I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3774 

To amend title 31, United States Code, to apply the debt limit only to 

debt held by the public and to adjust the debt limit for increases in 

the gross domestic product. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 20, 2015 

Mr. PETERS (for himself and Mr. COOPER) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To amend title 31, United States Code, to apply the debt 

limit only to debt held by the public and to adjust 

the debt limit for increases in the gross domestic product. 

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 ‘‘Protect America’s 

5 Credit Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF DEBT LIMIT. 

7 (a) APPLICATION OF DEBT LIMIT ONLY TO DEBT

8 HELD BY THE PUBLIC.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 3101(b) of title 31, 

2 United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘The 

3 face amount of obligations issued under this chapter 

4 and the face amount of obligations whose principal 

5 and interest are guaranteed by the United States 

6 Government (except guaranteed obligations held by 

7 the Secretary of the Treasury)’’ and inserting ‘‘The 

8 face amount of obligations issued under this chapter 

9 to the public and the face amount of obligations 

10 issued to the public whose principal and interest are 

11 guaranteed by the United States Government’’. 

12 (2) DEBT LIMIT REDUCED BY AMOUNT OF

13 DEBT NO LONGER SUBJECT TO LIMITATION.—Sec14 tion 3101 of title 31, United States Code, is amend15 ed by adding at the end the following new sub16 section: 

17 ‘‘(d) Effective on the date of the enactment of this 

18 subsection, the dollar amount in effect under subsection 

19 (b) shall be reduced by the excess of— 

20 ‘‘(1) the face amount of obligations issued 

21 under this chapter and the face amount of obliga22 tions whose principal and interest are guaranteed by 

23 the United States Government (except guaranteed 

24 obligations held by the Secretary of the Treasury) 


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1 determined as of the date of the enactment of this 

2 subsection, over 

3 ‘‘(2) the face amount of obligations issued 

4 under this chapter to the public and the face amount 

5 of obligations issued to the public whose principal 

6 and interest are guaranteed by the United States 

7 Government determined as of such date.’’. 

8 (b) ADJUSTMENT OF DEBT LIMIT FOR INCREASES

9 IN THE GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT.—Section 3101 of 

10 title 31, United States Code, as amended by subsection 

11 (a), is amended by adding at the end the following new 

12 subsection: 

13 ‘‘(e)(1) Effective January 1 of each calender year be14 ginning after 2015, the dollar amount in effect under sub15 section (b) shall be increased by an amount equal to the 

16 product of such amount as in effect as of the close of the 

17 preceding calendar year multiplied by the percentage (if 

18 any) by which— 

19 ‘‘(A) the Current-Dollar GDP for the third 

20 quarter of the preceding calendar year, exceeds 

21 ‘‘(B) the Current-Dollar GDP for the third 

22 quarter of the second preceding calendar year. 

23 ‘‘(2) The term ‘Current-Dollar GDP’ means the cur24 rent-dollar gross domestic product as computed and pub25 lished by the Department of Commerce. 


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1 ‘‘(3) On or before December 31 of each calendar year 

2 after 2016, the Secretary of the Treasury shall submit a 

3 report to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House 

4 of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the 

5 Senate which includes— 

6 ‘‘(A) the amount of the increase in the debt 

7 limit which will take effect under paragraph (1) on 

8 January 1 of the next calendar year, and 

9 ‘‘(B) a description of how each increase in the 

10 statutory limit compares to the actual increase in 

11 debt.’’. 

Æ 


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