The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 is a law in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

signed by President George W. Bush on January 28, 2008. As a bill it was H.R. 4986 in the 110th Congress. The overall purpose of the law is to authorize funding for the defense of the

and its interests abroad, for military construction, and for national security-related energy programs. In a controversial signing statement, President Bush instructed the executive branch to construe Sections 841, 846, 1079, and 1222 "in a manner consistent with the constitutional authority of the President".

Section 841

Establishes a Commission on Wartime Contracting in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. This commission would study federal agency contracting for reconstruction, the logistical support of coalition forces, and the performance of security functions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some of the most important duties of this commission would be to assess the extent of potential violations of laws of war,

Federal law Federal law is the body of law created by the federal government of a country. A federal government is formed when a group of political units, such as states or provinces join in a federation, delegating their individual sovereignty and many po ...

, or other legal precedents as well as assess the extent of waste, fraud, and abuse under federal contracts. These provisions could be the basis for bringing criminal or civil charges against agencies under the executive branch.

Section 846

Provides protection for contractor employees who wish to disclose wrongdoing to a member of the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

or a

Congressional committee A congressional committee is a legislative sub-organization in the United States Congress that handles a specific duty (rather than the general duties of Congress). Committee membership enables members to develop specialized knowledge of the ...

member.

Section 904

Outlined under "Title IX - Department of Defense Organization and Management", section 904 deals with the "Management of the Department of Defense". The section defines the requirement "for improving and evaluating the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the business operations of the Department of Defense and achieving an integrated management system for business support areas within the Department of Defense".

Section 1079

Directly deals with communications with the committee on Armed Forces in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives, in which either the Senate or House could request an intelligence assessment, report, estimate, or legal opinion from the director of a national intelligence center. The section accounts for the possibility of the President invoking

executive privilege Executive privilege is the right of the president of the United States and other members of the executive branch to maintain confidential communications under certain circumstances within the executive branch and to resist some subpoenas and othe ...

, and contains a sub-section demanding the White House Counsel prepare a legitimate reason for invoking privilege.

Section 1222

Limits spending and funding for certain purposes relating to Iraq, "(1) To establish any military installation or base for the purpose of providing for the permanent stationing of United States Armed Forces in Iraq. (2) To exercise United States control of the oil resources of Iraq."

Section 1822

Section 1822 requires the

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to "establish a

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Council of Governors to advise the Secretary of Defense, the

Secretary of Homeland Security The United States secretary of homeland security is the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the federal department tasked with ensuring public safety in the United States. The secretary is a member of the Cabinet of the U ...

, and the White House Homeland Security Council on matters related to the

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

and civil support missions".

State immunity exceptions

The 2004 decision of '' Cicippio-Puleo v. Islamic Republic of Iran'', which the DC Circuit Court ruled that foreign countries known to be supports of

state-sponsored terrorism State-sponsored terrorism is terrorist violence carried out with the active support of national governments provided to violent non-state actors. States can sponsor terrorist groups in several ways, including but not limited to funding terroris ...

could not be sued for private

cause of action A cause of action or right of action, in law, is a set of facts sufficient to justify suing to obtain money or property, or to justify the enforcement of a legal right against another party. The term also refers to the legal theory upon which a ...

under the current

Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 (FSIA) is a United States law, codified at Title 28, §§ 1330, 1332, 1391(f), 1441(d), and 1602–1611 of the United States Code, that established criteria as to whether a foreign sovereign nation ( ...

of 1976, even with the Flatow Amendment, affected numerous other terrorism-related lawsuits in the court system at the time. Within the NDAA 2008, Congress expanded exceptions to the

state immunity The doctrine and rules of state immunity concern the protection which a state is given from being sued in the courts of other states. The rules relate to legal proceedings in the courts of another state, not in a state's own courts. The rules devel ...

protections granted by the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. Exceptions were added for

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. definitions of tortur ...

, extrajudicial killing,

aircraft sabotage An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines. ...

, and

hostage-taking A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized, such as a relative, employer, law enforcement or government to act, or r ...

, and specifically making foreign countries that backed state-sponsored terrorism liable for the actions of its officials and agents which may be involved in such state-sponsorship.

Signing statement

In signing the law, the Bush administration continued its use of the signing statement to object to parts of laws it viewed as conflicting with what it alleged are the constitutional powers of the unitary executive, especially as they related to national defense and the

war in Iraq This is a list of wars involving the Republic of Iraq and its predecessor states. Other armed conflicts involving Iraq * Wars during Mandatory Iraq ** Ikhwan raid on South Iraq 1921 * Smaller conflicts, revolutions, coups and periphery confli ...

. The following Sections of the law referenced in the signing statement are listed, along with the possible impact of being mentioned in the signing statement:Froomkin, D
"Bush Thumbs Nose at Congress"
''The Washington Post'', January 30, 2008. *Section 841: May reduce oversight of contractual abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan. *Section 846: Possibly limits protection to contractor employees when disclosing improper actions of the employer. *Section 1079: Could limit how much intelligence information Congress can demand from intelligence officials. *Section 1222: May limit Congressional oversight in the permanent establishment of U.S. military bases or the use of government funds to control oil resources in Iraq.

References

External links

Text of Presidential Signing Statement from January 28, 2008
from the official website of the White House.
HR 4986
from Project Vote Smart.
Full text of H.R. 4986
, from Library of Congress
HR 4986
from Govtrack
full textIssues and Legislation: H.R. 4986
from Military.com Legislative Center. {{National Defense Authorization Acts U.S. National Defense Authorization Acts Acts of the 110th United States Congress