Legislation
McCain Says He Won’t Use Signing Statements
Posted Feb 25, 2008, 07:55 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
GOP candidate John McCain says if he is elected president, he won’t use signing statements—at all—to voice disagreement with parts of legislation he dislikes.
McCain was recently asked for his position on signing statements, the Washington Post reports. His answer: "Never, never, never, never. If I disagree with a law that passed, I'll veto it."
President Bush has been criticized for frequently using signing statements as he signs legislation to disregard parts of the law that he considers to be unconstitutional. In 2006 the ABA House of Delegates voted to oppose the “the misuse of presidential signing statements,” saying they should not be used to disregard or decline to enforce laws, or to interpret them in a way that is inconsistent with congressional intent.
Democratic candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton take a middle ground, saying they think President Bush went overboard in his use of signing statements, but there may be some circumstances when they are needed, the Post story says.