I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3494 

To restore faith and trust in the United States economy and financial system 

by reducing Federal spending, reducing the size of the Federal workforce, 

liquidating certain property and assets of the Federal Government, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 18, 2011 

Mr. HECK introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committees 

on Appropriations, the Budget, and Natural Resources, 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 restore faith and trust in the United States economy 

and financial system by reducing Federal spending, reducing the size of the Federal workforce, liquidating 

certain property and assets of the Federal Government, 

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; FINDINGS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Restoring America’s Faith and Trust Act’’. 


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1 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

2 (1) The Federal budget deficit has 

3 unsustainably been more than $1 trillion for each of 

4 fiscal years 2009, 2010, and 2011. 

5 (2) The credit rating of the debt of the United 

6 States has been downgraded from AAA to AA+ by 

7 Standard and Poor’s. 

8 (3) The United States needs to take necessary 

9 and immediate action to stabilize the debt burden of 

10 the Federal government. 

11 (4) Congress is obligated to enact policy that 

12 restores America’s faith and trust. 

13 SEC. 2. REDUCTION OF FEDERAL SPENDING. 

14 (a) RESCISSIONS.— 

15 (1) FISCAL YEAR 2012.—Of the discretionary 

16 budget authority provided for fiscal year 2012 in all 

17 appropriations Acts, 50 percent of the amount that 

18 exceeds the discretionary budget authority for fiscal 

19 year 2006 in all appropriations Acts is rescinded. 

20 (2) FISCAL YEAR 2013.—On October 1, 2012, of 

21 the discretionary budget authority provided for fiscal 

22 year 2013 in all appropriations Acts, any amount 

23 that exceeds the discretionary budget authority pro24 vided for fiscal year 2006 in all appropriations Acts 

25 is rescinded. 


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1 (3) FISCAL YEAR 2014.—On October 1, 2013, of 

2 the discretionary budget authority provided for fiscal 

3 year 2014 in all appropriations Acts, any amount 

4 that exceeds the discretionary budget authority pro5 vided for fiscal year 2006 in all appropriations Acts 

6 is rescinded. 

7 (b) SUBSEQUENT APPROPRIATION LAWS.—In the 

8 case of any fiscal year 2012, 2013, or 2014 appropriation 

9 Act enacted after the enactment of this section, any rescis10 sion required by subsections (a)(1), (a)(2), or (a)(3) shall 

11 take effect immediately after the enactment of such Act. 

12 (c) OMB REPORT.—Within 30 days after the enact13 ment of any fiscal year 2012, 2013, or 2014 appropria14 tions Act, the Director of the Office of Management and 

15 Budget shall submit to the Committees on Appropriations 

16 of the House of Representatives and the Senate a report 

17 specifying the account and amount of each rescission made 

18 pursuant to subsection (a). 

19 (d) LIMITATION ON SPENDING INCREASES.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—For any fiscal year begin21 ning after fiscal year 2013, the total new budget au22 thority provided for such fiscal year shall not in23 crease from the previous fiscal year level at a rate 

24 that is greater than the percentage by which the 

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1 creases from such previous year. If there is no in2 crease in gross domestic product, the total new 

3 budget authority for a fiscal year shall not be higher 

4 than the previous fiscal year level. 

5 (2) MEASUREMENT OF GDP.—For purposes of 

6 applying paragraph (1) to a fiscal year, the Bureau 

7 of Economic Analysis of the Department of Com8 merce shall determine the gross domestic product 

9 before the start of the second quarter of the previous 

10 fiscal year. 

11 SEC. 3. REDUCTION OF THE FEDERAL WORKFORCE 

12 THROUGH VOLUNTARY SEPARATION. 

13 (a) LIMITATION.—The President, through the Office 

14 of Management and Budget (in consultation with the Of15 fice of Personnel Management), shall take appropriate 

16 measures to ensure that the total number of Federal em17 ployees (as determined under subsection (b)) shall not ex18 ceed the total number of Federal employees as of October 

19 1, 2007 (as so determined). The reduction of employees 

20 from the civil service (as that term is defined in section 

21 2101 of title 5, United States Code) required under this 

22 subsection shall be achieved only through voluntary sepa23 ration of such an employee. Nothing in this section shall 

24 be construed to prevent an agency from separating an em25 ployee for any other permissible reason. 


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1 (b) MONITORING AND NOTIFICATION.—The Office of 

2 Management and Budget (in consultation with the Office 

3 of Personnel Management)— 

4 (1) shall continuously monitor all agencies and 

5 make a determination, as of 90 days after the date 

6 of enactment of this section, and the last day of 

7 each quarter of each fiscal year beginning thereafter, 

8 as to whether or not the total number of Federal 

9 employees exceeds the maximum number allowable 

10 under subsection (a); and 

11 (2) whenever a determination under paragraph 

12 (1) is made that the total number of Federal em13 ployees exceeds the maximum number allowable 

14 under subsection (a), shall provide written notice to 

15 that effect to the President and Congress within 14 

16 days after the last day of the quarter to which such 

17 determination relates. 

18 (c) COMPLIANCE.—Whenever the Office of Manage19 ment and Budget provides written notice under subsection 

20 (b)(2) that the total number of Federal employees exceeds 

21 the maximum number allowable under subsection (a), no 

22 agency may thereafter appoint any employee to fill any 

23 vacancy within such agency until the Office of Manage24 ment and Budget provides written notice to the President 

25 and Congress of a determination under subsection (b)(1) 


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1 that the total number of Federal employees no longer ex2 ceeds the maximum number allowable under subsection 

3 (a). Any notice under the preceding sentence shall be pro4 vided within 14 days after the last day of the quarter to 

5 which the determination relates. 

6 (d) WAIVER.— 

7 (1) EMERGENCIES.—This section may be 

8 waived upon a determination by the President 

9 that— 

10 (A) the existence of a state of war or other 

11 national security concern so requires; or 

12 (B) the existence of an extraordinary 

13 emergency threatening life, health, public safe14 ty, property, or the environment so requires. 

15 (2) AGENCY EFFICIENCY OR CRITICAL MIS16 SION.—This section may be waived, with respect to 

17 a particular position or category of positions in an 

18 agency, upon a determination by the President and 

19 Congress that the efficiency of the agency or the 

20 performance of a critical agency mission so requires. 

21 (e) COUNTING RULE.—For purposes of this section, 

22 any determination of the number of employees in an agen23 cy shall be expressed on a full-time equivalent basis. 

24 (f) LIMITATION ON PROCUREMENT OF SERVICE CON25 TRACTS.—The President, through the Office of ManageVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:14 Nov 21, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3494.IH H3494

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1 ment and Budget (in consultation with the Office of Per2 sonnel Management), shall take appropriate measures to 

3 ensure that there is no increase in the procurement of 

4 service contracts by reason of the enactment of this sec5 tion, except— 

6 (1) in cases in which a cost comparison dem7 onstrates that such contracts would be to the finan8 cial advantage of the Government; 

9 (2) in the case of an extraordinary emergency 

10 threatening life, health, public safety, property, or 

11 the environment; or 

12 (3) in cases in which agency efficiency or the 

13 performance of a critical agency mission so requires. 

14 (g) REGULATIONS.—Any regulations necessary to 

15 carry out this section may be prescribed by the President 

16 or his designee. 

17 (h) DEFINITIONS.—For the purpose of this section— 

18 (1) the term ‘‘total number of Federal employ19 ees’’ means the total number of Federal employees 

20 in all agencies; 

21 (2) the term ‘‘Federal employee’’ means an em22 ployee as defined by section 2105 of title 5, United 

23 States Code; and 

24 (3) the term ‘‘agency’’ means an Executive 

25 agency as defined by section 105 of title 5, United 


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1 States Code, excluding the Government Account2 ability Office. 

3 SEC. 4. FEDERAL REAL PROPERTY DISPOSAL PROGRAM. 

4 (a) EXPEDITED DISPOSAL OF REAL PROPERTY.— 

5 The Administrator of General Services (in this section re6 ferred to as the ‘‘Administrator’’), in consultation with the 

7 Director of the Office of Management and Budget (in this 

8 section referred to as the ‘‘Director’’), shall conduct a pro9 gram, to be known as the ‘‘Federal Real Property Disposal 

10 Program’’, under which surplus real property may be dis11 posed of in accordance with this section. 

12 (b) SURPLUS PROPERTY DATABASE.—Not later than 

13 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

14 Administrator, in consultation with the Director, shall es15 tablish and maintain a database of all surplus real prop16 erty and make such database available to the public. 

17 (c) DISPOSAL.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall— 

19 (A) not later than September 30 of each 

20 year, submit to Congress a report on the total 

21 fair market value of all surplus real property 

22 for that fiscal year; 

23 (B) based on the report submitted pursu24 ant to subparagraph (A), dispose of 97% of 

25 such total fair market value of surplus real 


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1 property under the Federal Real Property Dis2 posal Program during the following fiscal year; 

3 and 

4 (C) make such property available for sale 

5 to State and local governments and to the pub6 lic, in accordance with paragraph (2). 

7 (2) EXPEDITED DISPOSAL REQUIREMENTS.— 

8 (A) EXPEDITED DISPOSAL OF REAL PROP9 ERTY DEFINED.—For purposes of the Federal 

10 Real Property Disposal Program, an ‘‘expedited 

11 disposal of real property’’ is a sale of surplus 

12 real property for cash that is conducted pursu13 ant to the requirements of section 545 of title 

14 40, United States Code. 

15 (B) FAIR MARKET VALUE REQUIRE16 MENT.—Real property sold under the program 

17 must be sold at not less than the fair market 

18 value as determined by the Administrator in 

19 consultation with the head of the executive 

20 agency. Costs associated with disposal may not 

21 exceed the fair market value of the property un22 less the Administrator approves incurring such 

23 costs. 

24 (C) MONETARY PROCEEDS REQUIRE25 MENT.—Real property may be sold under the 


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1 program only if the property will generate mon2 etary proceeds to the Federal Government, as 

3 provided in subparagraph (B). A disposal of 

4 real property under the program may not in5 clude any exchange, trade, transfer, acquisition 

6 of like-kind property, or other non-cash trans7 action as part of the disposal. 

8 (D) PURCHASE BY STATE OR LOCAL GOV9 ERNMENT AND THE PUBLIC.— 

10 (i) STATE OR LOCAL GOVERNMENT.— 

11 The Administrator shall make real prop12 erty under the program first available for 

13 sale to State and local governments for a 

14 period of 45 days. 

15 (ii) PUBLIC SALE.—After the expira16 tion of the period described in clause (i), if 

17 the Administrator has received no offer 

18 from a State or local government to pur19 chase real property under the program, the 

20 Administrator shall make such property 

21 available for sale to the public. 

22 (iii) EXTENSION.—If the Adminis23 trator receives an offer from a State or 

24 local government during the period de25 scribed in clause (i), the Administrator 


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1 may have an additional 30 days from the 

2 expiration of the period described in clause 

3 (i) to finalize the sale. After the expiration 

4 of the additional 30 days, the Adminis5 trator shall make such property available 

6 for sale to the public. 

7 (iv) STATE DEFINED.—In this sub8 paragraph, the term ‘‘State’’ means each 

9 of the several States, the District of Co10 lumbia, each territory or possession of the 

11 United States, and each federally recog12 nized Indian tribe. 

13 (E) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

14 this section shall be construed as terminating or 

15 in any way limiting authorities that are other16 wise available to agencies under other provi17 sions of law to dispose of Federal real property, 

18 except as provided in subparagraph (F). 

19 (F) EXEMPTION FROM CERTAIN REQUIRE20 MENTS.—Any expedited disposal of real prop21 erty conducted under this section shall not be 

22 subject to— 

23 (i) subchapter IV of chapter 5 of sub24 title I of title 40, United States Code; 


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1 (ii) sections 550 and 553 of title 40, 

2 United States Code; 

3 (iii) section 501 of the McKinney4 Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

5 11411); 

6 (iv) any other provision of law author7 izing the no-cost conveyance of real prop8 erty owned by the Federal Government; or 

9 (v) any congressional notification re10 quirement other than that in section 545 

11 of title 40, United States Code. 

12 (3) EXCEPTION.—The Director shall not in13 clude for purposes of the Federal Real Property Dis14 posal Program any parcel of real property, building, 

15 or other structure located on such real property that 

16 is to be closed or realigned under the Defense Base 

17 Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 (10 U.S.C. 

18 2687 note). 

19 (d) SPECIAL RULES FOR DEPOSIT AND USE OF PRO20 CEEDS FROM EXPEDITED DISPOSALS.— 

21 (1) REIMBURSEMENT.—Executive agencies that 

22 conduct expedited disposals of real property under 

23 this section shall be reimbursed from the proceeds 

24 for the administrative expenses associated with the 

25 disposal of such property. Such amounts will be 


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1 credited as offsetting collections to the account that 

2 incurred such expenses, to remain available until ex3 pended subject to appropriations. 

4 (2) DISTRIBUTION OF PROCEEDS.—After pay5 ment of such administrative costs, the balance of the 

6 proceeds shall be distributed as follows: 

7 (A) Eighty percent shall be deposited into 

8 the General Fund of the Treasury for Federal 

9 budget deficit reduction. 

10 (B) Twenty percent shall be deposited into 

11 the account of the agency that owned the real 

12 property and initiated the disposal action. Such 

13 funds shall be available without further appro14 priation, to remain available for the period of 

15 the Federal Real Property Disposal Program, 

16 for activities related to Federal real property 

17 capital improvements and disposal activities. 

18 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 (1) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘executive 

20 agency’’ has the meaning given that term under sec21 tion 102(4) of title 40, United States Code. 

22 (2) SURPLUS PROPERTY.—The term ‘‘surplus 

23 property’’ has the meaning given that term under 

24 section 102(10) of title 40, United States Code. 


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1 (3) SURPLUS REAL PROPERTY.—The term 

2 ‘‘surplus real property’’ means real property that is 

3 surplus property. 

4 (f) ANNUAL REPORT.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than December 31 

6 of each year, the Administrator, in consultation with 

7 the Director, shall submit a report to the congres8 sional committees listed in paragraph (3) based on 

9 data submitted from all executive agencies, for the 

10 previous fiscal year, detailing executive agency ef11 forts to reduce real property assets and the informa12 tion required by paragraph (2). 

13 (2) REPORT CONTENTS.—The report shall con14 tain the following information: 

15 (A) The aggregated estimated market 

16 value and number of real property assets under 

17 the custody and control of all executive agen18 cies, set forth government-wide and by agency, 

19 and for each at the constructed asset level and 

20 at the facility/installation level. 

21 (B) The aggregated estimated market 

22 value and number of surplus and excess real 

23 property assets under the custody and control 

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1 structed asset level and at the facility/installa2 tion level. 

3 (C)(i) The aggregated cost for maintaining 

4 all surplus and excess real property under the 

5 custody and control of all executive agencies, 

6 set forth government-wide and by agency, and 

7 for each at the constructed asset level and at 

8 the facility/installation level. 

9 (ii) For purposes of clause (i), costs for 

10 real properties owned by the Federal Govern11 ment shall include recurring maintenance and 

12 repair costs, utilities, cleaning and janitorial 

13 costs, and roads and grounds expenses. 

14 (iii) For purposes of clause (i), costs for 

15 real properties leased by the Federal Govern16 ment shall include lease costs, including base 

17 and operating rent and any other relevant costs 

18 listed in clause (ii) not covered in the lease con19 tract. 

20 (D) The aggregated estimated deferred 

21 maintenance costs of all real property under the 

22 custody and control of all executive agencies, 

23 set forth government-wide and by agency, and 

24 for each at the constructed asset level and at 

25 the facility/installation level. 


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1 (E) For each surplus real property dis2 posed of, an indication of— 

3 (i) the geographic location with ad4 dress and description of such property; 

5 (ii) the size, including square footage 

6 and acreage, of such property; 

7 (iii) the date and method of disposal; 

8 (iv) the estimated replacement value 

9 of such property; and 

10 (v) the proceeds obtained from the 

11 disposition of such property. 

12 (F) The amount of time required to fully 

13 dispose of surplus and excess real property 

14 under the custody and control of all executive 

15 agencies, set forth government-wide and by 

16 agency, and for each at the constructed asset 

17 level and at the facility/installation level. 

18 (G) The cost to dispose of surplus and ex19 cess real property under the custody and con20 trol of all executive agencies, set forth govern21 ment-wide and by agency, and for each at the 

22 constructed asset level and at the facility/instal23 lation level. 

24 (H) A description of whether the Adminis25 trator disposed of 97% of the total fair market 


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1 value of surplus real property under the Fed2 eral Real Property Disposal Program pursuant 

3 to subsection (c). 

4 (I) Such other information as the Adminis5 trator considers appropriate. 

6 (3) CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.—The con7 gressional committees listed in this paragraph are as 

8 follows: 

9 (A) The Committee on Oversight and Gov10 ernment Reform and the Committee on Trans11 portation and Infrastructure of the House of 

12 Representatives. 

13 (B) The Committee on Homeland Security 

14 and Governmental Affairs and the Committee 

15 on Environment and Public Works of the Sen16 ate. 

17 SEC. 5. SALE OF CERTAIN FEDERAL LANDS PREVIOUSLY 

18 IDENTIFIED AS SUITABLE FOR DISPOSAL. 

19 (a) COMPETITIVE SALE OF LANDS.—The Secretary 

20 shall offer the identified Federal lands for disposal by 

21 competitive sale for not less than fair market value as de22 termined by an independent appraiser. 

23 (b) EXISTING RIGHTS.—The sale of identified Fed24 eral lands under this section shall be subject to valid exist25 ing rights. 


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1 (c) PROCEEDS OF SALE OF LANDS.—All net proceeds 

2 from the sale of identified Federal lands under this section 

3 shall be deposited directly into the Treasury for reduction 

4 of the public debt. 

5 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 4 years after the date 

6 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 

7 to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of 

8 Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Nat9 ural Resources of the Senate— 

10 (1) a list of any identified Federal lands that 

11 were not sold under subsection (a) and the reasons 

12 such lands were not sold; and 

13 (2) an updated inventory of all identified Fed14 eral lands. 

15 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

16 (1) IDENTIFIED FEDERAL LANDS.— 

17 (A) The term ‘‘identified Federal lands’’ 

18 means Federal lands that are— 

19 (i) under the administrative jurisdic20 tion of the Secretary; 

21 (ii) located in States where more than 

22 50 percent of the total land area is feder23 ally owned; 

24 (iii) suitable for disposal; and 


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1 (iv) not described in subparagraph 

2 (B). 

3 (B) The term ‘‘identified Federal lands’’ 

4 does not include the following: 

5 (i) Lands not identified for disposal 

6 an the applicable land use plan. 

7 (ii) Lands subject to a Recreation and 

8 Public Purpose conveyance application. 

9 (iii) Lands identified for State selec10 tion. 

11 (iv) Lands identified for Indian tribe 

12 allotments. 

13 (v) Lands identified for local govern14 ment use. 

15 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

16 the Secretary of the Interior. 

17 SEC. 6. FEDERAL PROGRAM SUNSET. 

18 (a) REQUIREMENT TO REAUTHORIZE FEDERAL PRO19 GRAMS.—Not later than 90 days after the date of the en20 actment of this Act, the Director of the Office of Manage21 ment shall submit a plan to Congress that provides for 

22 the phased-in expiration of all Federal programs every 

23 three years. Any Federal program that is scheduled to ex24 pire under the plan must be reauthorized. 


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1 (b) NO FUNDING THROUGH A CONTINUING RESOLU2 TION.—Each program that is reauthorized pursuant to 

3 subsection (a) may not be funded through a continuing 

4 resolution. 

5 (c) PUBLIC RECOMMENDATION AND SIGNED STATE6 MENT.—Not later than the date on which the head of each 

7 executive agency submits an appropriation request for 

8 such agency under section 1108 of title 31, United States, 

9 Code, the head of each executive agency shall— 

10 (1) make a public recommendation for each 

11 Federal program of such agency, including a deter12 mination for the reasons each such program exists; 

13 and 

14 (2) submit a signed statement to Congress for 

15 each such Federal program as follows: ‘‘As the head 

16 of the executive agency responsible for this Federal 

17 program, I have reviewed its purpose, mandate, and 

18 necessity, and I recommend that Congress appro19 priate funding so that the Federal program can con20 tinue for the next fiscal year. It is my professional 

21 judgment that such Federal program in question 

22 serves a significant purpose for which the United 

23 States taxpayer is well-served in the use of such tax24 payer’s money to fund the program.’’. 

Æ 


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