commitment to the President of responsibility for conducting the foreign relations of the United States, including the exclusive responsibility for formulating the position of the United States in international fora and conducting negotiations with foreign nations.

GEORGE W. BUSH

THE WHITE HOUSE,

July 11, 2006.

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