I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 354

To amend the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974

to provide for the expedited consideration of certain proposed rescissions

of budget authority.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 5, 1993

Mr. SLATTERY introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the

Committees on Government Operations and Rules

A BILL

To amend the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to provide for the expedited consideration of certain proposed rescissions of budget authority.

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 ‘‘Expedited Consider5 ation of Proposed Rescissions Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION OF CERTAIN PRO7 POSED RESCISSIONS.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part B of title X of the Congres9 sional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (2
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1 U.S.C. 681 et seq.) is amended by redesignating sections

2 1013 through 1017 as sections 1014 through 1018, re3 spectively, and inserting after section 1012 the following

4 new section:

5 ‘‘EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION OF CERTAIN PROPOSED

6 RESCISSIONS

7 ‘‘SEC. 1013. (a) PROPOSED RESCISSION OF BUDGET

8 AUTHORITY.—In addition to the method of rescinding

9 budget authority specified in section 1012, the President

10 may propose, at the time and in the manner provided in

11 subsection (b), the rescission of any budget authority pro12 vided in an appropriations Act. Funds made available for

13 obligation under this procedure may not be proposed for

14 rescission again under this section or section 1012.

15 ‘‘(b) TRANSMITTAL OF SPECIAL MESSAGE.—

16 ‘‘(1) Not later than 3 days after the date of en17 actment of an appropriation Act, the President may

18 transmit to Congress a special message proposing to

19 rescind amounts of budget authority provided in

20 that Act and include with that special message a

21 draft bill or joint resolution that, if enacted, would

22 only rescind that budget authority.

23 ‘‘(2) In the case of an appropriation Act that

24 includes accounts within the jurisdiction of more

25 than one subcommittee of the Committee on Appro26 priations, the President in proposing to rescind
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1 budget authority under this section shall send a sep2 arate special message and accompanying draft bill or

3 joint resolution for accounts within the jurisdiction

4 of each such subcommittee.

5 ‘‘(3) Each special message shall specify, with

6 respect to the budget authority proposed to be re7 scinded, the matters referred to in paragraphs (1)

8 through (5) of section 1012(a).

9 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON AMOUNTS SUBJECT TO RESCIS10 SION.—

11 ‘‘(1) The amount of budget authority which the

12 President may propose to rescind in a special mes13 sage under this section for a particular program,

14 project, or activity for a fiscal year may not exceed

15 25 percent of the amount appropriated for that pro16 gram, project, or activity in that Act.

17 ‘‘(2) The limitation contained in paragraph (1)

18 shall only apply to a program, project, or activity

19 that is authorized by law.

20 ‘‘(d) PROCEDURES FOR EXPEDITED CONSIDER21 ATION.—

22 ‘‘(1)(A) Before the close of the second day of

23 continuous session of the applicable House after the

24 date of receipt of a special message transmitted to

25 Congress under subsection (b), the majority leader
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1 or minority leader of the House of Congress in

2 which the appropriation Act involved originated shall

3 introduce (by request) the draft bill or joint resolu4 tion accompanying that special message. If the bill

5 or joint resolution is not introduced as provided in

6 the preceding sentence, then, on the third day of

7 continuous session of that House after the date of

8 receipt of that special message, any Member of that

9 House may introduce the bill or joint resolution.

10 ‘‘(B) The bill or joint resolution shall be re11 ferred to the Committee on Appropriations of that

12 House. The committee shall report the bill or joint

13 resolution without substantive revision and with or

14 without recommendation. The bill or joint resolution

15 shall be reported not later than the seventh day of

16 continuous session of that House after the date of

17 receipt of that special message. If the Committee on

18 Appropriations fails to report the bill or joint resolu19 tion within that period, that committee shall be

20 automatically discharged from consideration of the

21 bill or joint resolution, and the bill or joint resolu22 tion shall be placed on the appropriate calendar.

23 ‘‘(C) A vote on final passage of the bill or joint

24 resolution shall be taken in that House on or before

25 the close of the 10th calendar day of continuous ses-
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1 sion of that House after the date of the introduction

2 of the bill or joint resolution in that House. If the

3 bill or joint resolution is agreed to, the Clerk of the

4 House of Representatives (in the case of a bill or

5 joint resolution agreed to in the House of Represent6 atives) or the Secretary of the Senate (in the case

7 of a bill or joint resolution agreed to in the Senate)

8 shall cause the bill or joint resolution to be en9 grossed, certified, and transmitted to the other

10 House of Congress on the same calendar day on

11 which the bill or joint resolution is agreed to.

12 ‘‘(2)(A) A bill or joint resolution transmitted to

13 the House of Representatives or the Senate pursu14 ant to paragraph (1)(C) shall be referred to the

15 Committee on Appropriations of that House. The

16 committee shall report the bill or joint resolution

17 without substantive revision and with or without rec18 ommendation. The bill or joint resolution shall be re19 ported not later than the seventh day of continuous

20 session of that House after it receives the bill or

21 joint resolution. A committee failing to report the

22 bill or joint resolution within such period shall be

23 automatically discharged from consideration of the

24 bill or joint resolution, and the bill or joint resolu25 tion shall be placed upon the appropriate calendar.
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1 ‘‘(B) A vote on final passage of a bill or joint

2 resolution transmitted to that House shall be taken

3 on or before the close of the 10th calendar day of

4 continuous session of that House after the date on

5 which the bill or joint resolution is transmitted. If

6 the bill or joint resolution is agreed to in that

7 House, the Clerk of the House of Representatives

8 (in the case of a bill or joint resolution agreed to in

9 the House of Representatives) or the Secretary of

10 the Senate (in the case of a bill or joint resolution

11 agreed to in the Senate) shall cause the engrossed

12 bill or joint resolution to be returned to the House

13 in which the bill or joint resolution originated.

14 ‘‘(3)(A) A motion in the House of Representa15 tives to proceed to the consideration of a bill or joint

16 resolution under this section shall be highly privi17 leged and not debatable. An amendment to the mo18 tion shall not be in order, nor shall it be in order

19 to move to reconsider the vote by which the motion

20 is agreed to or disagreed to.

21 ‘‘(B) Debate in the House of Representatives

22 on a bill or joint resolution under this section shall

23 not exceed 4 hours, which shall be divided equally

24 between those favoring and those opposing the bill

25 or joint resolution. A motion further to limit debate
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1 shall not be debatable. It shall not be in order to

2 move to recommit a bill or joint resolution under

3 this section or to move to reconsider the vote by

4 which the bill or joint resolution is agreed to or dis5 agreed to.

6 ‘‘(C) Appeals from decisions of the Chair relat7 ing to the application of the Rules of the House of

8 Representatives to the procedure relating to a bill or

9 joint resolution under this section shall be decided

10 without debate.

11 ‘‘(D) Except to the extent specifically provided

12 in the preceding provisions of this subsection, con13 sideration of a bill or joint resolution under this sec14 tion shall be governed by the Rules of the House of

15 Representatives.

16 ‘‘(4)(A) A motion in the Senate to proceed to

17 the consideration of a bill or joint resolution under

18 this section shall be privileged and not debatable. An

19 amendment to the motion shall not be in order, nor

20 shall it be in order to move to reconsider the vote

21 by which the motion is agreed to or disagreed to.

22 ‘‘(B) Debate in the Senate on a bill or joint res23 olution under this section, and all debatable motions

24 and appeals in connection therewith, shall not exceed

25 10 hours. The time shall be equally divided between,
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1 and controlled by, the majority leader and the mi2 nority leader or their designees.

3 ‘‘(C) Debate in the Senate on any debatable

4 motion or appeal in connection with a bill or joint

5 resolution under this section shall be limited to not

6 more than 1 hour, to be equally divided between,

7 and controlled by, the mover and the manager of the

8 bill or joint resolution, except that in the event the

9 manager of the bill or joint resolution is in favor of

10 any such motion or appeal, the time in opposition

11 thereto, shall be controlled by the minority leader or

12 his designee. Such leaders, or either of them, may,

13 from time under their control on the passage of a

14 bill or joint resolution, allot additional time to any

15 Senator during the consideration of any debatable

16 motion or appeal.

17 ‘‘(D) A motion in the Senate to further limit

18 debate on a bill or joint resolution under this section

19 is not debatable. A motion to recommit a bill or joint

20 resolution under this section is not in order.

21 ‘‘(e) AMENDMENTS PROHIBITED.—No amendment to

22 a bill or joint resolution considered under this section shall

23 be in order in either the House of Representatives or the

24 Senate. No motion to suspend the application of this sub25 section shall be in order in either House, nor shall it be
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1 in order in either House to suspend the application of this

2 subsection by unanimous consent.

3 ‘‘(f) REQUIREMENT TO MAKE AVAILABLE FOR OBLI4 GATION.—Any amount of budget authority proposed to be

5 rescinded in a special message transmitted to Congress

6 under subsection (b) shall be made available for obligation

7 on the day after the date on which either House defeats

8 the bill or joint resolution transmitted with that special

9 message.

10 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—

11 ‘‘(1) the term ‘appropriation Act’ means any

12 general or special appropriation Act, and any Act or

13 joint resolution making supplemental, deficiency, or

14 continuing appropriations; and

15 ‘‘(2) continuity of a session of either House of

16 Congress shall be considered as broken only by an

17 adjournment of that House sine die, and the days on

18 which that House is not in session because of an ad19 journment of more than 3 days to a date certain

20 shall be excluded in the computation of any period.’’.

21 (b) EXERCISE OF RULEMAKING POWERS.—Section

22 904 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 621 note) is amended—

23 (1) by striking ‘‘and 1017’’ in subsection (a)

24 and inserting ‘‘1013, and 1018’’; and
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1 (2) by striking ‘‘section 1017’’ in subsection (d)

2 and inserting ‘‘sections 1013 and 1018’’; and

3 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

4 (1) Section 1011 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 682(5))

5 is amended—

6 (A) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘1013’’

7 and inserting ‘‘1014’’; and

8 (B) in paragraph (5)—

9 (i) by striking ‘‘1016’’ and inserting

10 ‘‘1017’’; and

11 (ii) by striking ‘‘1017(b)(1)’’ and in12 serting ‘‘1018(b)(1)’’.

13 (2) Section 1015 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 685)

14 (as redesignated by section 2(a)) is amended—

15 (A) by striking ‘‘1012 or 1013’’ each place

16 it appears and inserting ‘‘1012, 1013, or

17 1014’’;

18 (B) in subsection (b)(1), by striking

19 ‘‘1012’’ and inserting ‘‘1012 or 1013’’;

20 (C) in subsection (b)(2), by striking

21 ‘‘1013’’ and inserting ‘‘1014’’; and

22 (D) in subsection (e)(2)—

23 (i) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of

24 subparagraph (A);
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1 (ii) by redesignating subparagraph

2 (B) as subparagraph (C);

3 (iii) by striking ‘‘1013’’ in subpara4 graph (C) (as so redesignated) and insert5 ing ‘‘1014’’; and

6 (iv) by inserting after subparagraph

7 (A) the following new subparagraph:

8 ‘‘(B) he has transmitted a special message

9 under section 1013 with respect to a proposed

10 rescission; and’’.

11 (3) Section 1016 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 686)

12 (as redesignated by section 2(a)) is amended by

13 striking ‘‘1012 or 1013’’ each place it appears and

14 inserting ‘‘1012, 1013, or 1014’’.

15 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of sections

16 for subpart B of title X of such Act is amended—

17 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec18 tions 1013 through 1017 as items relating to sec19 tions 1014 through 1018; and

20 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec21 tion 1012 the following new item:

‘‘Sec. 1013. Expedited consideration of certain proposed rescissions.’’.

22 SEC. 3. APPLICATION.

23 Section 1013 of the Congressional Budget and Im24 poundment Control Act of 1974 (as added by section 2)

25 shall apply to amounts of budget authority provided by
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1 appropriation Acts (as defined in subsection (g) of such

2 section) that are enacted during the One Hundred Third

3 Congress.

4 SEC. 4. TERMINATION.

5 The authority provided by section 1013 of the Con6 gressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974

7 (as added by section 2) shall terminate effective on the

8 date in 1994 on which Congress adjourns sine die.

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