Late last year Congress passed and President Bush signed into law, the Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act. The bill makes it easier for mutual funds and private pension fund managers to sell their investments and allows states to prohibit debt financing for companies that do business in Sudan. It also requires companies seeking contracts with the federal government to certify that they are not doing business in Sudan.
Sudan is a mess. Recent political conflict has included efforts to systematically kill off parts of the population. American reaction has been long in coming.
Bush did not initially support the bill, so while signing it, he issued a signing statement: Mr. Bush’s signature was accompanied by a proviso known as a signing statement, in which he said he was reserving the authority to overrule state and local divestment decisions if they conflicted with foreign policy. The statement said the measure “risks being interpreted as insulating” state and local divestment actions from federal oversight.
As stated previously, the president--and his vice-president--believe that presidential authority in foreign affairs has been unduly limited by Congress. The signing statements are his efforts to interpret the Constitution in a way that maintains his power. Some argue though that this is simply a power grab not only in terms of foreign affairs, but in terms of constitutional interpretation.
The statement has been criticized recently. The House Financial Services Committee held hearings on the statements, which the Bush administration refused to participate in.
