104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2

AN ACT

To give the President item veto authority over appropriation

Acts and targeted tax benefits in revenue Acts.

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 ‘‘Line Item Veto Act’’.

5 SEC. 2. LINE ITEM VETO AUTHORITY.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the provisions of

7 part B of title X of The Congressional Budget and Im8 poundment Control Act of 1974, and subject to the provi9 sions of this section, the President may rescind all or part

10 of the dollar amount of any discretionary budget authority

11 specified in an appropriation Act or conference report or

12 joint explanatory statement accompanying a conference

13 report on the Act, or veto any targeted tax benefit which

14 is subject to the terms of this Act if the President—

15 (1) determines that—

16 (A) such rescission or veto would help re17 duce the Federal budget deficit;
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1 (B) such rescission or veto will not impair

2 any essential Government functions; and

3 (C) such rescission or veto will not harm

4 the national interest; and

5 (2) notifies the Congress of such rescission or

6 veto by a special message not later than ten calendar

7 days (not including Sundays) after the date of en8 actment of an appropriation Act providing such

9 budget authority or a revenue or reconciliation Act

10 containing a targeted tax benefit.

11 (b) DEFICIT REDUCTION.—In each special message,

12 the President may also propose to reduce the appropriate

13 discretionary spending limit set forth in section 601(a)(2)

14 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 by an amount

15 that does not exceed the total amount of discretionary

16 budget authority rescinded by that message.

17 (c) SEPARATE MESSAGES.—The President shall sub18 mit a separate special message for each appropriation Act

19 and for each revenue or reconciliation Act under this sec20 tion.

21 (d) LIMITATION.—No special message submitted by

22 the President under this section may change any prohibi23 tion or limitation of discretionary budget authority set

24 forth in any appropriation Act.
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1 (e) SPECIAL RULE FOR FISCAL YEAR 1995 APPRO2 PRIATION MEASURES.—Notwithstanding subsection

3 (a)(2), in the case of any unobligated discretionary budget

4 authority provided by any appropriation Act for fiscal year

5 1995, the President may rescind all or part of that discre6 tionary budget authority under the terms of this Act if

7 the President notifies the Congress of such rescission by

8 a special message not later than ten calendar days (not

9 including Sundays) after the date of enactment of this

10 Act.

11 SEC. 3. LINE ITEM VETO EFFECTIVE UNLESS DIS12 APPROVED.

13 (a)(1) Any amount of budget authority rescinded

14 under this Act as set forth in a special message by the

15 President shall be deemed canceled unless, during the pe16 riod described in subsection (b), a rescission/receipts dis17 approval bill making available all of the amount rescinded

18 is enacted into law.

19 (2) Any provision of law vetoed under this Act as set

20 forth in a special message by the President shall be

21 deemed repealed unless, during the period described in

22 subsection (b), a rescission/receipts disapproval bill restor23 ing that provision is enacted into law.

24 (b) The period referred to in subsection (a) is—
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1 (1) a congressional review period of twenty cal2 endar days of session, beginning on the first cal3 endar day of session after the date of submission of

4 the special message, during which Congress must

5 complete action on the rescission/receipts disapproval

6 bill and present such bill to the President for ap7 proval or disapproval;

8 (2) after the period provided in paragraph (1),

9 an additional ten days (not including Sundays) dur10 ing which the President may exercise his authority

11 to sign or veto the rescission/receipts disapproval

12 bill; and

13 (3) if the President vetoes the rescission/re14 ceipts disapproval bill during the period provided in

15 paragraph (2), an additional five calendar days of

16 session after the date of the veto.

17 (c) If a special message is transmitted by the Presi18 dent under this Act and the last session of the Congress

19 adjourns sine die before the expiration of the period de20 scribed in subsection (b), the rescission or veto, as the case

21 may be, shall not take effect. The message shall be deemed

22 to have been retransmitted on the first Monday in Feb23 ruary of the succeeding Congress and the review period

24 referred to in subsection (b) (with respect to such mes25 sage) shall run beginning after such first day.
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1 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

2 As used in this Act:

3 (1) The term ‘‘rescission/receipts disapproval

4 bill’’ means a bill or joint resolution which only dis5 approves, in whole, rescissions of discretionary budg6 et authority or only disapproves vetoes of targeted

7 tax benefits in a special message transmitted by the

8 President under this Act and—

9 (A) which does not have a preamble;

10 (B)(i) in the case of a special message re11 garding rescissions, the matter after the enact12 ing clause of which is as follows: ‘‘That Con13 gress disapproves each rescission of discre14 tionary budget authority of the President as

15 submitted by the President in a special message

16 on llll’’, the blank space being filled in

17 with the appropriate date and the public law to

18 which the message relates; and

19 (ii) in the case of a special message re20 garding vetoes of targeted tax benefits, the

21 matter after the enacting clause of which is as

22 follows: ‘‘That Congress disapproves each veto

23 of targeted tax benefits of the President as sub24 mitted by the President in a special message on

25 llll’’, the blank space being filled in with
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1 the appropriate date and the public law to

2 which the message relates; and

3 (C) the title of which is as follows: ‘‘A bill

4 disapproving the recommendations submitted by

5 the President on llll’’, the blank space

6 being filled in with the date of submission of

7 the relevant special message and the public law

8 to which the message relates.

9 (2) The term ‘‘calendar days of session’’ shall

10 mean only those days on which both Houses of Con11 gress are in session.

12 (3) The term ‘‘targeted tax benefit’’ means any

13 provision of a revenue or reconciliation Act deter14 mined by the President to provide a Federal tax de15 duction, credit, exclusion, preference, or other con16 cession to 100 or fewer beneficiaries. Any partner17 ship, limited partnership, trust, or S corporation,

18 and any subsidiary or affiliate of the same parent

19 corporation, shall be deemed and counted as a single

20 beneficiary regardless of the number of partners,

21 limited partners, beneficiaries, shareholders, or affili22 ated corporate entities.

23 (4) The term ‘‘appropriation Act’’ means any

24 general or special appropriation Act, and any Act or
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1 joint resolution making supplemental, deficiency, or

2 continuing appropriations.

3 SEC. 5. CONGRESSIONAL CONSIDERATION OF LINE ITEM

4 VETOES.

5 (a) PRESIDENTIAL SPECIAL MESSAGE.—Whenever

6 the President rescinds any budget authority as provided

7 in this Act or vetoes any provision of law as provided in

8 this Act, the President shall transmit to both Houses of

9 Congress a special message specifying—

10 (1) the amount of budget authority rescinded or

11 the provision vetoed;

12 (2) any account, department, or establishment

13 of the Government to which such budget authority

14 is available for obligation, and the specific project or

15 governmental functions involved;

16 (3) the reasons and justifications for the deter17 mination to rescind budget authority or veto any

18 provision pursuant to this Act;

19 (4) to the maximum extent practicable, the esti20 mated fiscal, economic, and budgetary effect of the

21 rescission or veto; and

22 (5) all actions, circumstances, and consider23 ations relating to or bearing upon the rescission or

24 veto and the decision to effect the rescission or veto,

25 and to the maximum extent practicable, the esti-
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1 mated effect of the rescission upon the objects, pur2 poses, and programs for which the budget authority

3 is provided.

4 (b) TRANSMISSION OF MESSAGES TO HOUSE AND

5 SENATE.—

6 (1) Each special message transmitted under

7 this Act shall be transmitted to the House of Rep8 resentatives and the Senate on the same day, and

9 shall be delivered to the Clerk of the House of Rep10 resentatives if the House is not in session, and to

11 the Secretary of the Senate if the Senate is not in

12 session. Each special message so transmitted shall

13 be referred to the appropriate committees of the

14 House of Representatives and the Senate. Each such

15 message shall be printed as a document of each

16 House.

17 (2) Any special message transmitted under this

18 Act shall be printed in the first issue of the Federal

19 Register published after such transmittal.

20 (c) INTRODUCTION OF RESCISSION/RECEIPTS DIS21 APPROVAL BILLS.—The procedures set forth in subsection

22 (d) shall apply to any rescission/receipts disapproval bill

23 introduced in the House of Representatives not later than

24 the third calendar day of session beginning on the day
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1 after the date of submission of a special message by the

2 President under section 2.

3 (d) CONSIDERATION IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENT4 ATIVES.—(1) The committee of the House of Representa5 tives to which a rescission/receipts disapproval bill is re6 ferred shall report it without amendment, and with or

7 without recommendation, not later than the eighth cal8 endar day of session after the date of its introduction. If

9 the committee fails to report the bill within that period,

10 it is in order to move that the House discharge the com11 mittee from further consideration of the bill. A motion to

12 discharge may be made only by an individual favoring the

13 bill (but only after the legislative day on which a Member

14 announces to the House the Member’s intention to do so).

15 The motion is highly privileged. Debate thereon shall be

16 limited to not more than one hour, the time to be divided

17 in the House equally between a proponent and an oppo18 nent. The previous question shall be considered as ordered

19 on the motion to its adoption without intervening motion.

20 A motion to reconsider the vote by which the motion is

21 agreed to or disagreed to shall not be in order.

22 (2) After a rescission/receipts disapproval bill is re23 ported or the committee has been discharged from further

24 consideration, it is in order to move that the House resolve

25 into the Committee of the Whole House on the State of
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1 the Union for consideration of the bill. All points of order

2 against the bill and against consideration of the bill are

3 waived. The motion is highly privileged. The previous

4 question shall be considered as ordered on that motion to

5 its adoption without intervening motion. A motion to re6 consider the vote by which the motion is agreed to or dis7 agreed to shall not be in order. During consideration of

8 the bill in the Committee of the Whole, the first reading

9 of the bill shall be dispensed with. General debate shall

10 proceed without intervening motion, shall be confined to

11 the bill, and shall not exceed two hours equally divided

12 and controlled by a proponent and an opponent of the bill.

13 No amendment to the bill is in order, except any Member

14 may move to strike the disapproval of any rescission or

15 rescissions of budget authority or any proposed repeal of

16 a targeted tax benefit, as applicable, if supported by 49

17 other Members. At the conclusion of the consideration of

18 the bill for amendment, the Committee shall rise and re19 port the bill to the House. The previous question shall be

20 considered as ordered on the bill and amendments thereto

21 to final passage without intervening motion. A motion to

22 reconsider the vote on passage of the bill shall not be in

23 order.

24 (3) Appeals from the decisions of the Chair relating

25 to the application of the rules of the House of Representa-
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1 tives to the procedure relating to a bill described in sub2 section (a) shall be decided without debate.

3 (4) It shall not be in order to consider more than

4 one bill described in subsection (c) or more than one mo5 tion to discharge described in paragraph (1) with respect

6 to a particular special message.

7 (5) Consideration of any rescission/receipts dis8 approval bill under this subsection is governed by the rules

9 of the House of Representatives except to the extent spe10 cifically provided by the provisions of this Act.

11 (e) CONSIDERATION IN THE SENATE.—

12 (1) Any rescission/receipts disapproval bill re13 ceived in the Senate from the House shall be consid14 ered in the Senate pursuant to the provisions of this

15 Act.

16 (2) Debate in the Senate on any rescission/re17 ceipts disapproval bill and debatable motions and ap18 peals in connection therewith, shall be limited to not

19 more than ten hours. The time shall be equally di20 vided between, and controlled by, the majority leader

21 and the minority leader or their designees.

22 (3) Debate in the Senate on any debatable mo23 tions or appeal in connection with such bill shall be

24 limited to one hour, to be equally divided between,

25 and controlled by the mover and the manager of the
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1 bill, except that in the event the manager of the bill

2 is in favor of any such motion or appeal, the time

3 in opposition thereto shall be controlled by the mi4 nority leader or his designee. Such leaders, or either

5 of them, may, from the time under their control on

6 the passage of the bill, allot additional time to any

7 Senator during the consideration of any debatable

8 motion or appeal.

9 (4) A motion to further limit debate is not de10 batable. A motion to recommit (except a motion to

11 recommit with instructions to report back within a

12 specified number of days not to exceed one, not

13 counting any day on which the Senate is not in ses14 sion) is not in order.

15 (f) POINTS OF ORDER.—

16 (1) It shall not be in order in the Senate to

17 consider any rescission/receipts disapproval bill that

18 relates to any matter other than the rescission of

19 budget authority or veto of the provision of law

20 transmitted by the President under this Act.

21 (2) It shall not be in order in the Senate to

22 consider any amendment to a rescission/receipts dis23 approval bill.
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1 (3) Paragraphs (1) and (2) may be waived or

2 suspended in the Senate only by a vote of three3 fifths of the members duly chosen and sworn.

4 SEC. 6. REPORTS OF THE GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE.

5 Beginning on January 6, 1996, and at one-year inter6 vals thereafter, the Comptroller General shall submit a re7 port to each House of Congress which provides the follow8 ing information:

9 (1) A list of each proposed Presidential rescis10 sion of discretionary budget authority and veto of a

11 targeted tax benefit submitted through special mes12 sages for the fiscal year ending during the preceding

13 calendar year, together with their dollar value, and

14 an indication of whether each rescission of discre15 tionary budget authority or veto of a targeted tax

16 benefit was accepted or rejected by Congress.

17 (2) The total number of proposed Presidential

18 rescissions of discretionary budget authority and ve19 toes of a targeted tax benefit submitted through spe20 cial messages for the fiscal year ending during the

21 preceding calendar year, together with their total

22 dollar value.

23 (3) The total number of Presidential rescissions

24 of discretionary budget authority or vetoes of a tar25 geted tax benefit submitted through special mes-
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1 sages for the fiscal year ending during the preceding

2 calendar year and approved by Congress, together

3 with their total dollar value.

4 (4) A list of rescissions of discretionary budget

5 authority initiated by Congress for the fiscal year

6 ending during the preceding calendar year, together

7 with their dollar value, and an indication of whether

8 each such rescission was accepted or rejected by

9 Congress.

10 (5) The total number of rescissions of discre11 tionary budget authority initiated and accepted by

12 Congress for the fiscal year ending during the pre13 ceding calendar year, together with their total dollar

14 value.

15 (6) A summary of the information provided by

16 paragraphs (2), (3) and (5) for each of the ten fiscal

17 years ending before the fiscal year during this cal18 endar year.

19 SEC. 7. JUDICIAL REVIEW.

20 (a) EXPEDITED REVIEW.—

21 (1) Any Member of Congress may bring an ac22 tion, in the United States District Court for the Dis23 trict of Columbia, for declaratory judgment and in24 junctive relief on the ground that any provision of

25 this Act violates the Constitution.
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1 (2) A copy of any complaint in an action

2 brought under paragraph (1) shall be promptly de3 livered to the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk

4 of the House of Representatives, and each House of

5 Congress shall have the right to intervene in such

6 action.

7 (3) Any action brought under paragraph (1)

8 shall be heard and determined by a three-judge

9 court in accordance with section 2284 of title 28,

10 United States Code.

11 Nothing in this section or in any other law shall infringe

12 upon the right of the House of Representatives to inter13 vene in an action brought under paragraph (1) without

14 the necessity of adopting a resolution to authorize such

15 intervention.

16 (b) APPEAL TO SUPREME COURT.—Notwithstanding

17 any other provision of law, any order of the United States

18 District Court for the District of Columbia which is issued

19 pursuant to an action brought under paragraph (1) of sub20 section (a) shall be reviewable by appeal directly to the

21 Supreme Court of the United States. Any such appeal

22 shall be taken by a notice of appeal filed within 10 days

23 after such order is entered; and the jurisdictional state24 ment shall be filed within 30 days after such order is en25 tered. No stay of an order issued pursuant to an action
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1 brought under paragraph (1) of subsection (a) shall be

2 issued by a single Justice of the Supreme Court.

3 (c) EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION.—It shall be the

4 duty of the District Court for the District of Columbia

5 and the Supreme Court of the United States to advance

6 on the docket and to expedite to the greatest possible ex7 tent the disposition of any matter brought under sub8 section (a).

Passed the House of Representatives February 6,

1995.

Attest:

Clerk.

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2

AN ACT

To give the President item veto authority over apenue Acts. propriation Acts and targeted tax benefits in rev-