For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
December 29, 2006

President Signs H.R. 6344, the "Office of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act of 2006"

Today I have signed into law H.R. 6344, the "Office of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act of 2006" (the "Act"). The Act amends the Office of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act of 1998 (Title VII in Division C of Public Law 105-277) (the "1998 Act") and adjusts the authorities and duties of the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

The executive branch shall construe section 704(f)(5) of the 1998 Act, as amended by section 103(e) of the Act, which prohibits taking certain action if it is contrary to the expressed intent of the Congress, as referring to action contrary to a law. The executive branch shall also construe provisions of the Act that refer to submission of requests to the Congress for reprogramming or transfer of funds, or to obtaining congressional committee approval, such as sections 708(c)(6) and 709(b)(2) of the 1998 Act, as enacted by sections 401 and 501 of the Act, as requiring only notification. Any other construction of these provisions would be inconsistent with the constitutional principles enunciated by the Supreme Court of the United States in INS v. Chadha.

The executive branch shall construe provisions of the Act that purport to authorize or require executive branch officials to submit legislative recommendations to the Congress in a manner consistent with the constitutional authority of the President to supervise the unitary executive branch and to recommend for congressional consideration such measures as the President shall judge necessary and expedient. Such provisions include section 711(a)(4) of the 1998 Act as enacted by section 103(f) of the Act and sections 1103(2)(D) and 1110(c) of the Act.

The executive branch shall construe provisions of the Act that concern the making of reports or the submission of classified national security information to the Congress in a manner consistent with the constitutional authority of the President to supervise the unitary executive branch and to withhold information the disclosure of which could impair foreign relations, the national security, the deliberative processes of the Executive, or the performance of the Executive's constitutional duties. Such provisions include sections 704(c)(2)(A), 706, 711(a)(4), and 711(b)(4) of the 1998 Act, as enacted by sections 103(f), 105(b), and 201 of the Act, and sections 1104, 1109, and 1110 of the Act.

The executive branch shall construe provisions of the Act, including sections 704(c)(1)(C) and 704(c)(3)(C) of the 1998 Act, as enacted by section 105 of the Act, that purport to regulate the content of executive agency budget submissions to an officer within the executive branch in the development of the President's annual budget submission, in a manner consistent with the constitutional authority of the President to require the written opinions of the principal officers of the executive departments and to supervise the unitary executive branch.

GEORGE W. BUSH

THE WHITE HOUSE,

December 29, 2006.

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