I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1908 

To specify the priority of the obligations of the United States Government 

if the debt ceiling is reached, to provide for an emergency appropriation 

of funds to pay for certain defense and national security obligations 

during a gap in funding, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 13, 2011 

Mr. AKIN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure and Armed Services, 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 specify the priority of the obligations of the United States 

Government if the debt ceiling is reached, to provide 

for an emergency appropriation of funds to pay for certain defense and national security obligations during a 

gap in funding, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

4 It is the sense of Congress that— 

5 (1) clear funding priorities should be laid out in 

6 case the United States Government reaches the statVerDate Mar 15 2010 19:18 May 24, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1908.IH H1908

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1 utory debt limit or experiences a funding gap, and 

2 that the top priorities should be— 

3 (A) paying principal and interest on the 

4 public debt; 

5 (B) paying the salaries of members of our 

6 Armed Forces and paying for vital national se7 curity priorities as determined by the President; 

8 and 

9 (C) paying Social Security benefits; and 

10 (2) funding for components of the Federal Gov11 ernment that are not essential should be signifi12 cantly limited if the government reaches the statu13 tory debt limit. 

14 SEC. 2. PRIORITY OF PAYMENTS IF THE DEBT CEILING IS 

15 REACHED. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—In the event that the debt of the 

17 United States Government, as defined in section 3101 of 

18 title 31, United States Code, reaches the statutory limit, 

19 amounts necessary for obligations incurred by the Govern20 ment of the United States shall be made available as 

21 prioritized in the following order (with items listed in de22 scending order of prioritization): 

23 (1) amounts necessary to carry out the author24 ity of the Department of the Treasury provided in 

25 section 3123 of title 31, United States Code, to pay 


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1 with legal tender the principal and interest on debt 

2 held by the public; 

3 (2) such amounts as the Secretary of Defense 

4 (and the Secretary of Homeland Security in the case 

5 of the Coast Guard) determines to be necessary to 

6 continue to provide pay and allowances (without 

7 interruption) to members of the Army, Navy, Air 

8 Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, including 

9 reserve components thereof, who perform active serv10 ice; 

11 (3) such amounts as the President certifies to 

12 the Congress are necessary to carry out vital na13 tional security priorities; 

14 (4) amounts necessary to carry out the author15 ity of the Commissioner of Social Security to pay 

16 monthly old-age, survivors’, and disability insurance 

17 benefits under title II of the Social Security Act; and 

18 (5) subject to subsection (b), amounts necessary 

19 to satisfy all other obligations, in an order of pri20 ority determined by the President under section 

21 4(2). 

22 (b) LIMITATION ON CERTAIN OBLIGATIONS.—With 

23 respect to a department or agency described under sub24 section (c) or an international organization or fund (as 

25 defined by the President), amounts made available pursuVerDate Mar 15 2010 19:18 May 24, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1908.IH H1908

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1 ant to subsection (a)(5) to satisfy obligations for such de2 partment, agency, organization, or fund may not exceed 

3 an amount that is equal to 20 percent of the amount that 

4 would have been made available to satisfy such obligations 

5 if the statutory limit described under subsection (a) had 

6 not been reached. 

7 (c) CERTAIN DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES.—A de8 partment or agency is described under this subsection if 

9 it is one of the following: 

10 (1) The Department of Education. 

11 (2) The Department of Energy. 

12 (3) The Department of Health & Human Serv13 ices. 

14 (4) The Department of Housing and Urban De15 velopment. 

16 (5) The Department of the Interior. 

17 (6) The Department of Labor. 

18 (7) The Department of Transportation. 

19 (8) The Environmental Protection Agency. 

20 (9) The National Science Foundation. 

21 (10) The Office of Personnel Management. 

22 (11) The United States Agency for Inter23 national Development. 

24 (12) An independent establishment, as defined 

25 under section 104 of title 5, United States Code. 


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1 SEC. 3. EMERGENCY APPROPRIATION OF FUNDS FOR DE2 FENSE AND NATIONAL SECURITY DURING A 

3 FUNDING GAP. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—During any funding gap, the Sec5 retary of the Treasury shall make available, out of any 

6 amounts in the general fund of the Treasury not otherwise 

7 appropriated— 

8 (1) such amounts as the Secretary of Defense 

9 (and the Secretary of Homeland Security in the case 

10 of the Coast Guard) determines to be necessary to 

11 continue to provide pay and allowances (without 

12 interruption) to members of the Army, Navy, Air 

13 Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, including 

14 reserve components thereof, who perform active serv15 ice during the funding gap; and 

16 (2) such amounts as the President certifies to 

17 the Congress are necessary to carry out vital na18 tional security priorities. 

19 (b) FUNDING GAP DEFINED.—For purposes of this 

20 section and with respect to an obligation incurred by the 

21 Government of the United States, the term ‘‘funding gap’’ 

22 means any period of time after the beginning of a fiscal 

23 year for which interim or full-year appropriations for such 

24 obligation have not been enacted. 


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1 SEC. 4. REPORT ON PRIORITIZATION. 

2 Not later than the end of the 30-day period beginning 

3 on the date of the enactment of this Act, the President 

4 shall submit to the Congress— 

5 (1) a plan explaining the continuation of Gov6 ernment operations in the event that the debt of the 

7 United States Government, as defined in section 

8 3101 of title 31, United States Code, reaches the 

9 statutory limit; 

10 (2) the prioritization of the obligations of the 

11 United States Government, other than those listed 

12 under paragraphs (1), (2), (3), and (4) of section 2, 

13 that the President determines appropriate in the 

14 event that the debt of the United States Govern15 ment, as defined in section 3101 of title 31, United 

16 States Code, reaches the statutory limit; and 

17 (3) a plan explaining the continuation of Gov18 ernment operations in the event of a funding gap, as 

19 defined under section 3(b), including the system of 

20 determining which Federal employees are essential 

21 during such funding gap. 

Æ 


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