Bill would let Congress sue Bush

WASHINGTON — A powerful Republican committee chairman who has led the fight against President Bush's signing statements said Monday he would have a bill ready by the end of the week allowing Congress to sue the president in federal court.

"We will submit legislation to the United States Senate which will ... authorize the Congress to undertake judicial review of those signing statements with the view to having the president's acts declared unconstitutional," said Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa..

Specter's announcement came the same day that an American Bar Association task force concluded that by lodging more than 800 challenges to laws passed by Congress, the president has sidestepped his constitutional duty to either sign a bill, veto it, or take no action. The statements reserve the right to revise, interpret or disregard laws on national-security and constitutional grounds.

The White House said signing statements are not intended to allow the administration to ignore the law. "A great many of those signing statements may have little statements about questions about constitutionality," said White House spokesman Tony Snow. "It never says, 'We're not going to enact the law.' "