For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 6, 2006
Message to the Congress of the United States
Press Briefing on the President's Line-Item Veto Legislation by OMB Director Josh Bolten Fact Sheet: President Submits Line Item Veto Legislation to Congress
TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES:
In my State of the Union Address, I asked the Congress to give the
President a line item veto. Today, I am sending the Congress a legislative
proposal to give the President line item authority to reduce wasteful
spending. This legislation will help to limit spending and ensure
accountability and transparency in the expenditure of taxpayer funds.
Although the Congress achieved significant spending restraint this past
year, appropriations and other bills that are sent to my desk still contain
spending that is not fully justified, is a low priority, or is earmarked to
avoid the discipline of competitive or merit-based reviews. When this
legislation is presented to me, I now have no ability to line out
unnecessary spending. In 1996, the Congress gave the President a line item
veto an important tool to limit wasteful spending but the Supreme
Court struck down that version of the law in 1998.
My proposed legislation, the "Legislative Line Item Veto Act of 2006,"
would provide a fast-track procedure to require the Congress to vote
up-or-down on rescissions proposed by the President. There has been broad
bipartisan support for similar proposals in the past. Under this proposal,
the President could propose legislation to rescind wasteful spending, and
the Congress would be obligated to vote quickly on that package of
rescissions, without amendment. The same procedure would apply to new
mandatory spending and to special interest tax breaks given to small
numbers of individuals.
Forty-three Governors have a line item veto to reduce spending. The
President needs similar authority to help control unjustified and wasteful
spending in the Federal budget. I urge you to promptly consider and send
me this legislation for enactment to reduce unnecessary spending and help
achieve my goal of cutting the deficit in half by 2009.
GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE,
March 6, 2006.
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