520
Thomas, J., dissenting
ment, services, and habilitation" and that state governments "have an obligation to assure that public funds are not provided to any [noncomplying] institutio[n]." §§ 6010(1), (3). We held that the bill of rights did not have substantive effect: "§ 6010, when read in the context of other more specific provisions of the Act, does no more than express a congressional preference for certain kinds of treatment. It is simply a general statement of 'findings' and, as such, is too thin a reed to support the rights and obligations read into it by the court below." 451 U. S., at 19. Even though Pennhurst did not involve an agency regulation, its textual analysis suggests that it is unreasonable to give substantive effect to preca-tory, aspirational language—as would the Secretary's construction of 42 CFR § 413.85(c) (1993). Cf. EEOC v. Arabian American Oil Co., 499 U. S. 244, 260 (1991) (Scalia, J., concurring in part and concurring in judgment) (explaining that "deference is not abdication, and it requires us to accept only those agency interpretations that are reasonable in light of the principles of construction courts normally employ").
Interestingly enough, for the first two decades of the Medicare program's operation, the Secretary's fiscal intermediaries, with her acquiescence (if not approval), gave § 413.85(c) precisely the same substantive effect as I would—none. During that entire period, the Secretary never invoked the subsection to deny reimbursement for previously unreimbursed costs, and providers were actually reimbursed for such costs despite § 413.85(c). Indeed, contrary to the Court's baffling assertion that "petitioner fails to present persuasive evidence that the Secretary has interpreted the anti-redistribution provision in an inconsistent manner," ante, at 515, one need look no further than petitioner's brief, see Brief for Petitioner 21-24, to find evidence of such interpretive inconsistency as to both the anti-redistribution and community support principles.
Petitioner received no Medicare reimbursement for any GME costs from 1966 to 1973. Even though the anti-
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