I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2

To give the President item veto authority over appropriation Acts and

targeted tax benefits in revenue Acts.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 4, 1995

Mr. CLINGER, Mr. BLUTE, Mr. NEUMANN, and Mr. PARKER (for themselves,

Mr. ALLARD, Mr. ARMEY, Mr. BAKER of California, Mr. BUNNING, Mr.

BACHUS, Mr. BALLENGER, Mr. BARR, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr.

BARTON of Texas, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. BONO, Mr. BRYANT of Tennessee,

Mr. BROWNBACK, Mr. BURR, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. CALVERT,

Mr. CALLAHAN, Mr. CAMP, Mr. CANADY, Mr. CASTLE, Mr.

CHRISTENSEN, Mr. CHRYSLER, Mr. COBURN, Mr. COLLINS of Georgia,

Miss COLLINS of Michigan, Mr. COOLEY, Mr. COX, Mr. CRANE, Mr.

CRAPO, Mr. CREMEANS, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Ms. DANNER, Mr. DAVIS,

Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. DORNAN, Mr. DREIER, Ms. DUNN, Mr. EMERSON,

Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania, Mr. ENSIGN, Mr. EVERETT, Mr. EWING,

Mr. FAWELL, Mr. FLANAGAN, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. FORBES, Ms. FOWLER,

Mr. FOX, Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN, Mr. FRISA, Mr. GANSKE, Mr. GILLMOR,

Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. GOODLING, Mr. GOSS, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. GUNDERSON, Mr. HALL of Texas, Mr. HANCOCK, Mr. HASTERT, Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr. HEINEMAN, Mr. HERGER, Mr.

HILLEARY, Mr. HOBSON, Mr. HOKE, Mr. HOSTETTLER, Mr. HORN, Mr.

HOUGHTON, Mr. HUTCHINSON, Mr. INGLIS of South Carolina, Mr.

ISTOOK, Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut, Mr. JONES, Mr. KIM, Mr.

KINGSTON, Mr. KNOLLENBERG, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr. LARGENT, Mr.

LATHAM, Mr. LATOURETTE, Mr. LAZIO, Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky, Mr.

LIGHTFOOT, Mr. LINDER, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. LONGLEY, Mr. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. MCINTOSH, Mr. MICA, Mr. MILLER of Florida,

Ms. MOLINARI, Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. NUSSLE, Mr. OXLEY, Mr. PACKARD,

Mr. POMBO, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. QUILLEN, Mr. QUINN, Mr.

RADANOVICH, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. RIGGS, Mr. ROTH, Mr. ROYCE,

Mr. SANFORD, Mr. SAXTON, Mr. SCHAEFER, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr.

SHADEGG, Mr. SHAW, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. SMITH of Michigan, Mr. SMITH

of New Jersey, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. SOLOMON, Mr. STEARNS, Mr.

STOCKMAN, Mr. STUMP, Mr. TALENT, Mr. TATE, Mr. TAYLOR of North

Carolina, Mr. THORNBERRY, Mr. TIAHRT, Mr. UPTON, Mrs.

WALDHOLTZ, Mr. WAMP, Mr. WELDON of Florida, Mr. WELDON of

Pennsylvania, Mr. WHITFIELD, Mr. WICKER, Mr. WELLER, Mr. ZELIFF,
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Mr. ZIMMER, Mr. KOLBE, Mr. PAXON, Mr. YOUNG of Florida, Mr. COMBEST, Mr. COBLE, Mr. EHRLICH, and Mrs. MEYERS of Kansas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, 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 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 any discretionary budget authority or veto any targeted

11 tax benefit which is subject to the terms of this Act if

12 the President—

13 (1) determines that—

14 (A) such rescission or veto would help re15 duce the Federal budget deficit;

16 (B) such rescission or veto will not impair

17 any essential Government functions; and
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1 (C) such rescission or veto will not harm

2 the national interest; and

3 (2) notifies the Congress of such rescission or

4 veto by a special message not later than twenty cal5 endar days (not including Saturdays, Sundays, or

6 holidays) after the date of enactment of a regular or

7 supplemental appropriation Act or a joint resolution

8 making continuing appropriations providing such

9 budget authority or a revenue Act containing a tar10 geted tax benefit.

11 The President shall submit a separate rescission message

12 for each appropriation Act and for each revenue Act under

13 this paragraph.

14 SEC. 3. LINE ITEM VETO EFFECTIVE UNLESS DIS15 APPROVED.

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

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

18 President shall be deemed canceled unless, during the pe19 riod described in subsection (b), a rescission/receipts dis20 approval bill making available all of the amount rescinded

21 is enacted into law.

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

23 forth in a special message by the President shall be

24 deemed repealed unless, during the period described in
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1 subsection (b), a rescission/receipts disapproval bill restor2 ing that provision is enacted into law.

3 (b) The period referred to in subsection (a) is—

4 (1) a congressional review period of twenty cal5 endar days of session during which Congress must

6 complete action on the rescission/receipts disapproval

7 bill and present such bill to the President for ap8 proval or disapproval;

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

10 an additional ten days (not including Sundays) dur11 ing which the President may exercise his authority

12 to sign or veto the rescission/receipts disapproval

13 bill; and

14 (3) if the President vetoes the rescission/re15 ceipts disapproval bill during the period provided in

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

17 session after the date of the veto.

18 (c) If a special message is transmitted by the Presi19 dent under this Act and the last session of the Congress

20 adjourns sine die before the expiration of the period de21 scribed in subsection (b), the rescission or veto, as the case

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

23 to have been retransmitted on the first day of the succeed24 ing Congress and the review period referred to in sub-
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1 section (b) (with respect to such message) shall run begin2 ning after such first day.

3 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

4 As used in this Act:

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

6 bill’’ means a bill or joint resolution which—

7 (A) only disapproves a rescission of discre8 tionary budget authority, in whole, rescinded, or

9 (B) only disapproves a veto of any targeted

10 tax benefit,

11 in a special message transmitted by the President

12 under this Act.

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

14 mean only those days on which both Houses of Con15 gress are in session.

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

17 provision of a revenue Act which the President de18 termines would provide a Federal tax benefit to 5 or

19 fewer taxpayers.

20 SEC. 5. CONGRESSIONAL CONSIDERATION OF LINE ITEM

21 VETOES.

22 (a) PRESIDENTIAL SPECIAL MESSAGE.—Whenever

23 the President rescinds any budget authority as provided

24 in this Act or vetoes any provision of law as provided in
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1 this Act, the President shall transmit to both Houses of

2 Congress a special message specifying—

3 (1) the amount of budget authority rescinded or

4 the provision vetoed;

5 (2) any account, department, or establishment

6 of the Government to which such budget authority

7 is available for obligation, and the specific project or

8 governmental functions involved;

9 (3) the reasons and justifications for the deter10 mination to rescind budget authority or veto any

11 provision pursuant to this Act;

12 (4) to the maximum extent practicable, the esti13 mated fiscal, economic, and budgetary effect of the

14 rescission or veto; and

15 (5) all actions, circumstances, and consider16 ations relating to or bearing upon the rescission or

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

18 and to the maximum extent practicable, the esti19 mated effect of the rescission upon the objects, pur20 poses, and programs for which the budget authority

21 is provided.

22 (b) TRANSMISSION OF MESSAGES TO HOUSE AND

23 SENATE.—

24 (1) Each special message transmitted under

25 this Act shall be transmitted to the House of Rep-
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1 resentatives and the Senate on the same day, and

2 shall be delivered to the Clerk of the House of Rep3 resentatives if the House is not in session, and to

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

5 session. Each special message so transmitted shall

6 be referred to the appropriate committees of the

7 House of Representatives and the Senate. Each such

8 message shall be printed as a document of each

9 House.

10 (2) Any special message transmitted under this

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

12 Register published after such transmittal.

13 (c) REFERRAL OF RESCISSION/RECEIPTS DIS14 APPROVAL BILLS.—Any rescission/receipts disapproval

15 bill introduced with respect to a special message shall be

16 referred to the appropriate committees of the House of

17 Representatives or the Senate, as the case may be.

18 (d) CONSIDERATION IN THE SENATE.—

19 (1) Any rescission/receipts disapproval bill re20 ceived in the Senate from the House shall be consid21 ered in the Senate pursuant to the provisions of this

22 Act.

23 (2) Debate in the Senate on any rescission/re24 ceipts disapproval bill and debatable motions and ap25 peals in connection therewith, shall be limited to not
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1 more than ten hours. The time shall be equally di2 vided between, and controlled by, the majority leader

3 and the minority leader or their designees.

4 (3) Debate in the Senate on any debatable mo5 tions or appeal in connection with such bill shall be

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

7 and controlled by the mover and the manager of the

8 bill, except that in the event the manager of the bill

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

10 in opposition thereto shall be controlled by the mi11 nority leader or his designee. Such leaders, or either

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

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

14 Senator during the consideration of any debatable

15 motion or appeal.

16 (4) A motion to further limit debate is not de17 batable. A motion to recommit (except a motion to

18 recommit with instructions to report back within a

19 specified number of days not to exceed one, not

20 counting any day on which the Senate is not in ses21 sion) is not in order.

22 (e) POINTS OF ORDER.—

23 (1) It shall not be in order in the Senate or the

24 House of Representatives to consider any rescission/

25 receipts disapproval bill that relates to any matter
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1 other than the rescission of budget authority or veto

2 of the provision of law transmitted by the President

3 under this Act.

4 (2) It shall not be in order in the Senate or the

5 House of Representatives to consider any amend6 ment to a rescission/receipts disapproval bill.

7 (3) Paragraphs (1) and (2) may be waived or

8 suspended in the Senate only by a vote of three9 fifths of the members duly chosen and sworn.

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