I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 537

To amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to provide for budgeting

for emergencies through the establishment of a budget reserve account,

and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 3, 1999

Mr. CASTLE (for himself, Mr. UPTON, Mr. EHLERS, Mr. HOUGHTON, Mr.

GILCHREST, Mr. STENHOLM, Mr. KOLBE, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr.

BOEHLERT, Mrs. MYRICK, Mrs. ROUKEMA, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr.

FOLEY, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. GILLMOR, Mr. HALL of Texas,

Mr. NETHERCUTT, Mr. LUTHER, Mr. BEREUTER, Mr. MINGE, Mr.

ENGLISH of Pennsylvania, Mr. HILLIARD, Mr. PETRI, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr.

SMITH of Washington, Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, Mr. COBURN, and

Mr. GREENWOOD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on the Budget, 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 amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to provide

for budgeting for emergencies through the establishment

of a budget reserve account, 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,
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1 SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF BUDGET RESERVE AC2 COUNT.

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—A budget reserve account

4 (hereinafter in this section referred to as the ‘‘account’’)

5 shall be established for the purpose of setting aside ade6 quate funding for natural disasters and national security

7 emergencies.

8 (b) PRIOR APPROPRIATION REQUIRED.—The ac9 count shall consist of such sums as may be provided in

10 advance in appropriation Acts for a particular fiscal year.

11 (c) RESTRICTION ON USE OF FUNDS.—(1) Notwith12 standing any other provision of law, the amounts in the

13 account shall not be available for other than emergency

14 funding requirements for particular natural disasters or

15 national security emergencies so designated by Acts of

16 Congress.

17 (2) Funds in the account that are not obligated dur18 ing the fiscal year for which they are appropriated may

19 only be used for deficit reduction purposes.

20 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET PROCESS CHANGES.

21 (a) CONTENTS OF CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS ON

22 THE BUDGET.—Section 301(a) of the Congressional

23 Budget Act of 1974 is amended by redesignating para24 graphs (6) and (7) as paragraphs (7) and (8), respectively,

25 and by inserting after paragraph (5) the following new

26 paragraph:
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HR 537 IH

1 ‘‘(6) total new budget authority and total

2 budget outlays for emergency funding requirements

3 for natural disasters and national security emer4 gencies to be included in a budget reserve account;’’.

5 (b) SECTION 302 ALLOCATIONS.—Section 302 of the

6 Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is amended by adding

7 at the end the following new subsection:

8 ‘‘(h) COMMITTEE SPENDING ALLOCATIONS AND SUB9 ALLOCATIONS FOR BUDGET RESERVE ACCOUNT.—

10 ‘‘(1) ALLOCATIONS.—The joint explanatory

11 statement accompanying a conference report on a

12 budget resolution shall include allocations, consistent

13 with the resolution recommended in the conference

14 report, of the appropriate levels (for each fiscal year

15 covered by that resolution) of total new budget au16 thority and outlays to the Committee on Appropria17 tions of each House for emergency funding require18 ments for natural disasters and national security

19 emergencies to be included in a budget reserve

20 account.

21 ‘‘(2) SUBALLOCATIONS.—As soon as practicable

22 after a budget resolution is agreed to, the Commit23 tee on Appropriations of each House (after consult24 ing with the Committee on Appropriations of the

25 other House) shall suballocate each amount allocated
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1 to it for the budget year under paragraph (1) among

2 its subcommittees. Each Committee on Appropria3 tions shall promptly report to its House suballoca4 tions made or revised under this paragraph.’’.

5 SEC. 3. REPEAL OF ADJUSTMENT FOR EMERGENCY APPRO6 PRIATIONS.

7 Section 251(b)(2)(A) of the Balanced Budget and

8 Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is repealed.

9 SEC. 4. REPORTING.

10 Not later than November 30, 2000, and at annual

11 intervals thereafter, the Director of the Office of Manage12 ment and Budget shall submit a report to each House of

13 Congress listing the amounts of money expended from the

14 budget reserve account established under section 1 for the

15 fiscal year ending during that calendar year for each natu16 ral disaster and national security emergency.

17 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

18 This Act and the amendments made by it shall apply

19 to fiscal year 2000 and subsequent fiscal years.

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