I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3807 

To provide a process for ensuring the United States does not default on 

its obligations. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 22, 2015 

Mr. HONDA (for himself, Mr. HINOJOSA, Ms. LEE, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. NORTON, Mr. BEYER, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. 

COSTA, Ms. MOORE, Mr. TAKAI, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. 

CARTWRIGHT, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. 

LOFGREN, Mr. CONYERS, Ms. PINGREE, and Mr. RANGEL) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and 

Means, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, 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 provide a process for ensuring the United States does 

not default on its obligations. 

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 ‘‘Pay Our Bills Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL PRESIDENTIAL MODIFICATION OF THE 

2 DEBT CEILING. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 31 of 

4 subtitle III of title 31, United States Code, is amended— 

5 (1) in section 3101(b), by inserting ‘‘or 3101B’’ 

6 after ‘‘section 3101A’’; and 

7 (2) by inserting after section 3101A the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘§ 3101B. Additional Presidential modification of the 

10 debt ceiling 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

12 ‘‘(1) CERTIFICATION.—If the President submits 

13 a written certification to Congress that the Presi14 dent has determined that the debt subject to limit 

15 is within $100,000,000,000 of the limit under sec16 tion 3101(b) and that further borrowing, in an 

17 amount specified in the certification, is required to 

18 meet existing commitments, the Secretary of the 

19 Treasury may, unless a joint resolution of dis20 approval is enacted pursuant to this section, exercise 

21 authority to borrow an additional amount equal to 

22 the amount specified in the certification. 

23 ‘‘(2) RESOLUTION OF DISAPPROVAL.—Congress 

24 may consider a joint resolution of disapproval of the 

25 authority under paragraph (1) as provided in sub26 sections (c) through (g). If the time for disapproval 


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1 has lapsed without enactment of a joint resolution of 

2 disapproval under this section, the debt limit is in3 creased by the amount authorized under paragraph 

4 (1). 

5 ‘‘(b) SUSPENSION.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 3101(b) shall not 

7 apply for the period beginning on the date on which 

8 the President submits to Congress a certification 

9 under subsection (a) and ending on the earlier of— 

10 ‘‘(A) the date that is 15 calendar days 

11 after Congress receives the certification, deter12 mined in accordance with subsection (g)(4)(A); 

13 or 

14 ‘‘(B) the date of enactment of a joint reso15 lution disapproving the President’s exercise of 

16 authority with respect to the debt limit under 

17 that certification. 

18 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE RELATING TO OBLIGATIONS

19 ISSUED DURING SUSPENSION PERIOD.—Effective on 

20 the day after the applicable date described in para21 graph (1), the limitation in section 3101(b), as in22 creased under any provision of law, is increased to 

23 the extent that— 

24 ‘‘(A) the face amount of obligations issued 

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1 gations whose principal and interest are guar2 anteed by the United States Government (ex3 cept guaranteed obligations held by the Sec4 retary of the Treasury) outstanding on the cal5 endar day after the date described in paragraph 

6 (1) of this subsection, exceeds 

7 ‘‘(B) the face amount of such obligations 

8 outstanding on the date on which the President 

9 submits the applicable certification. 

10 An obligation shall not be taken into account under 

11 subparagraph (A) unless the issuance of such obliga12 tion was necessary to fund a commitment incurred 

13 by the Federal Government that required payment 

14 before the day after the applicable date described in 

15 paragraph (1). 

16 ‘‘(c) JOINT RESOLUTION OF DISAPPROVAL.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub18 section (b)(2), the debt limit shall not be increased 

19 under this section if, within 15 calendar days after 

20 Congress receives the certification described in sub21 section (a)(1) (regardless of whether Congress is in 

22 session), there is enacted into law a joint resolution 

23 disapproving the President’s exercise of authority 

24 with respect to such increase. 


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1 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF JOINT RESOLUTION.—For 

2 the purpose of this section, the term ‘joint resolu3 tion’ means only a joint resolution— 

4 ‘‘(A) that is introduced between the date a 

5 certification described in subsection (a)(1) is re6 ceived and 3 calendar days after that date; 

7 ‘‘(B) which does not have a preamble; 

8 ‘‘(C) the title of which is only as follows: 

9 ‘Joint resolution relating to the disapproval of 

10 the President’s exercise of authority to increase 

11 the debt limit, as submitted under section 

12 3101B of title 31, United States Code, on 

13 llllll.’ (with the blank containing the 

14 date of such submission); and 

15 ‘‘(D) the matter after the resolving clause 

16 of which is only as follows: ‘That Congress dis17 approves of the President’s exercise of authority 

18 to increase the debt limit, as exercised pursuant 

19 to the certification submitted under section 

20 3101B(a) of title 31, United States Code, on 

21 llllll.’ (with the blank containing the 

22 date of such submission). 

23 ‘‘(d) EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION IN HOUSE OF

24 REPRESENTATIVES.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) RECONVENING.—Upon receipt of a certifi2 cation described in subsection (a)(1), the Speaker, if 

3 the House would otherwise be adjourned, shall notify 

4 the Members of the House that, pursuant to this 

5 section, the House shall convene not later than the 

6 second calendar day after receipt of such certifi7 cation. 

8 ‘‘(2) REPORTING AND DISCHARGE.—Any com9 mittee of the House of Representatives to which a 

10 joint resolution is referred shall report it to the 

11 House without amendment not later than 5 calendar 

12 days after the date of introduction of the joint reso13 lution. If a committee fails to report the joint resolu14 tion within that period, the committee shall be dis15 charged from further consideration of the joint reso16 lution and the joint resolution shall be referred to 

17 the appropriate calendar. 

18 ‘‘(3) PROCEEDING TO CONSIDERATION.—After 

19 each committee authorized to consider a joint resolu20 tion reports it to the House or has been discharged 

21 from its consideration, it shall be in order, not later 

22 than the sixth day after introduction of the joint res23 olution, to move to proceed to consider the joint res24 olution in the House. All points of order against the 

25 motion are waived. Such a motion shall not be in 


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1 order after the House has disposed of a motion to 

2 proceed on a joint resolution addressing a particular 

3 submission. The previous question shall be consid4 ered as ordered on the motion to its adoption with5 out intervening motion. The motion shall not be de6 batable. A motion to reconsider the vote by which 

7 the motion is disposed of shall not be in order. 

8 ‘‘(4) CONSIDERATION.—The joint resolution 

9 shall be considered as read. All points of order 

10 against the joint resolution and against its consider11 ation are waived. The previous question shall be con12 sidered as ordered on the joint resolution to its pas13 sage without intervening motion except 2 hours of 

14 debate equally divided and controlled by the pro15 ponent and an opponent. An amendment to the joint 

16 resolution or a motion to reconsider the vote on pas17 sage of the joint resolution shall not be in order. 

18 ‘‘(e) EXPEDITED PROCEDURE IN SENATE.— 

19 ‘‘(1) RECONVENING.—Upon receipt of a certifi20 cation under subsection (a)(1), if the Senate has ad21 journed or recessed for more than 2 days, the major22 ity leader of the Senate, after consultation with the 

23 minority leader of the Senate, shall notify the Mem24 bers of the Senate that, pursuant to this section, the 


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1 Senate shall convene not later than the second cal2 endar day after receipt of such message. 

3 ‘‘(2) PLACEMENT ON CALENDAR.—Upon intro4 duction in the Senate, a joint resolution shall be im5 mediately placed on the calendar. 

6 ‘‘(3) FLOOR CONSIDERATION.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding rule 

8 XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, it is 

9 in order at any time during the period begin10 ning on the day after the date on which Con11 gress receives a certification under subsection 

12 (a)(1) and ending on the sixth day after the 

13 date of introduction of a joint resolution (even 

14 though a previous motion to the same effect has 

15 been disagreed to) to move to proceed to the 

16 consideration of the joint resolution, and all 

17 points of order against the joint resolution (and 

18 against consideration of the joint resolution) 

19 are waived. The motion to proceed is not debat20 able. The motion is not subject to a motion to 

21 postpone. A motion to reconsider the vote by 

22 which the motion is agreed to or disagreed to 

23 shall not be in order. If a motion to proceed to 

24 the consideration of the resolution is agreed to, 


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1 the joint resolution shall remain the unfinished 

2 business until disposed of. 

3 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATION.—Consideration of 

4 the joint resolution, and on all debatable mo5 tions and appeals in connection therewith, shall 

6 be limited to not more than 10 hours, which 

7 shall be divided equally between the majority 

8 and minority leaders or their designees. A mo9 tion further to limit debate is in order and not 

10 debatable. An amendment to, or a motion to 

11 postpone, or a motion to proceed to the consid12 eration of other business, or a motion to recom13 mit the joint resolution is not in order. 

14 ‘‘(C) VOTE ON PASSAGE.—If the Senate 

15 has voted to proceed to a joint resolution, the 

16 vote on passage of the joint resolution shall 

17 occur immediately following the conclusion of 

18 consideration of the joint resolution, and a sin19 gle quorum call at the conclusion of the debate 

20 if requested in accordance with the rules of the 

21 Senate. 

22 ‘‘(D) RULINGS OF THE CHAIR ON PROCE23 DURE.—Appeals from the decisions of the Chair 

24 relating to the application of the rules of the 

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1 lating to a joint resolution shall be decided 

2 without debate. 

3 ‘‘(f) AMENDMENT NOT IN ORDER.—A joint resolu4 tion of disapproval considered pursuant to this section 

5 shall not be subject to amendment in either the House 

6 of Representatives or the Senate. 

7 ‘‘(g) COORDINATION WITH ACTION BY OTHER

8 HOUSE.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If, before passing the joint 

10 resolution, one House receives from the other a joint 

11 resolution— 

12 ‘‘(A) the joint resolution of the other 

13 House shall not be referred to a committee; and 

14 ‘‘(B) the procedure in the receiving House 

15 shall be the same as if no joint resolution had 

16 been received from the other House, except that 

17 the vote on final passage shall be on the joint 

18 resolution of the other House. 

19 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF JOINT RESOLUTION OF

20 OTHER HOUSE.—If the Senate fails to introduce or 

21 consider a joint resolution under this section, the 

22 joint resolution of the House shall be entitled to ex23 pedited floor procedures under this section. 

24 ‘‘(3) TREATMENT OF COMPANION MEASURES.— 

25 If, following passage of the joint resolution in the 


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1 Senate, the Senate receives the companion measure 

2 from the House of Representatives, the companion 

3 measure shall not be debatable. 

4 ‘‘(4) CONSIDERATION AFTER PASSAGE.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If Congress passes a 

6 joint resolution, the period beginning on the 

7 date the President is presented with the joint 

8 resolution and ending on the date the President 

9 signs, allows to become law without his signa10 ture, or vetoes and returns the joint resolution 

11 (but excluding days when either House is not in 

12 session) shall be disregarded in computing the 

13 calendar day period described in subsection 

14 (b)(1) or subsection (c)(1). 

15 ‘‘(B) DEBATE.—Debate on a veto message 

16 in the Senate under this section shall be 1 hour 

17 equally divided between the majority and minor18 ity leaders or their designees. 

19 ‘‘(5) VETO OVERRIDE.—If within the calendar 

20 day period described in subsection (c)(1), Congress 

21 overrides a veto of a joint resolution, except as pro22 vided in subsection (b)(2), the limit on debt provided 

23 in section 3101(b) shall not be raised under this sec24 tion. 


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1 ‘‘(h) RULES OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND

2 SENATE.—This subsection and subsections (c), (d), (e), 

3 (f), and (g) are enacted by Congress— 

4 ‘‘(1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of 

5 the Senate and House of Representatives, respec6 tively, and as such it is deemed a part of the rules 

7 of each House, respectively, but applicable only with 

8 respect to the procedure to be followed in that 

9 House in the case of a joint resolution, and it super10 sedes other rules only to the extent that it is incon11 sistent with such rules; and 

12 ‘‘(2) with full recognition of the constitutional 

13 right of either House to change the rules (so far as 

14 relating to the procedure of that House) at any time, 

15 in the same manner, and to the same extent as in 

16 the case of any other rule of that House.’’. 

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec18 tions for chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, is 

19 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

20 3101A the following: 

‘‘3101B. Additional Presidential modification of the debt ceiling.’’. 

Æ 


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