The President may issue a statement explaining his or her support for the bill upon signing it into law. These statements were traditionally brief and generally did not contain substantive analysis of the legislation. However, since the Reagan administration, and particularly during the presidency of George W. Bush, they have been used more vigorously and have become a subject of controversy. There is disagreement about their role in and importance to legislative history. For more information, see
Starting in 1965 as the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents and changing in 2009 to the Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents, this source is available through the following:
The official publication of United States Presidents' public writings, addresses, and remarks, each volume contains the materials issued by the Office of the Press Secretary in chronological order.
USCCAN includes the text of laws passed by Congress as well as Presidential signing statements. Older volumes contained selected signing statements in a Presidential Messages section. Starting in 1986, coverage expanded and a table of Presidential Signing Statements was included.
