II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1936 

To adopt the seven immediate reforms recommended by the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform to reduce spending and make 

the Federal government more efficient. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 1, 2011 

Mr. JOHNSON of Wisconsin (for himself, Mrs. HUTCHISON, Mr. WICKER, Mr. 

RISCH, Mr. COBURN, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. DEMINT, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. ENZI, 

Mr. CORNYN, Mr. LEE, Mr. PAUL, Mr. BARRASSO, Ms. AYOTTE, and Mr. 

MCCAIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To adopt the seven immediate reforms recommended by the 

National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform to reduce spending and make the Federal government more efficient. 

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 ‘‘Implementation of 

5 Simpson-Bowles Spending Reductions Act of 2011’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REDUCTION IN APPROPRIATIONS TO THE WHITE 

2 HOUSE AND CONGRESS. 

3 (a) APPROPRIATIONS TO THE WHITE HOUSE.—Not4 withstanding any other provision of law, the total amount 

5 of funds appropriated to the appropriations account under 

6 the heading ‘‘THE WHITE HOUSE’’ under the heading 

7 ‘‘EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT AND 

8 FUNDS APPROPRIATED TO THE PRESIDENT’’ for 

9 each of fiscal years 2012 through 2016 may not exceed 

10 85 percent of the total amount of funds appropriated to 

11 that account for fiscal year 2011. 

12 (b) APPROPRIATIONS TO CONGRESS.—Notwith13 standing any other provision of law, the total amount of 

14 funds appropriated under the headings ‘‘SENATE’’ and 

15 ‘‘HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES’’ for each of fiscal 

16 years 2012 through 2016 may not exceed 85 percent of 

17 the total amount of funds appropriated under those head18 ings for fiscal year 2011. 

19 SEC. 3. NO COST OF LIVING ADJUSTMENT IN PAY OF MEM20 BERS OF CONGRESS. 

21 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no ad22 justment shall be made under section 601(a) of the Legis23 lative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 31) (relating 

24 to cost of living adjustments for Members of Congress) 

25 during fiscal years 2013, 2014, and 2015. 


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1 SEC. 4. PAY FREEZE FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES. 

2 Section 147 of the Continuing Appropriations Act, 

3 2011 (Public Law 111–242) is amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘December 

5 31, 2012’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 2015’’; and 

6 (2) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘December 31, 

7 2012’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 2015’’. 

8 SEC. 5. REDUCTION IN FEDERAL WORKFORCE. 

9 (a) DEFINITION.—For the purpose of this section— 

10 (1) the term ‘‘total number of Federal employ11 ees’’ means the total number of Federal employees 

12 in all agencies; 

13 (2) the term ‘‘Federal employee’’ means an em14 ployee as defined by section 2105 of title 5, United 

15 States Code; and 

16 (3) the term ‘‘agency’’ means an Executive 

17 agency as defined by section 105 of title 5, United 

18 States Code, excluding the Government Account19 ability Office. 

20 (b) LIMITATION.—The President, through the Office 

21 of Management and Budget (in consultation with the Of22 fice of Personnel Management), shall take appropriate 

23 measures to ensure that, effective beginning in fiscal year 

24 2015, the total number of Federal employees (as deter25 mined under subsection (c)) shall not exceed 90 percent 


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1 of the total number of Federal employees as of September 

2 30, 2011 (as so determined). 

3 (c) MONITORING AND NOTIFICATION.—The Office of 

4 Management and Budget (in consultation with the Office 

5 of Personnel Management)— 

6 (1) shall continuously monitor all agencies and 

7 make a determination, as of September 30, 2011, 

8 and the last day of each quarter of each fiscal year 

9 beginning thereafter, as to whether or not the total 

10 number of Federal employees exceeds the maximum 

11 number allowable under subsection (b); and 

12 (2) whenever a determination under paragraph 

13 (1) is made that the total number of Federal em14 ployees exceeds the maximum number allowable 

15 under subsection (b), shall provide written notice to 

16 that effect to the President and Congress within 14 

17 days after the last day of the quarter to which such 

18 determination relates. 

19 (d) COMPLIANCE.—Whenever, with respect to the 

20 quarter ending on September 30, 2014, or any subsequent 

21 quarter, the Office of Management and Budget provides 

22 written notice under subsection (c)(2) that the total num23 ber of Federal employees exceeds the maximum number 

24 allowable under subsection (b), no agency may thereafter 

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1 cy until the Office of Management and Budget provides 

2 written notice to the President and Congress of a deter3 mination under subsection (c)(1) that the total number 

4 of Federal employees no longer exceeds the maximum 

5 number allowable under subsection (b). Any notice under 

6 the preceding sentence shall be provided within 14 days 

7 after the last day of the quarter to which the determina8 tion relates. 

9 (e) WAIVER.— 

10 (1) EMERGENCIES.—This section may be 

11 waived upon a determination by the President 

12 that— 

13 (A) the existence of a state of war or other 

14 national security concern so requires; or 

15 (B) the existence of an extraordinary 

16 emergency threatening life, health, public safe17 ty, property, or the environment so requires. 

18 (2) AGENCY EFFICIENCY OR CRITICAL MIS19 SION.—This section may be waived, with respect to 

20 a particular position or category of positions in an 

21 agency, upon a determination by the President that 

22 the efficiency of the agency or the performance of a 

23 critical agency mission so requires. 

24 (f) REPLACEMENT RATE.—To the extent necessary 

25 to achieve the workforce reduction required by subsection 


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1 (b), the Office of Management and Budget (in consulta2 tion with the Office of Personnel Management) shall take 

3 appropriate measures to ensure that agencies shall ap4 point no more than 1 employee for every 3 employees retir5 ing or otherwise separating from Government service after 

6 the date of the enactment of this Act. This subsection 

7 shall cease to apply after September 30, 2014. 

8 (g) COUNTING RULE.—For purposes of this section, 

9 any determination of the number of employees in an agen10 cy shall be expressed on a full-time equivalent basis. 

11 (h) LIMITATION ON PROCUREMENT OF SERVICE

12 CONTRACTS.—The President, through the Office of Man13 agement and Budget (in consultation with the Office of 

14 Personnel Management), shall take appropriate measures 

15 to ensure that there is no increase in the procurement of 

16 service contracts by reason of the enactment of this Act, 

17 except in cases in which a cost comparison demonstrates 

18 that such contracts would be to the financial advantage 

19 of the Government. 

20 SEC. 6. REDUCTION IN GOVERNMENT TRAVEL COSTS. 

21 (a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘agency’’ 

22 means an executive agency as defined under section 105 

23 of title 5, United States Code. 

24 (b) REDUCTION.—Notwithstanding any other provi25 sion of law, the total amount of funds appropriated to the 


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1 appropriations account providing for travel expenses for 

2 each agency for each of fiscal years 2012, 2013, 2014, 

3 2015, and 2016 may not exceed 80 percent of the total 

4 amount of funds appropriated to each of those appropria5 tions accounts for fiscal year 2011. 

6 SEC. 7. LIMITATION ON GOVERNMENT PRINTING COSTS. 

7 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

8 of this Act, the Director of the Office of Management and 

9 Budget shall coordinate with the heads of Federal depart10 ments and independent agencies to— 

11 (1) determine which Government publications 

12 could be available on Government websites and no 

13 longer printed and to devise a strategy to reduce 

14 overall Government printing costs over the 10-year 

15 period beginning with fiscal year 2012, except that 

16 the Director shall ensure that essential printed docu17 ments prepared for social security recipients, medi18 care beneficiaries, and other populations in areas 

19 with limited internet access or use continue to re20 main available; 

21 (2) establish government-wide Federal guide22 lines on employee printing; 

23 (3) issue on the Office of Management and 

24 Budget’s public website the results of a cost-benefit 

25 analysis on implementing a digital signature system 


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1 and on establishing employee printing identification 

2 systems, such as the use of individual employee 

3 cards or codes, to monitor the amount of printing 

4 done by Federal employees; except that the Director 

5 of the Office of Management and Budget shall en6 sure that Federal employee printing costs unrelated 

7 to national defense, homeland security, border secu8 rity, national disasters, and other emergencies do 

9 not exceed $860,000,000 annually; and 

10 (4) issue guidelines requiring every department, 

11 agency, commission or office to list at a prominent 

12 place near the beginning of each publication distrib13 uted to the public and issued or paid for by the Fed14 eral Government— 

15 (A) the name of the issuing agency, de16 partment, commission or office; 

17 (B) the total number of copies of the docu18 ment printed; 

19 (C) the collective cost of producing and 

20 printing all of the copies of the document; and 

21 (D) the name of the firm publishing the 

22 document. 

23 SEC. 8. REDUCTION IN FEDERAL VEHICLE COSTS. 

24 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for fiscal 

25 year 2012 and each fiscal year thereafter, the amount 


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1 made available to the General Services Administration for 

2 the acquisition of new vehicles for the Federal fleet shall 

3 not exceed an amount equal to 80 percent of the amount 

4 made available for the acquisition of those vehicles for fis5 cal year 2010. 

6 SEC. 9. SALE OF EXCESS FEDERAL PROPERTY. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 5 of subtitle I of title 40, 

8 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

9 following: 

10 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER VII—EXPEDITED DISPOSAL OF 

11 REAL PROPERTY 

12 ‘‘§ 621. Definitions 

13 ‘‘In this subchapter: 

14 ‘‘(1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ means 

15 the Director of the Office of Management and Budg16 et. 

17 ‘‘(2) LANDHOLDING AGENCY.—The term ‘land18 holding agency’ means a landholding agency (as de19 fined in section 501(i) of the McKinney-Vento 

20 Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11411(i))). 

21 ‘‘(3) REAL PROPERTY.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘real prop23 erty’ means— 


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1 ‘‘(i) a parcel of real property under 

2 the administrative jurisdiction of the Fed3 eral Government that is— 

4 ‘‘(I) excess; 

5 ‘‘(II) surplus; 

6 ‘‘(III) underperforming; or 

7 ‘‘(IV) otherwise not meeting the 

8 needs of the Federal Government, as 

9 determined by the Director; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) a building or other structure lo11 cated on real property described in clause 

12 (i). 

13 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘real prop14 erty’ excludes any parcel of real property, and 

15 any building or other structure located on real 

16 property, that is to be closed or realigned under 

17 the Defense Authorization Amendments and 

18 Base Closure and Realignment Act (10 U.S.C. 

19 2687 note; Public Law 100–526). 

20 ‘‘§ 622. Disposal program 

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

22 (e), the Director shall, by sale or auction, dispose of a 

23 quantity of real property with an aggregate value of not 

24 less than $100,000,000 that, as determined by the Direc25 tor, is not being used, and will not be used, to meet the 


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1 needs of the Federal Government for the period of fiscal 

2 years 2011 through 2015. 

3 ‘‘(b) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The head of each land4 holding agency shall recommend to the Director real prop5 erty for disposal under subsection (a). 

6 ‘‘(c) SELECTION OF PROPERTIES.—After receiving 

7 recommendations of candidate real property under sub8 section (b), the Director— 

9 ‘‘(1) with the concurrence of the head of each 

10 landholding agency, may select the real property for 

11 disposal under subsection (a); and 

12 ‘‘(2) shall notify the recommending landholding 

13 agency head of the selection of the real property. 

14 ‘‘(d) WEBSITE.—The Director shall ensure that all 

15 real properties selected for disposal under this section are 

16 listed on a website that shall— 

17 ‘‘(1) be updated routinely; and 

18 ‘‘(2) include the functionality to allow any 

19 member of the public, at the option of the member, 

20 to receive updates of the list through electronic mail. 

21 ‘‘(e) TRANSFER OF PROPERTY.—The Director may 

22 transfer real property selected for disposal under this sec23 tion to the Department of Housing and Urban Develop24 ment if the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 


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1 determines that the real property is suitable for use in 

2 assisting the homeless.’’. 

3 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

4 The table of sections for chapter 5 of subtitle I of title 

5 40, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the 

6 item relating to section 611 the following: 

‘‘SUBCHAPTER VII—EXPEDITED DISPOSAL OF REAL PROPERTY

‘‘Sec. 621. Definitions. 

‘‘Sec. 622. Disposal program.’’. 

7 SEC. 10. PROHIBITION ON EARMARKS. 

8 Section 312 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 

9 is amended by inserting at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(g) PROHIBITION ON EARMARKS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS.— 

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

13 order in the Senate or the House of Represent14 atives to consider a bill, resolution, or amend15 ment that includes an earmark, limited tax ben16 efit, or limited tariff benefit. 

17 ‘‘(B) PROCEDURE.—In the Senate, a point 

18 of order under this paragraph may be raised by 

19 a Senator as provided in section 313(e) of the 

20 Congressional Budget Act of 1974. 

21 ‘‘(2) CONFERENCE REPORT.— 

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

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1 atives to vote on the adoption of a report of a 

2 committee of conference if the report includes 

3 an earmark, limited tax benefit, or limited tariff 

4 benefit. 

5 ‘‘(B) PROCEDURE.—When the Senate is 

6 considering a conference report on, or an 

7 amendment between the Houses in relation to, 

8 an appropriations act, upon a point of order 

9 being made by any Senator pursuant to this 

10 paragraph, and such point of order being sus11 tained, such material contained in such con12 ference report shall be deemed stricken, and the 

13 Senate shall proceed to consider the question of 

14 whether the Senate shall recede from its 

15 amendment and concur with a further amend16 ment, or concur in the House amendment with 

17 a further amendment, as the case may be, 

18 which further amendment shall consist of only 

19 that portion of the conference report or House 

20 amendment, as the case may be, not so strick21 en. Any such motion in the Senate shall be de22 batable under the same conditions as was the 

23 conference report. In any case in which such 

24 point of order is sustained against a conference 

25 report (or Senate amendment derived from such 


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1 conference report by operation of this sub2 section), no further amendment shall be in 

3 order. 

4 ‘‘(3) WAIVER.—Any Senator may move to waive 

5 any or all points of order under this subsection by 

6 an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Members, 

7 duly chosen and sworn. 

8 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—For the purpose of this 

9 subsection— 

10 ‘‘(A) the term ‘earmark’ means a provision 

11 or report language included primarily at the re12 quest of a Senator or Member of the House of 

13 Representatives providing, authorizing, or rec14 ommending a specific amount of discretionary 

15 budget authority, credit authority, or other 

16 spending authority for a contract, loan, loan 

17 guarantee, grant, loan authority, or other ex18 penditure with or to an entity, or targeted to a 

19 specific State, locality or Congressional district, 

20 other than through a statutory or administra21 tive formula-driven or competitive award proc22 ess; 

23 ‘‘(B) the term ‘limited tax benefit’ means 

24 any revenue provision that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) provides a Federal tax deduction, 

2 credit, exclusion, or preference to a par3 ticular beneficiary or limited group of 

4 beneficiaries under the Internal Revenue 

5 Code of 1986; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) contains eligibility criteria that 

7 are not uniform in application with respect 

8 to potential beneficiaries of such provision; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(C) the term ‘limited tariff benefit’ means 

11 a provision modifying the Harmonized Tariff 

12 Schedule of the United States in a manner that 

13 benefits 10 or fewer entities. 

14 ‘‘(5) APPLICATION.—This subsection shall not 

15 apply to any authorization of appropriations to a 

16 Federal entity if such authorization is not specifi17 cally targeted to a State, locality or congressional 

18 district.’’. 

Æ 


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