House Republicans Sign Letter Asking Obama Not to Use Autopen to Approve Legislation (ContributorNetwork)

Almost a month after an autopen was used to sign an extension of the Patriot Act into law for President Barack Obama, House Republicans are raising objections to the practice of using facsimiles of the presidential signature instead of the real thing. They have now requested that Obama re-sign the law by his own hand.

Obama reportedly sanctioned the use of the autopen to avoid passing the midnight deadline of the original Patriot Act on May 27, after unexpected delays left him with only a few minutes to approve the law or have the act expire. Traditionally, presidents have now and then had a particular piece of legislation flown to them wherever they were for their official signature. It marks the first time in U.S. government history that an autopen has been used to sign actual legislation rather than being consigned to its usual routine of miming the president's signature for letters and photographs.

Autopens have been in use by the government and various corporate entities for decades. All the presidents since at least Ronald Reagan have been confirmed as having used the device during their terms in office, although the specific instances of the use of an autopen are usually kept rather quiet to preserve the idea of connectivity between a president and their constituents.

The move to use an autopen to sign legislation is turning out to be a controversial one. More than 20 House Republicans have now signed a letter to the president requesting that he re-sign the legislation, citing the necessity of strictly adhering to the statutes of the U.S. Constitution. The controversy surrounds one passage of the Constitution in particular, Article I, Section 7. That section mandates that "If he approves, he shall sign it, but if not, he shall return it."

For their part, the administration is pointing to a 2005 opinion from the Office of Legal Counsel, during President George W. Bush's second term in office. That document concluded that the use of an autopen would not violate the Constitution. As such, White House spokespeople have stated that using that legal opinion, President Obama did not feel it was necessary to re-sign the law.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20110627/us_ac/8708187_house_republicans_sign_letter_asking_obama_not_to_use_autopen_to_approve_legislation

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