U.S. President George W. Bush yesterday signed a bill to increase security at U.S. ports but said he will follow some of the legislation’s requirements only as he judges necessary (see GSN, Nov. 15).

The Maritime Transportation Security Act “will strengthen security at our nation’s seaports by requiring comprehensive security plans for U.S. ports and mandating improved identification and screening of seaport personnel,” Bush said in a prepared statement (see GSN, Nov. 20).

The legislation — designed to prevent terrorists from smuggling weapons of mass destruction through U.S. ports — calls on the president to make recommendations to Congress on maritime security.

Mandating those recommendations “could impermissibly impinge upon the president’s constitutional authority to submit only those legislative recommendations that he judges to be necessary and expedient,” Bush said.  Recommendations will only be made when they are “necessary and expedient,” in Bush’s own view, he said (see GSN, Nov. 21).

The bill also directs an administration official to notify non-U.S. governments of certain decisions and to make security recommendations to them.  These foreign policy decisions are also in the hands of the president, and the administration will view this part of the language as a request, Bush said (U.S. State Department release, Nov. 26).

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