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Article: Signs of a Struggle.(George W. Bush's issuing of presidential signing statements)
- Article from:
- U.S. News & World Report
- Article date:
- August 7, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 All rights reserved. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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George W. Bush did not invent the presidential signing statement; Franklin Roosevelt, Bill Clinton, and even James Monroe also authored the statements, which spell out the president's sometimes controversial interpretations of the bills that Congress has passed and sent for him to sign into law. Still, Bush has used them a lot; by one scholar's reckoning, his signing statements have raised 807 challenges to over 100 bills. And he has used the statements, by many accounts, more aggressively than other chief executives in pushing executive power and effectively challenging parts of laws he considers unconstitutional--most notably in December 2005, when he signed a torture ...