106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5173

AN ACT

To provide for reconciliation pursuant to sections

103(b)(2) and 213(b)(2)(C) of the concurrentresolution on the budget for fiscal year 2001 toreduce the public debt and to decrease the statutory limit on the public debt.

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5173

AN ACT

To provide for reconciliation pursuant to sections 103(b)(2)

and 213(b)(2)(C) of the concurrent resolution on the

budget for fiscal year 2001 to reduce the public debt

and to decrease the statutory limit on the public debt.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Debt Relief Lock-box

3 Reconciliation Act for Fiscal Year 2001’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

5 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—

6 (1) fiscal discipline, resulting from the Bal7 anced Budget Act of 1997, and strong economic

8 growth have ended decades of deficit spending and

9 have produced budget surpluses without using the

10 social security surplus;

11 (2) fiscal pressures will mount in the future as

12 the aging of the population increases budget obliga13 tions;

14 (3) until Congress and the President agree to

15 legislation that saves social security and medicare,

16 the social security and medicare surpluses should be

17 used to reduce the debt held by the public;

18 (4) until Congress and the President agree on

19 significant tax reductions, amounts dedicated for

20 that purpose shall be used to reduce the debt held

21 by the public;

22 (5) strengthening the Government’s fiscal posi23 tion through public debt reduction increases national

24 savings, promotes economic growth, reduces interest

25 costs, and is a constructive way to prepare for the

26 Government’s future budget obligations; and
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1 (6) it is fiscally responsible and in the long2 term national economic interest to use a portion of

3 the nonsocial security and nonmedicare surpluses to

4 reduce the debt held by the public.

5 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to—

6 (1) reduce the debt held by the public by

7 $240,000,000,000 in fiscal year 2001 with the goal

8 of eliminating this debt by 2012;

9 (2) decrease the statutory limit on the public

10 debt; and

11 (3) ensure that the social security and hospital

12 insurance trust funds shall not be used for other

13 purposes.

14 TITLE I—DEBT REDUCTION

15 LOCK-BOX

16 SEC. 101. ESTABLISHMENT OF PUBLIC DEBT REDUCTION

17 PAYMENT ACCOUNT.

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

19 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end

20 the following new section:

21 ‘‘§ 3114. Public debt reduction payment account

22 ‘‘(a) There is established in the Treasury of the

23 United States an account to be known as the Public Debt

24 Reduction Payment Account (hereinafter in this section

25 referred to as the ‘account’).
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1 ‘‘(b) The Secretary of the Treasury shall use amounts

2 in the account to pay at maturity, or to redeem or buy

3 before maturity, any obligation of the Government held

4 by the public and included in the public debt. Any obliga5 tion which is paid, redeemed, or bought with amounts

6 from the account shall be canceled and retired and may

7 not be reissued. Amounts deposited in the account are ap8 propriated and may only be expended to carry out this

9 section.

10 ‘‘(c) There is hereby appropriated into the account

11 on October 1, 2000, or the date of enactment of this Act,

12 whichever is later, out of any money in the Treasury not

13 otherwise appropriated, $42,000,000,000 for the fiscal

14 year ending September 30, 2001. The funds appropriated

15 to this account shall remain available until expended.

16 ‘‘(d) The appropriation made under subsection (c)

17 shall not be considered direct spending for purposes of sec18 tion 252 of Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Con19 trol Act of 1985.

20 ‘‘(e) Establishment of and appropriations to the ac21 count shall not affect trust fund transfers that may be

22 authorized under any other provision of law.

23 ‘‘(f) The Secretary of the Treasury and the Director

24 of the Office of Management and Budget shall each take

25 such actions as may be necessary to promptly carry out
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1 this section in accordance with sound debt management

2 policies.

3 ‘‘(g) Reducing the debt pursuant to this section shall

4 not interfere with the debt management policies or goals

5 of the Secretary of the Treasury.’’.

6 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter anal7 ysis for chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, is

8 amended by inserting after the item relating to section

9 3113 the following:

‘‘3114. Public debt reduction payment account.’’.

10 SEC. 102. REDUCTION OF STATUTORY LIMIT ON THE PUB11 LIC DEBT.

12 Section 3101(b) of title 31, United States Code, is

13 amended by inserting ‘‘minus the amount appropriated

14 into the Public Debt Reduction Payment Account pursu15 ant to section 3114(c)’’ after ‘‘$5,950,000,000,000’’.

16 SEC. 103. OFF-BUDGET STATUS OF PUBLIC DEBT REDUC17 TION PAYMENT ACCOUNT.

18 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the re19 ceipts and disbursements of the Public Debt Reduction

20 Payment Account established by section 3114 of title 31,

21 United States Code, shall not be counted as new budget

22 authority, outlays, receipts, or deficit or surplus for pur23 poses of—

24 (1) the budget of the United States Govern25 ment as submitted by the President,
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1 (2) the congressional budget, or

2 (3) the Balanced Budget and Emergency Def3 icit Control Act of 1985.

4 SEC. 104. REMOVING PUBLIC DEBT REDUCTION PAYMENT

5 ACCOUNT FROM BUDGET PRONOUNCE6 MENTS.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any official statement issued by

8 the Office of Management and Budget, the Congressional

9 Budget Office, or any other agency or instrumentality of

10 the Federal Government of surplus or deficit totals of the

11 budget of the United States Government as submitted by

12 the President or of the surplus or deficit totals of the con13 gressional budget, and any description of, or reference to,

14 such totals in any official publication or material issued

15 by either of such Offices or any other such agency or in16 strumentality, shall exclude the outlays and receipts of the

17 Public Debt Reduction Payment Account established by

18 section 3114 of title 31, United States Code.

19 (b) SEPARATE PUBLIC DEBT REDUCTION PAYMENT

20 ACCOUNT BUDGET DOCUMENTS.—The excluded outlays

21 and receipts of the Public Debt Reduction Payment Ac22 count established by section 3114 of title 31, United

23 States Code, shall be submitted in separate budget docu24 ments.
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1 SEC. 105. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.

2 (a) REPORTS OF THE SECRETARY OF THE TREAS3 URY.—(1) Within 30 days after the appropriation is de4 posited into the Public Debt Reduction Payment Account

5 under section 3114 of title 31, United States Code, the

6 Secretary of the Treasury shall submit a report to the

7 Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Rep8 resentatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate

9 confirming that such account has been established and the

10 amount and date of such deposit. Such report shall also

11 include a description of the Secretary’s plan for using such

12 money to reduce debt held by the public.

13 (2) Not later than October 31, 2002, the Secretary

14 of the Treasury shall submit a report to the Committee

15 on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and

16 the Committee on Finance of the Senate setting forth the

17 amount of money deposited into the Public Debt Reduc18 tion Payment Account, the amount of debt held by the

19 public that was reduced, and a description of the actual

20 debt instruments that were redeemed with such money.

21 (b) REPORT OF THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF

22 THE UNITED STATES.—Not later than November 15,

23 2002, the Comptroller General of the United States shall

24 submit a report to the Committee on Ways and Means

25 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
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1 Finance of the Senate verifying all of the information set

2 forth in the reports submitted under subsection (a).

3 TITLE II—SOCIAL SECURITY AND

4 MEDICARE LOCK-BOX

5 SEC. 201. PROTECTION OF SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDI6 CARE SURPLUSES.

7 (a) PROTECTION OF SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDI8 CARE SURPLUSES.—Section 201 of the concurrent resolu9 tion on the budget for fiscal year 2001 (H. Con. Res. 290,

10 106th Congress) is amended as follows:

11 (1) In the section heading, by inserting ‘‘AND

12 MEDICARE’’ before ‘‘SURPLUSES’’.

13 (2)(A) In subsection (a)(2), by inserting ‘‘and

14 the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund has been run15 ning a surplus for the last 2 years’’ after ‘‘years’’.

16 (B) In subsection (a)(4), by inserting ‘‘and the

17 Hospital Insurance Trust Fund surplus will be $32

18 billion’’ after ‘‘billion’’.

19 (C) In subsection (a)(5), by striking ‘‘the’’ the

20 second place it appears, and by inserting ‘‘and Hos21 pital Insurance Trust Fund’’ before ‘‘surpluses’’.

22 (D) In subsection (a)(6), by inserting ‘‘and

23 medicare’’ after ‘‘security’’.

24 (E) In subsection (a)(7), by inserting ‘‘and hos25 pital insurance’’ after ‘‘security’’.
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1 (3) By striking subsection (c) and inserting the

2 following new subsection:

3 ‘‘(c) LOCK-BOX FOR SOCIAL SECURITY AND HOS4 PITAL INSURANCE SURPLUSES.—

5 ‘‘(1) CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS ON THE

6 BUDGET.—

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—It shall not be in

8 order in the House of Representatives or the

9 Senate to consider any concurrent resolution on

10 the budget, an amendment thereto, or con11 ference report thereon, that would set forth a

12 surplus for any fiscal year that is less than the

13 surplus of the Federal Hospital Insurance

14 Trust Fund for that fiscal year.

15 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—(i) Subparagraph (A)

16 shall not apply to the extent that a violation of

17 such subsection would result from an assump18 tion in the resolution, amendment, or con19 ference report, as applicable, of an increase in

20 outlays or a decrease in revenue relative to the

21 baseline underlying that resolution for social se22 curity reform legislation or medicare reform leg23 islation for any such fiscal year.

24 ‘‘(ii) If a concurrent resolution on the

25 budget or an amendment thereto or conference
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1 report thereon would be in violation of subpara2 graph (A) because of an assumption of an in3 crease in outlays or a decrease in revenue rel4 ative to the baseline underlying that resolution

5 for social security reform legislation or medi6 care reform legislation for any such fiscal year,

7 then that resolution shall include a statement

8 identifying any such increase in outlays or de9 crease in revenue.

10 ‘‘(2) SPENDING AND TAX LEGISLATION.—

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—It shall not be in

12 order in the House of Representatives or the

13 Senate to consider any bill, joint resolution,

14 amendment, motion, or conference report if—

15 ‘‘(i)(I) in the House, the enactment of

16 that bill or resolution as reported; or

17 ‘‘(II) in the Senate, the enactment of

18 that bill or resolution;

19 ‘‘(ii) the adoption and enactment of

20 that amendment; or

21 ‘‘(iii) the enactment of that bill or res22 olution in the form recommended in that

23 conference report,

24 would cause the surplus for any fiscal year cov25 ered by the most recently agreed to concurrent
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1 resolution on the budget to be less than the sur2 plus of the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust

3 Fund for that fiscal year.

4 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Subparagraph (A)

5 shall not apply to social security reform legisla6 tion or medicare reform legislation.’’.

7 (4) By redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as

8 subsections (h) and (i), respectively, and inserting

9 after subsection (d) the following new subsections:

10 ‘‘(e) ENFORCEMENT.—

11 ‘‘(1) BUDGETARY LEVELS WITH RESPECT TO

12 CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS ON THE BUDGET.—For

13 purposes of enforcing any point of order under sub14 section (c)(1), the surplus for any fiscal year shall

15 be—

16 ‘‘(A) the levels set forth in the later of the

17 concurrent resolution on the budget, as re18 ported, or in the conference report on the con19 current resolution on the budget; and

20 ‘‘(B) adjusted to the maximum extent al21 lowable under all procedures that allow budg22 etary aggregates to be adjusted for legislation

23 that would cause a decrease in the surplus for

24 any fiscal year covered by the concurrent reso-
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1 lution on the budget (other than procedures de2 scribed in paragraph (2)(A)(ii)).

3 ‘‘(2) CURRENT LEVELS WITH RESPECT TO

4 SPENDING AND TAX LEGISLATION.—

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of en6 forcing any point of order under subsection

7 (c)(2), the current levels of the surplus for any

8 fiscal year shall be—

9 ‘‘(i) calculated using the following

10 assumptions—

11 ‘‘(I) direct spending and revenue

12 levels at the baseline levels underlying

13 the most recently agreed to concur14 rent resolution on the budget; and

15 ‘‘(II) for the budget year, discre16 tionary spending levels at current law

17 levels and, for outyears, discretionary

18 spending levels at the baseline levels

19 underlying the most recently agreed to

20 concurrent resolution on the budget;

21 and

22 ‘‘(ii) adjusted for changes in the sur23 plus levels set forth in the most recently

24 agreed to concurrent resolution on the

25 budget pursuant to procedures in such res-
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1 olution that authorize adjustments in

2 budgetary aggregates for updated economic

3 and technical assumptions in the mid-ses4 sion report of the Director of the Congres5 sional Budget Office.

6 ‘‘(iii) Such revisions shall be included in

7 the first current level report on the congres8 sional budget submitted for publication in the

9 Congressional Record after the release of such

10 mid-session report.

11 ‘‘(B) BUDGETARY TREATMENT.—For pur12 poses of enforcing any point of order under sub13 section (c)(2), changes in outlays or receipts re14 sulting from social security reform legislation or

15 medicare reform legislation shall not be counted

16 in calculating the surplus for any fiscal year.

17 ‘‘(3) DISCLOSURE OF HI SURPLUS.—For pur18 poses of enforcing any point of order under sub19 section (c), the surplus of the Federal Hospital In20 surance Trust Fund for a fiscal year shall be the

21 levels set forth in the later of the report accom22 panying the concurrent resolution on the budget (or,

23 in the absence of such a report, placed in the Con24 gressional Record prior to the consideration of such
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1 resolution) or in the joint explanatory statement of

2 managers accompanying such resolution.

3 ‘‘(f) ADDITIONAL CONTENT OF REPORTS ACCOM4 PANYING BUDGET RESOLUTIONS AND OF JOINT EXPLAN5 ATORY STATEMENTS.—The report accompanying any con6 current resolution on the budget and the joint explanatory

7 statement accompanying the conference report on each

8 such resolution shall include the levels of the surplus in

9 the budget for each fiscal year set forth in such resolution

10 and of the surplus or deficit in the Federal Hospital Insur11 ance Trust Fund, calculated using the assumptions set

12 forth in subsection (e)(2)(A).

13 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section:

14 ‘‘(1) The term ‘medicare reform legislation’

15 means a bill or a joint resolution to save Medicare

16 that includes a provision stating the following: ‘For

17 purposes of section 201(c) of the concurrent resolu18 tion on the budget for fiscal year 2001, this Act con19 stitutes medicare reform legislation.

20 ‘‘(2) The term ‘social security reform legisla21 tion’ means a bill or a joint resolution to save social

22 security that includes a provision stating the fol23 lowing: ‘For purposes of section 201(c) of the con24 current resolution on the budget for fiscal year
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1 2001, this Act constitutes social security reform leg2 islation.’.’’.

3 (5) In the first sentence of subsection (i) (as re4 designated), by striking ‘‘(1)’’.

5 (6) At the end, by adding the following new

6 subsection:

7 ‘‘(j) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall cease to

8 have any force or effect upon the enactment of social secu9 rity reform legislation and medicare reform legislation.’’.

10 (b) PROTECTION OF SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDI11 CARE SURPLUSES.—(1) If the budget of the United States

12 Government submitted by the President under section

13 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, recommends an

14 on-budget surplus for any fiscal year that is less than the

15 surplus of the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund for

16 that fiscal year, then it shall include proposed legislative

17 language for social security reform legislation or medicare

18 reform legislation.

19 (2) Paragraph (1) shall cease to have any force or

20 effect upon the enactment of social security reform legisla21 tion and medicare reform legislation as defined by section

22 201(g) of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fis23 cal year 2001 (H. Con. Res 290, 106th Congress).

24 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The item relating

25 to section 201 in the table of contents set forth in section
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1 1(b) of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal

2 year 2001 (H. Con. Res 290, 106th Congress) is amended

3 to read as follows:

‘‘Sec. 201. Protection of social security and medicare surpluses.’’.

4 SEC. 202. REMOVING SOCIAL SECURITY FROM BUDGET

5 PRONOUNCEMENTS.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any official statement issued by

7 the Office of Management and Budget, the Congressional

8 Budget Office, or any other agency or instrumentality of

9 the Federal Government of surplus or deficit totals of the

10 budget of the United States Government as submitted by

11 the President or of the surplus or deficit totals of the con12 gressional budget, and any description of, or reference to,

13 such totals in any official publication or material issued

14 by either of such Offices or any other such agency or in15 strumentality, shall exclude the outlays and receipts of the

16 old-age, survivors, and disability insurance program under

17 title II of the Social Security Act (including the Federal

18 Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the

19 Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund) and the related

20 provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

21 (b) SEPARATE SOCIAL SECURITY BUDGET DOCU22 MENTS.—The excluded outlays and receipts of the old-age,

23 survivors, and disability insurance program under title II
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1 of the Social Security Act shall be submitted in separate

2 Social Security budget documents.

Passed the House of Representatives September 18,

2000.

Attest:

Clerk.