I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5178 

To amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to provide for procedures 

to meet a target ratio of public debt to gross domestic product, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 19, 2019 

Mr. BURCHETT (for himself, Mr. CASE, and Mr. WOMACK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Rules, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to provide 

for procedures to meet a target ratio of public debt 

to gross domestic product, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Reforming America’s 

5 Fiscal Toolkit Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘RAFT Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. RATIO OF PUBLIC DEBT TO GDP INCLUDED IN CON2 CURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 301(a) of the Congres4 sional Budget Act of 1974 is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ 

5 at the end of paragraph (6), by striking the period and 

6 inserting ‘‘; and’’ at the end of paragraph (7), and by add7 ing after paragraph (7) the following: 

8 ‘‘(8) the recommended ratio of the public debt 

9 to the estimated gross domestic product.’’. 

10 (b) DEFINITION OF GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT.— 

11 Section 3 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment 

12 Control Act of 1974 is amended by adding at the end the 

13 following new paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(12) The term ‘gross domestic product’ means 

15 the gross domestic product of the United States, as 

16 determined by the Bureau of Economic Analysis of 

17 the Department of Commerce.’’. 

18 SEC. 3. INSTRUCTIONS TO COMMITTEES ON MEETING TAR19 GET RATIO OF PUBLIC DEBT TO GDP IN20 CLUDED IN CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON 

21 THE BUDGET. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Congressional 

23 Budget Act of 1974 is amended by adding at the end the 

24 following: 


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1 ‘‘INSTRUCTIONS FOR RATIO OF THE PUBLIC DEBT TO

2 THE ESTIMATED GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT

3 ‘‘SEC. 316. (a) IN GENERAL.—A concurrent resolu4 tion on the budget for an even-numbered fiscal year shall 

5 either— 

6 ‘‘(1) include instructions to one or more committees 

7 to determine and recommend changes in existing law nec8 essary to achieve the ratio of the public debt to the esti9 mated gross domestic product as set forth in that resolu10 tion; or 

11 ‘‘(2) request that the Speaker and the minority leader 

12 of the House of Representatives and majority and minor13 ity leaders of the Senate publish a statement in the Con14 gressional Record establishing the Joint Select Committee 

15 on Fiscal Responsibility under section 317. 

16 ‘‘(b) COMPLIANCE.—The committee or committees 

17 (as the case may be) receiving instructions as described 

18 in subsection (a) shall be deemed to have complied with 

19 the required net reduction in the public debt set forth in 

20 such instructions, as required by subsection (a), if— 

21 ‘‘(1) the amount of changes are not less than 

22 80 percent of the total amount of changes assigned 

23 to the committee or committees (as the case may be) 

24 in such instructions necessary to achieve the reduc25 tion in the debt; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) the chair of the Committees on the Budget 

2 of the House of Representatives or the Senate, as 

3 applicable, submits a statement to the Congressional 

4 Record certifying that paragraph (1) has been com5 plied with. 

6 ‘‘(c) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—The Committee on the 

7 Budget of the House of Representatives or the Senate 

8 shall recommend changes in existing law necessary to 

9 achieve changes specified by directives described in sub10 section (a) contained in a concurrent resolution on the 

11 budget if a minority of the committees so instructed fail 

12 to submit recommended changes to its Committee on the 

13 Budget pursuant to its instruction. 

14 ‘‘(d) CBO ESTIMATES.—The Congressional Budget 

15 Office shall provide estimates of the legislative text consid16 ered under this section in accordance with sections 308(a) 

17 and 201(f). 

18 ‘‘(e) LEGISLATIVE PROCEDURE.—If a concurrent 

19 resolution containing directives to one or more committees 

20 to determine and recommend changes in laws, bills, or res21 olutions is agreed to in accordance with subsection (a), 

22 and— 

23 ‘‘(1) only one committee of the House or the 

24 Senate is directed to determine and recommend 

25 changes, that committee shall promptly make such 


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1 determination and recommendations and report to 

2 its House legislation containing such recommenda3 tions; or 

4 ‘‘(2) more than one committee of the House or 

5 the Senate is directed to determine and recommend 

6 changes, each such committee so directed shall 

7 promptly make such determination and rec8 ommendations and submit such recommendations to 

9 the Committee on the Budget of its House, which 

10 upon receiving all such recommendations, shall re11 port to its House legislation carrying out all such 

12 recommendations. 

13 ‘‘(f) EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION IN THE SENATE.— 

14 ‘‘(1) MOTION TO PROCEED.—Notwithstanding 

15 Rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, it 

16 is in order, not later than 3 days of session after the 

17 date on which a bill is reported pursuant to sub18 section (e) from all committees to which it was re19 ferred, for the majority leader of the Senate or the 

20 majority leader’s designee to move to proceed to the 

21 consideration of the bill. It shall also be in order for 

22 any Member of the Senate to move to proceed to the 

23 consideration of the bill at any time after the conclu24 sion of such 2-day period. A motion to proceed is in 

25 order even though a previous motion to the same efVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:23 Nov 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5178.IH H5178

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1 fect has been disagreed to. All points of order 

2 against the motion to proceed to the bill are waived. 

3 The motion to proceed is not debatable. The motion 

4 is not subject to a motion to postpone. A motion to 

5 reconsider the vote by which the motion is agreed to 

6 or disagreed to shall not be in order. If a motion to 

7 proceed to the consideration of the bill is agreed to, 

8 the bill shall remain the unfinished business until 

9 disposed of. 

10 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATION.—All points of order 

11 against the bill and against consideration of the bill 

12 are waived. Consideration of the bill and of all de13 batable motions and appeals in connection therewith 

14 shall not exceed a total of 20 hours which shall be 

15 divided equally between the majority and minority 

16 leaders or their designees. A motion further to limit 

17 debate on the bill is in order, shall require an af18 firmative vote of three-fifths of the Members duly 

19 chosen and sworn, and is not debatable. Any debat20 able motion or appeal is debatable for not to exceed 

21 1 hour, to be divided equally between those favoring 

22 and those opposing the motion or appeal. All time 

23 used for consideration of the bill, including time 

24 used for quorum calls and voting, shall be counted 

25 against the total 20 hours of consideration. 


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1 ‘‘(3) AMENDMENTS.—It shall not be in order in 

2 the Senate to offer any amendments. 

3 ‘‘(4) VOTE ON PASSAGE.—Passage of the bill 

4 shall require an affirmative vote of a simple majority 

5 of the Members, duly chosen and sworn. 

6 ‘‘(5) RULINGS OF THE CHAIR ON PROCE7 DURE.—Appeals from the decisions of the Chair re8 lating to the application of the rules of the Senate, 

9 as the case may be, to the procedure relating to a 

10 bill shall be decided without debate. 

11 ‘‘(g) CONSIDERATION BY THE SENATE.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If, before passing the bill 

13 under this section, the Senate receives from the 

14 House of Representatives a bill— 

15 ‘‘(A) the bill of the House shall not be re16 ferred to a committee of jurisdiction; and 

17 ‘‘(B) the procedure in the Senate shall be 

18 the same as if no bill had been received from 

19 the House until the vote on passage, when the 

20 bill received from the House shall supplant the 

21 bill of the Senate. 

22 ‘‘(2) RULES TO COORDINATE ACTION.— 

23 ‘‘(A) TREATMENT OF BILL.—If the Senate 

24 fails to introduce or consider a bill under this 


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1 section, the bill of the House of Representatives 

2 shall be entitled to expedited floor procedures. 

3 ‘‘(B) VETOES.—If the President vetoes the 

4 bill, debate on a veto message in the Senate 

5 under this section shall be 1 hour equally di6 vided between the majority and minority leaders 

7 or their designees. 

8 ‘‘JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE ON FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY

9 ‘‘SEC. 317. (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—If by the earlier 

10 of the date that a statement is published under section 

11 316(a)(2) or the date that is the last day of the first ses12 sion of any Congress (beginning with the One Hundred 

13 Seventeenth Congress) a bill is not enacted into law pursu14 ant to section 316, there is established a joint committee 

15 of Congress to be known as the ‘Joint Select Committee 

16 on Fiscal Responsibility’. 

17 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

18 ‘‘(1) JOINT COMMITTEE.—The term ‘joint com19 mittee’ means the Joint Select Committee on Fiscal 

20 Responsibility established under subsection (a). 

21 ‘‘(2) JOINT COMMITTEE BILL.—The term ‘joint 

22 committee bill’ means a bill consisting of the legisla23 tive text of the joint committee recommended under 

24 subsection (d)(1)(B). 

25 ‘‘(c) DUTIES; COMPLIANCE; RECOMMENDATIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) DUTIES.—The duty of the joint committee 

2 shall be to recommend changes in existing law to 

3 achieve the ratio of the public debt to the estimated 

4 gross domestic product in the most recently adopted 

5 concurrent resolution on the budget. 

6 ‘‘(2) COMPLIANCE.—The joint committee shall 

7 be deemed to have complied with the required net 

8 reduction in the public debt set forth in the instruc9 tions in the most recently adopted concurrent resolu10 tion on the budget, as required by section 316 of the 

11 Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (as added by sec12 tion 301(b)(1))— 

13 ‘‘(A) if the amount of changes are not less 

14 than 80 percent of the total amount of changes 

15 necessary to achieve the reduction in the debt; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(B) the chairs of the Committees on the 

18 Budget of the House of Representatives and the 

19 Senate jointly submit a statement to the Con20 gressional Record certifying that subparagraph 

21 (A) has been complied with. 

22 ‘‘(d) REPORT, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND LEGISLA23 TIVE TEXT.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—By April 30 of an odd25 numbered year, the joint committee shall vote on— 


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1 ‘‘(A) a report that contains a detailed 

2 statement of the findings, conclusions, and rec3 ommendations of the joint committee and an 

4 estimate of the Congressional Budget Office 

5 pursuant to paragraph (6); and 

6 ‘‘(B) legislative text to carry out such rec7 ommendations as described in the duties set 

8 forth in subsection (c)(1). 

9 ‘‘(2) APPROVAL.—The report of the joint com10 mittee and the legislative text described in para11 graph (1) shall only be approved upon receiving the 

12 votes of— 

13 ‘‘(A) a majority of joint committee mem14 bers appointed by the Speaker of the House of 

15 Representatives and the leader of the Senate of 

16 the same political party as the Speaker; and 

17 ‘‘(B) a majority of joint committee mem18 bers appointed by the minority leader of the 

19 House of Representatives and the leader of the 

20 Senate of the same political party as the minor21 ity leader of the House of Representatives. 

22 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL VIEWS.—A member of the 

23 joint committee who gives notice of an intention to 

24 file supplemental, minority, or additional views at 

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1 proval of the report and legislative language under 

2 paragraph (2) shall be entitled to 2 calendar days 

3 after the day of such notice in which to file such 

4 views in writing with the co-chairs. Such views shall 

5 then be included in the joint committee report and 

6 printed in the same volume, or part thereof, and 

7 their inclusion shall be noted on the cover of the re8 port. In the absence of timely notice, the joint com9 mittee report may be printed and transmitted imme10 diately without such views. 

11 ‘‘(4) TRANSMISSION OF REPORT AND LEGISLA12 TIVE TEXT.—If the report and legislative text are 

13 approved by the joint committee pursuant to para14 graph (2), then not later than 10 days after the date 

15 of such approval, the joint committee shall submit 

16 its report and legislative text described in paragraph 

17 (1) to the Speaker of the House of Representatives 

18 and the majority and minority leaders of each House 

19 of Congress. 

20 ‘‘(5) REPORT AND LEGISLATIVE LANGUAGE TO

21 BE MADE PUBLIC.—Upon the approval or dis22 approval of the joint committee report and legislative 

23 text pursuant to paragraph (2), the joint committee 

24 shall promptly make the full report and legislative 

25 text, and a record of the vote, available to the public. 


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1 ‘‘(6) CBO ESTIMATES.—The Congressional 

2 Budget Office shall provide estimates of the legisla3 tive text considered under paragraph (1) in accord4 ance with sections 308(a) and 201(f). 

5 ‘‘(7) LEGISLATIVE PROCEDURE.—The proce6 dures under section 316 shall apply to any legislative 

7 text submitted under paragraph (1), except that 

8 subsection (f)(4) of such section shall be applied by 

9 substituting ‘three-fifths’ for ‘a simple majority’. 

10 ‘‘(e) MEMBERSHIP.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The joint committee shall 

12 be composed of 16 members appointed pursuant to 

13 paragraph (2). 

14 ‘‘(2) APPOINTMENT.—Members of the joint 

15 committee shall be as follows: 

16 ‘‘(A) Four members from among Members 

17 of the Senate, of which one shall be a member 

18 of the Committee on Finance and one shall be 

19 a member of the Committee on the Budget, ap20 pointed by the majority leader of the Senate. 

21 ‘‘(B) Four members from among Members 

22 of the Senate, of which one shall be a member 

23 of the Committee on Finance and one shall be 

24 a member of the Committee on the Budget, ap25 pointed by the minority leader of the Senate. 


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1 ‘‘(C) Four members from among Members 

2 of the House of Representatives, of which one 

3 shall be a member of the Committee on Ways 

4 and Means and one shall be a member of the 

5 Committee on the Budget, appointed by the 

6 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

7 ‘‘(D) Four members from among Members 

8 of the House of Representatives, of which one 

9 shall be a member of the Committee on Ways 

10 and Means and one shall be a member of the 

11 Committee on the Budget, appointed by the 

12 Speaker of the House of Representatives after 

13 consultation with the minority leader of the 

14 House of Representatives. 

15 ‘‘(3) DEADLINE.—Members of the joint com16 mittee shall be appointed not later than 15 calendar 

17 days after the date of the establishment of the joint 

18 committee under this section. Any vacancy occurring 

19 in the membership of the joint committee shall be 

20 filled in the same manner in which the original ap21 pointment was made. 

22 ‘‘(4) CO-CHAIRS.—Two of the appointed mem23 bers of the joint committee will serve as co-chairs, 

24 one of which shall be a member of the House of 

25 Representatives and one of which shall be a member 


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1 of the Senate. One co-chair shall be appointed by the 

2 Speaker of the House of Representatives and the 

3 leader in the Senate of the same political party as 

4 the Speaker. The other co-chair shall be appointed 

5 by the minority leader of the House of Representa6 tives and the leader in the Senate of the same polit7 ical party as the minority leader of the House. The 

8 co-chairs shall be appointed not later than 14 cal9 endar days after the members of the joint committee 

10 are appointed under this subsection. 

11 ‘‘(5) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the joint 

12 committee shall not affect its powers, but shall be 

13 filled not later than 14 calendar days after the date 

14 on which the vacancy occurs, in the same manner as 

15 the original appointment was made. If a member of 

16 the joint committee ceases to be a Member of the 

17 House of Representatives or the Senate, as the case 

18 may be, the member is no longer a member of the 

19 joint committee and a vacancy shall exist. 

20 ‘‘(f) HEARINGS AND MEETINGS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The joint committee may, 

22 for the purpose of carrying out this section, hold 

23 such hearings and meetings, sit and act at such 

24 times and places, require attendance of witnesses 

25 and production of books, papers, and documents, 


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1 take such testimony, receive such evidence, and ad2 minister such oaths as the joint committee considers 

3 advisable. 

4 ‘‘(2) HEARING AND MEETING PROCEDURES AND

5 RESPONSIBILITIES OF CO-CHAIRS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) HEARINGS.—The co-chairs of the 

7 joint committee shall make a public announce8 ment of the date, place, time, and subject mat9 ter of any hearing to be conducted, not less 

10 than 7 days in advance of such hearing, unless 

11 the co-chairs determine that there is good cause 

12 to begin such hearing at an earlier date. 

13 ‘‘(i) EQUAL REPRESENTATION OF

14 WITNESSES.—Each co-chair shall be enti15 tled to select an equal number of witnesses 

16 for each hearing held by the joint com17 mittee. 

18 ‘‘(ii) WRITTEN STATEMENT.—A wit19 ness appearing before the joint committee 

20 shall file a written statement of proposed 

21 testimony at least 2 calendar days before 

22 the appearance of the witness, unless the 

23 requirement is waived by the co-chairs, fol24 lowing their determination that there is 


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1 good cause for failure to comply with such 

2 requirement. 

3 ‘‘(B) MEETINGS.—The co-chairs of the 

4 joint committee shall make a public announce5 ment of the date, place, and time of any public 

6 meeting to be held, not less than 48 hours in 

7 advance of that meeting. 

8 ‘‘(3) MEMBER INVOLVEMENT.—If the co-chairs 

9 are unable to agree on a date, place, time, or subject 

10 matter with respect to a hearing or meeting, a ma11 jority of the members of the joint committee may de12 cide (in writing) such issue and notify all such mem13 bers of the decision. 

14 ‘‘(g) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Upon written re15 quest of the co-chairs, a Federal agency, including legisla16 tive branch agencies, shall provide technical assistance to 

17 the joint committee in order for the joint committee to 

18 carry out its duties. 

19 ‘‘(h) STAFFING.—To enable the joint committee to 

20 carry out the purposes of this section, the joint committee 

21 shall use the services of existing staff of the House of Rep22 resentatives and the Senate. 

23 ‘‘(i) EXPENSES.—Expenses of the joint committee 

24 shall be paid from— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the applicable accounts of the House of 

2 Representatives upon vouchers signed by the co3 chair of the joint committee who is appointed by the 

4 Speaker; and 

5 ‘‘(2) the contingent fund of the Senate from the 

6 appropriations account ‘Miscellaneous Items’, sub7 ject to the rules and regulations of the Senate. 

8 ‘‘(j) TERMINATION.—The joint committee shall cease 

9 to exist 30 days after legislative text is submitted under 

10 subsection (d)(1).’’. 

11 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

12 set forth in section 1(b) of the Congressional Budget and 

13 Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 621 note) 

14 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

15 315 the following new items: 

‘‘316. Instructions for ratio of the public debt to the estimated gross domestic 

product. 

‘‘317. Joint Select Committee on Fiscal Responsibility.’’. 

Æ 


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