II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 444 

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

its obligations. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 12, 2019 

Mr. MERKLEY (for himself and Mr. KAINE) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

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 ‘‘Protect Our Citizens 

5 from Reckless Extortion of our Debt and Irresponsible 

6 Tactics Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘Protect Our CREDIT Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL PRESIDENTIAL MODIFICATION OF THE 

8 DEBT CEILING. 

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

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


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

2 after ‘‘section 3101A’’; and 

3 (2) by inserting after section 3101A the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘§ 3101B. Additional Presidential modification of the 

6 debt ceiling 

7 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘joint 

8 resolution’ means only a joint resolution— 

9 ‘‘(1) that is introduced during the period— 

10 ‘‘(A) beginning on the date a certification 

11 described in paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection 

12 (b) is received by Congress; and 

13 ‘‘(B) ending on the date that is 3 legisla14 tive days (excluding any day on which it is not 

15 in order to introduce resolutions) after the date 

16 described in subparagraph (A); 

17 ‘‘(2) which does not have a preamble; 

18 ‘‘(3) the title of which is only as follows: ‘Joint 

19 resolution relating to the disapproval of the Presi20 dent’s exercise of authority to increase the debt 

21 limit, as submitted under section 3101B of title 31, 

22 United States Code, on llllll’ (with the 

23 blank containing the date of such submission); and 

24 ‘‘(4) the matter after the resolving clause of 

25 which is only as follows: ‘That Congress disapproves 


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1 of the President’s exercise of authority to increase 

2 the debt limit, as exercised pursuant to the certifi3 cation submitted under section 3101B(b) of title 31, 

4 United States Code, on llllll.’ (with the 

5 blank containing the date of such submission). 

6 ‘‘(b) SUBMISSIONS TO CONGRESS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL SUBMISSION.—Before the begin8 ning of each fiscal year, the President shall submit 

9 to Congress a written certification specifying the 

10 amount of obligations that are subject to limit under 

11 section 3101(b), in addition to the amount of such 

12 obligations authorized to be outstanding on the date 

13 of the certification, that the President determines it 

14 shall be necessary to issue during the next fiscal 

15 year to meet existing commitments. 

16 ‘‘(2) SUBMISSION DURING FISCAL YEAR.—If the 

17 President determines during a fiscal year that the 

18 debt subject to limit under section 3101(b) is within 

19 $250,000,000,000 of such limit and that further 

20 borrowing is necessary to meet existing commit21 ments, the President shall submit to Congress a 

22 written certification— 

23 ‘‘(A) specifying the amount of obligations 

24 that are subject to limit under section 3101(b), 

25 in addition to the amount of such obligations 


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1 authorized to be outstanding on the date of the 

2 certification, that the President determines it 

3 shall be necessary to issue during the fiscal year 

4 to meet existing commitments; and 

5 ‘‘(B) containing the reason for any discrep6 ancy from the certification submitted under 

7 paragraph (1) for the fiscal year. 

8 ‘‘(3) EFFECT OF FAILURE TO ENACT DIS9 APPROVAL.—If a joint resolution is not enacted with 

10 respect to a certification under paragraph (1) or (2) 

11 during the 15-legislative-day period beginning on the 

12 date on which Congress receives the certification, the 

13 limit under section 3101(b) is increased by the 

14 amount specified in the certification. 

15 ‘‘(4) EFFECT OF ENACTMENT OF DIS16 APPROVAL.—If a joint resolution is enacted with re17 spect to a certification under paragraph (1) or (2) 

18 during the 15-legislative-day period beginning on the 

19 date on which Congress receives the certification, the 

20 limit under section 3101(b)— 

21 ‘‘(A) shall not be increased by the amount 

22 specified in the certification; and 

23 ‘‘(B) shall be increased in accordance with 

24 subsection (c)(2). 

25 ‘‘(c) SUSPENSION FOR MID-YEAR CERTIFICATION.— 


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

2 apply for the period— 

3 ‘‘(A) beginning on the date on which the 

4 President submits to Congress a certification 

5 under subsection (b)(2); and 

6 ‘‘(B) ending on the earlier of— 

7 ‘‘(i) the date that is 15 legislative 

8 days after Congress receives the certifi9 cation; or 

10 ‘‘(ii) the date of enactment of a joint 

11 resolution with respect to the certification. 

12 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE RELATING TO OBLIGATIONS

13 ISSUED DURING SUSPENSION PERIOD.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a joint resolution is 

15 enacted with respect to a certification under 

16 subsection (b)(2), effective on the day after 

17 such date of enactment, the limitation in sec18 tion 3101(b) is increased to the extent that— 

19 ‘‘(i) the face amount of obligations 

20 issued under this chapter and the face 

21 amount of obligations whose principal and 

22 interest are guaranteed by the United 

23 States Government (except guaranteed ob24 ligations held by the Secretary of the 


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1 Treasury) outstanding on the calendar day 

2 after such date of enactment, exceeds 

3 ‘‘(ii) the face amount of such obliga4 tions outstanding on the date on which the 

5 President submits the certification. 

6 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—An obligation shall not 

7 be taken into account under subparagraph (A) 

8 unless the issuance of such obligation was nec9 essary to fund a commitment incurred by the 

10 Federal Government that required payment 

11 during the 15-legislative-day period described in 

12 paragraph (1)(B)(i). 

13 ‘‘(d) EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION IN HOUSE OF

14 REPRESENTATIVES.— 

15 ‘‘(1) REPORTING AND DISCHARGE.—Any com16 mittee of the House of Representatives to which a 

17 joint resolution is referred shall report it to the 

18 House of Representatives without amendment not 

19 later than 5 calendar days after the date of intro20 duction of the joint resolution. If a committee fails 

21 to report the joint resolution within that period, the 

22 committee shall be discharged from further consider23 ation of the joint resolution and the joint resolution 

24 shall be referred to the appropriate calendar. 


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1 ‘‘(2) PROCEEDING TO CONSIDERATION.—After 

2 each committee authorized to consider a joint resolu3 tion reports it to the House of Representatives or 

4 has been discharged from its consideration, it shall 

5 be in order, not later than the sixth day after intro6 duction of the joint resolution, to move to proceed 

7 to consider the joint resolution in the House of Rep8 resentatives. All points of order against the motion 

9 are waived. Such a motion shall not be in order after 

10 the House of Representatives has disposed of a mo11 tion to proceed on a joint resolution addressing a 

12 particular submission. The previous question shall be 

13 considered as ordered on the motion to its adoption 

14 without intervening motion. The motion shall not be 

15 debatable. A motion to reconsider the vote by which 

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

17 ‘‘(3) CONSIDERATION.—The joint resolution 

18 shall be considered as read. All points of order 

19 against the joint resolution and against its consider20 ation are waived. The previous question shall be con21 sidered as ordered on the joint resolution to its pas22 sage without intervening motion except 2 hours of 

23 debate equally divided and controlled by the pro24 ponent and an opponent. An amendment to the joint 


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1 resolution or a motion to reconsider the vote on pas2 sage of the joint resolution shall not be in order. 

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

4 ‘‘(1) PLACEMENT ON CALENDAR.—Upon intro5 duction in the Senate, a joint resolution shall be im6 mediately placed on the calendar. 

7 ‘‘(2) FLOOR CONSIDERATION.— 

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

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

10 in order at any time during the period begin11 ning on the day after the date on which Con12 gress receives a certification under paragraph 

13 (1) or (2) of subsection (b) and ending on the 

14 sixth day after the date of introduction of a 

15 joint resolution (even though a previous motion 

16 to the same effect has been disagreed to) to 

17 move to proceed to the consideration of the 

18 joint resolution, and all points of order against 

19 the joint resolution (and against consideration 

20 of the joint resolution) are waived. The motion 

21 to proceed is not debatable. The motion is not 

22 subject to a motion to postpone. A motion to 

23 reconsider the vote by which the motion is 

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

25 If a motion to proceed to the consideration of 


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1 the resolution is agreed to, the joint resolution 

2 shall remain the unfinished business until dis3 posed of. 

4 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATION.—Consideration of 

5 the joint resolution, and on all debatable mo6 tions and appeals in connection therewith, shall 

7 be limited to not more than 10 hours, which 

8 shall be divided equally between the majority 

9 and minority leaders or their designees. A mo10 tion further to limit debate is in order and not 

11 debatable. An amendment to, or a motion to 

12 postpone, or a motion to proceed to the consid13 eration of other business, or a motion to recom14 mit the joint resolution is not in order. 

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

16 has voted to proceed to a joint resolution, the 

17 vote on passage of the joint resolution shall 

18 occur immediately following the conclusion of 

19 consideration of the joint resolution, and a sin20 gle quorum call at the conclusion of the debate 

21 if requested in accordance with the rules of the 

22 Senate. 

23 ‘‘(D) RULINGS OF THE CHAIR ON PROCE24 DURE.—Appeals from the decisions of the Chair 

25 relating to the application of the rules of the 


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1 Senate, as the case may be, to the procedure re2 lating to a joint resolution shall be decided 

3 without debate. 

4 ‘‘(f) COORDINATION WITH ACTION BY OTHER

5 HOUSE.— 

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

7 resolution, one House receives from the other a joint 

8 resolution— 

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

10 House shall not be referred to a committee; and 

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

12 shall be the same as if no joint resolution had 

13 been received from the other House, except that 

14 the vote on final passage shall be on the joint 

15 resolution of the other House. 

16 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF JOINT RESOLUTION OF

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

18 consider a joint resolution under this section, the 

19 joint resolution of the House shall be entitled to ex20 pedited floor procedures under this section. 

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

22 If, following passage of the joint resolution in the 

23 Senate, the Senate receives the companion measure 

24 from the House of Representatives, the companion 

25 measure shall not be debatable. 


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1 ‘‘(4) CONSIDERATION AFTER PASSAGE.— 

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

3 joint resolution, the period beginning on the 

4 date the President is presented with the joint 

5 resolution and ending on the date the President 

6 signs, allows to become law without his signa7 ture, or vetoes and returns the joint resolution 

8 (but excluding days when either House is not in 

9 session) shall be disregarded in computing the 

10 legislative day period described in paragraphs 

11 (3) and (4) of subsection (b) and subsection 

12 (c)(1). 

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

14 in the Senate under this section shall be 1 hour 

15 equally divided between the majority and minor16 ity leaders or their designees. 

17 ‘‘(5) VETO OVERRIDE.—If within the legislative 

18 day period described in paragraphs (3) and (4) of 

19 subsection (b) and subsection (c)(1), Congress over20 rides a veto of a joint resolution, except as provided 

21 in subsection (c)(2), the limit on debt provided in 

22 section 3101(b) shall not be raised under this sec23 tion. 

24 ‘‘(g) RULES OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND

25 SENATE.—Subsections (a), (d), (e), and (f) (except for 


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1 paragraphs (4)(A) and (5) of such subsection) are enacted 

2 by Congress— 

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

4 the Senate and House of Representatives, respec5 tively, and as such it is deemed a part of the rules 

6 of each House, respectively, but applicable only with 

7 respect to the procedure to be followed in that 

8 House in the case of a joint resolution, and it super9 sedes other rules only to the extent that it is incon10 sistent with such rules; and 

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

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

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

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

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

16 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec17 tions for chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, is 

18 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

19 3101A the following: 

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

Æ 


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