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103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3789

To terminate Federal programs that are not reauthorized by the Congress.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 3, 1994

Mr. GRAMS (for himself, Mr. WALKER, Mr. ARMEY, Mr. HUTCHINSON, Mr.

BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. LINDER, Mr. KNOLLENBERG, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. GILCHREST,

and Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was

referred jointly to the Committees on Rules, Government Operations, and

Ways and Means

A BILL

To terminate Federal programs that are not reauthorized

by the Congress.

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 ‘‘Budget Accountability

5 Act of 1994’’.

6 SEC. 2. TERMINATION OF FEDERAL PROGRAMS.

7 (a) TERMINATION OF PROGRAM.—A program of the

8 Federal Government shall terminate—
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1 (1) in the case of a program for which a law,

2 other than a law making appropriations, provides a

3 specific period for which amounts are authorized to

4 be appropriated for the program, upon the expira5 tion of that period; and

6 (2) in the case of any other program, upon the

7 adjournment sine die of any Congress.

8 (b) INAPPLICABILITY REQUIREMENT.—A law en9 acted after the date of enactment of this Act shall not

10 supersede subsection (a) unless it explicitly states the in11 applicability of that subsection.

12 SEC. 3. POINT OF ORDER FOR LEGISLATION NOT CONTAIN13 ING AUTHORIZATION PERIOD.

14 Rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representa15 tives is amended by adding at the end the following:

16 ‘‘9. It shall not be in order to consider a bill, joint

17 resolution, amendment, motion, conference report, concur18 rent resolution, or House resolution that authorizes or re19 quires the performance of any act that would result in the

20 obligation of appropriated amounts unless—

21 ‘‘(a) the bill, joint resolution, amendment, mo22 tion, conference report, concurrent resolution, or

23 House resolution includes a provision that specifies

24 a period for which such amounts are authorized to

25 be appropriated; or
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1 ‘‘(b) there is in effect a law that authorizes, for

2 a specified period, the appropriation of amounts for

3 performing that act.’’.

4 SEC. 4. TERMINATION OF TAX PROVISIONS.

5 No tax shall be imposed by the Internal Revenue

6 Code of 1986 (or any other internal revenue law) for any

7 period after the close of the 103d Congress, unless a later

8 date for such tax to terminate is specified by law.

9 SEC. 5. POINT OF ORDER FOR TAX LEGISLATION NOT CON10 TAINING A TERMINATION DATE.

11 Rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representa12 tives is amended by adding at the end the following:

13 ‘‘10. It shall not be in order to consider a bill, joint

14 resolution, amendment, motion, conference report, concur15 rent resolution, or House resolution providing for any tax

16 or any change affecting the revenue from any tax unless—

17 ‘‘(a) the bill, joint resolution, amendment, mo18 tion, conference report, concurrent resolution, or

19 House resolution includes a provision that specifies

20 a date on which such tax or change terminates; or

21 ‘‘(b) there is in effect a law that specifies a date

22 on which such tax or change terminates.’’.

23 SEC. 6. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.

24 It is the sense of the Congress that—
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1 (1) clause 2 of Rule XXI of the Rules of the

2 House of Representatives clearly prohibits the Com3 mittee on Appropriations of the House of Represent4 atives from reporting in any general appropriations

5 bill—

6 (A) appropriations not previously author7 ized by law, and

8 (B) provisions changing existing law (ex9 cept retrenchments and rescissions of appro10 priations);

11 (2) that rule should be vigorously applied;

12 (3) Federal laws that affect the revenue of the

13 Federal Government—

14 (A) should be periodically reviewed by the

15 appropriate committees of the House of Rep16 resentatives and the Senate;

17 (B) should continue in effect after such re18 view only if determined by the Congress to be

19 necessary for the health of the economy of the

20 United States; and

21 (C) should not be effective after such re22 view if determined by the Congress to have an

23 adverse effect upon the economy of the United

24 States or to have outlived their intended pur25 poses; and
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1 (4) reducing the debt of the Federal Govern2 ment is critical to the long-term health of the econ3 omy of the United States.

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