II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1713 

To establish a timely and expeditious process for voting on the statutory 

debt limit. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 13, 2011 

Mrs. BOXER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To establish a timely and expeditious process for voting 

on the statutory debt limit. 

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 ‘‘U.S.A. AAA Credit 

5 Restoration Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO TITLE 31. 

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

8 amended to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘(b) LIMIT.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

2 provision of law, the face amount of obligations 

3 issued under this chapter and the face amount of ob4 ligations whose principal and interest are guaranteed 

5 by the United States Government (except guaran6 teed obligations held by the Secretary of the Treas7 ury) may not be more than an amount determined 

8 by the Secretary, as provided by this section. 

9 ‘‘(2) SECRETARIAL MESSAGE.— 

10 ‘‘(A) TIMING.—On the same day the Presi11 dent submits a budget to Congress as required 

12 by section 1105 the Secretary shall submit to 

13 the Congress a message on the public debt 

14 limit. 

15 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—The message shall in16 clude an estimate of the amount the public debt 

17 limit will need to be increased, if necessary, for 

18 the period of time between the submission of 

19 the current Secretarial message and the Secre20 tarial message that will be submitted the fol21 lowing year, as required by subparagraph (A), 

22 based on estimates of Federal revenues, manda23 tory expenditures, and discretionary expendi24 tures. 


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1 ‘‘(3) FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICE.—On the 

2 same day the Secretary submits the message de3 scribed in paragraph (2), the Secretary shall publish 

4 in the Federal Register the amount of the public 

5 debt limit that would be necessary to accommodate 

6 the requirements described in paragraph (2)(B). 

7 ‘‘(4) CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL PROC8 ESS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) JOINT RESOLUTION.—For purposes 

10 of this section, the term ‘joint resolution’ means 

11 only a joint resolution introduced in the period 

12 beginning on the date on which the notice de13 scribed in paragraph (3) is published in the 

14 Federal Register and ending 3 days thereafter 

15 (excluding days either House of Congress is ad16 journed for more than 3 days during a session 

17 of Congress), the matter after the resolving 

18 clause of which is as follows: ‘That Congress 

19 disapproves of the Secretary’s exercise of au20 thority to increase the debt limit, as exercised 

21 pursuant to the certification under section 

22 3101(b) of title 31, United States Code.’. 

23 ‘‘(B) EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION IN

24 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) RECONVENING.—Upon publica2 tion of the Federal Register notice de3 scribed in paragraph (3) the Speaker, if 

4 the House would otherwise be adjourned, 

5 shall notify the Members of the House 

6 that, pursuant to this subsection, the 

7 House shall convene not later than the sec8 ond calendar day after receipt of such cer9 tification. 

10 ‘‘(ii) REPORTING AND DISCHARGE.— 

11 If the committee to which is referred a 

12 joint resolution described in subparagraph 

13 (A) has not reported such joint resolution 

14 at the end of 6 calendar days after the 

15 publication of the Federal Register notice 

16 described in paragraph (3), such com17 mittee may be discharged from further 

18 consideration of such joint resolution upon 

19 a petition supported in writing by 218 

20 Members of the House of Representatives, 

21 and such joint resolution shall be placed on 

22 the calendar. 

23 ‘‘(iii) TIMING.—A petition to dis24 charge the joint resolution must be filed no 

25 later than 6 calendar days after the publiVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:10 Oct 14, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1713.IS S1713

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1 cation of the Federal Register notice de2 scribed in paragraph (3). 

3 ‘‘(iv) PROCEEDING TO CONSIDER4 ATION.—After each committee authorized 

5 to consider a joint resolution reports it to 

6 the House or has been discharged from its 

7 consideration, it shall be in order, not later 

8 than the 3 calendar days after the joint 

9 resolution under subparagraph (A) is re10 ported or discharged, to move to proceed 

11 to consider the joint resolution in the 

12 House. All points of order against the mo13 tion are waived. Such a motion shall not be 

14 in order after the House has disposed of a 

15 motion to proceed on a joint resolution ad16 dressing a particular submission. The pre17 vious question shall be considered as or18 dered on the motion to its adoption with19 out intervening motion. The motion shall 

20 not be debatable. A motion to reconsider 

21 the vote by which the motion is disposed of 

22 shall not be in order. 

23 ‘‘(v) CONSIDERATION.—The joint res24 olution shall be considered as read. All 

25 points of order against the joint resolution 


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1 and against its consideration are waived. 

2 The previous question shall be considered 

3 as ordered on the joint resolution to its 

4 passage without intervening motion except 

5 two hours of debate equally divided and 

6 controlled by the proponent and an oppo7 nent. A motion to reconsider the vote on 

8 passage of the joint resolution shall not be 

9 in order. 

10 ‘‘(C) EXPEDITED PROCEDURE IN THE

11 SENATE.— 

12 ‘‘(i) RECONVENING.—Upon publica13 tion of the Federal Register notice de14 scribed in paragraph (3), if the Senate has 

15 adjourned or recessed for more than 2 

16 days, the majority leader of the Senate, 

17 after consultation with the minority leader 

18 of the Senate, shall notify the Members of 

19 the Senate that, pursuant to this section, 

20 the Senate shall convene not later than the 

21 second calendar day after publication of 

22 such notice. 

23 ‘‘(ii) REPORTING AND DISCHARGE.— 

24 If the committee to which is referred a 

25 joint resolution described in subparagraph 


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1 (A) has not reported such joint resolution 

2 at the end of 6 calendar days after the 

3 publication of Federal Register notice de4 scribed in paragraph (3), such committee 

5 may be discharged from further consider6 ation of such joint resolution upon a peti7 tion supported in writing by 40 Members 

8 of the Senate, and such joint resolution 

9 shall be placed on the calendar. 

10 ‘‘(iii) TIMING.—A petition to dis11 charge the joint resolution must be filed no 

12 later than 6 calendar days after the publi13 cation of the Federal Register notice de14 scribed in paragraph (3). 

15 ‘‘(iv) PROCEEDING TO CONSIDER16 ATION.—When the committee to which a 

17 joint resolution described in subparagraph 

18 (A) is referred has reported, or when a 

19 committee is discharged, it is at any time 

20 thereafter in order for a motion to proceed 

21 to the consideration of the joint resolution, 

22 and all points of order against the joint 

23 resolution (and against consideration of 

24 the joint resolution) are waived. The mo25 tion is not subject to amendment, or to a 


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1 motion to postpone, or to a motion to pro2 ceed to the consideration of other business. 

3 A motion to reconsider the vote by which 

4 the motion is agreed to or disagreed to 

5 shall not be in order. If a motion to pro6 ceed to the consideration of the joint reso7 lution is agreed to, the joint resolution 

8 shall remain the unfinished business of the 

9 Senate until disposed of. 

10 ‘‘(v) CONSIDERATION.—Consideration 

11 of the joint resolution described in sub12 paragraph (A) and on all debatable mo13 tions and appeals in connection therewith, 

14 shall be limited to not more than 10 hours, 

15 which shall be divided equally between 

16 those favoring and those opposing the joint 

17 resolution. A motion further to limit de18 bate is in order and not debatable. An 

19 amendment to, or a motion to postpone, or 

20 a motion to proceed to the consideration of 

21 other business, or a motion to recommit 

22 the joint resolution is not in order. 

23 ‘‘(vi) VOTE ON PASSAGE.—If the Sen24 ate has voted to proceed to the joint reso25 lution described in subparagraph (A), the 


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1 vote on passage of the joint resolution shall 

2 occur immediately following the conclusion 

3 of consideration of the joint resolution, and 

4 a single quorum call at the conclusion of 

5 the debate if requested in accordance with 

6 the rules of the Senate. 

7 ‘‘(vii) RULINGS OF THE CHAIR ON

8 PROCEDURE.—Appeals from the decisions 

9 of the Chair relating to the application of 

10 the rules of the Senate to the procedure re11 lating to a joint resolution described in 

12 subparagraph (A) shall be decided without 

13 debate. 

14 ‘‘(D) AMENDMENT NOT IN ORDER.—A 

15 joint resolution considered pursuant to this sub16 section shall not be subject to amendment in ei17 ther the House of Representatives or the Sen18 ate. 

19 ‘‘(E) COORDINATION WITH ACTION BY

20 OTHER HOUSE.—If, before passing the joint 

21 resolution described in subsection (A), one 

22 House receives from the other a joint resolu23 tion— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the joint resolution of the other 

2 House shall not be referred to a com3 mittee; 

4 ‘‘(ii) the procedure in the receiving 

5 House shall be the same as if no joint res6 olution had been received from the other 

7 House until the vote on passage, when the 

8 joint resolution received from the other 

9 House shall supplant the joint resolution of 

10 the receiving House; 

11 ‘‘(iii) if the Senate fails to introduce 

12 or consider a joint resolution under this 

13 section, the joint resolution of the House 

14 shall be entitled to expedited floor proce15 dures under this section; 

16 ‘‘(iv) if, following passage of the joint 

17 resolution in the Senate, the Senate then 

18 receives the companion measure from the 

19 House of Representatives, the companion 

20 measure shall not be debatable; and 

21 ‘‘(v) debate on a veto message in the 

22 Senate under this section shall be 1 hour 

23 equally divided between the majority and 

24 minority leaders or their designees. 


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1 ‘‘(F) RULES OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTA2 TIVES AND SENATE.—This paragraph is en3 acted by Congress— 

4 ‘‘(i) as an exercise of the rulemaking 

5 power of the Senate and House of Rep6 resentatives, respectively, and as such it is 

7 deemed a part of the rules of each House, 

8 respectively, but applicable only with re9 spect to the procedure to be followed in 

10 that House in the case of a joint resolu11 tion, and it supersedes other rules only to 

12 the extent that it is inconsistent with such 

13 rules; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) with full recognition of the con15 stitutional right of either House to change 

16 the rules (so far as relating to the proce17 dure of that House) at any time, in the 

18 same manner, and to the same extent as in 

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

20 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

21 The amendment made by section 2 shall take effect 

22 January 1, 2013. 

Æ 


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