I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4825 

To amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to establish a point of 

order to prohibit the extension of the statutory debt limit unless a 

concurrent resolution on the budget has been agreed to and is in effect, 

Federal spending is cut and capped, and a balanced budget amendment 

to the constitution has been sent to the States for ratification, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 26, 2012 

Mr. SULLIVAN (for himself, Mr. TERRY, Mr. ROSS of Florida, and Mr. FLORES) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Rules, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, 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 amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to establish 

a point of order to prohibit the extension of the statutory 

debt limit unless a concurrent resolution on the budget 

has been agreed to and is in effect, Federal spending 

is cut and capped, and a balanced budget amendment 

to the constitution has been sent to the States for ratification, 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, 

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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Congressional Ac3 countability in Budgeting and Spending Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. POINT OF ORDER AGAINST CONSIDERATION OF 

5 DEBT LIMIT EXTENSION. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Congressional 

7 Budget Act of 1974 is amended by adding at the end the 

8 following new section: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 316. POINT OF ORDER AGAINST CONSIDERATION OF 

10 EXTENSION OF STATUTORY DEBT LIMIT. 

11 ‘‘(a) POINT OF ORDER AGAINST CONSIDERATION OF

12 EXTENSION OF STATUTORY DEBT LIMIT.—It shall not be 

13 in order in the House of Representatives or the Senate 

14 to consider any bill or joint resolution, or amendment 

15 thereto or conference report thereon, to extend the statu16 tory debt limit unless— 

17 ‘‘(1)(A) in the case of fiscal year 2013, the con18 current resolution on the budget for that fiscal year 

19 has been agreed to and is in effect for the fiscal year 

20 during which such measure is being considered and 

21 provides for an allocation under section 302(a) of 

22 new discretionary budget authority for fiscal year 

23 2013 at a level not to exceed $1.027 trillion (exclud24 ing emergency spending and Overseas Contingency 

25 Operations); or 

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1 ‘‘(B) in the case of any subsequent fiscal year, 

2 a concurrent resolution on the budget has been 

3 agreed to and is in effect for the fiscal year during 

4 which such measure is being considered; 

5 ‘‘(2) before the year referred to in paragraph 

6 (1), the budget submitted by the President to the 

7 Congress under section 1105(a) of title 31, United 

8 States Code, for any fiscal year includes a proposed 

9 budget for the Government that within 10 fiscal 

10 years would be in balance and for which— 

11 ‘‘(A) total outlays do not exceed total re12 ceipts; and 

13 ‘‘(B) total outlays do not exceed 21.7 per14 cent of the estimated gross domestic product of 

15 the United States for the calendar year ending 

16 before the beginning of such fiscal year; 

17 ‘‘(3) the Rules of the House of Representatives 

18 and the Standing Rules of the Senate require the 

19 approval of two-thirds of the Members, duly chosen 

20 and sworn, to increase Federal income tax rates; 

21 ‘‘(4) there is a requirement that the statutory 

22 debt limit may not be raised under any circumstance 

23 while the funding for the Government is being car24 ried out by a continuing resolution; 

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1 ‘‘(5) the Rules of the House of Representatives 

2 and the Standing Rules of the Senate prohibit the 

3 consideration of any measure deeming that a concur4 rent resolution on the budget has been agreed to; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(6) the House of Representatives and the Sen7 ate have agreed to an amendment to the Constitu8 tion of the United States requiring a balanced budg9 et for each fiscal year. 

10 ‘‘(b) MACROECONOMIC IMPACT ANALYSIS BY CON11 GRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE.—(1) The Director of the 

12 Congressional Budget Office shall prepare for each major 

13 bill or resolution reported by any committee of the House 

14 of Representatives or the Senate for which the Director 

15 prepares an analysis under section 402 and submit to such 

16 committee a macroeconomic impact analysis of the costs 

17 which would be incurred in carrying out such bill or reso18 lution in the fiscal year in which it is to become effective 

19 and in each of the 4 fiscal years following such fiscal year, 

20 together with the basis for such analysis. The analysis 

21 shall be included in the report accompanying such bill or 

22 resolution. 

23 ‘‘(2) The macroeconomic impact analysis referred to 

24 in paragraph (1) shall describe the potential economic im25 pact of the applicable major bill or resolution on major 

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1 economic variables, including real gross domestic product, 

2 business investment, the capital stock, employment, inter3 est rates, and labor supply. The analysis shall also de4 scribe the potential fiscal effects of the bill or resolution, 

5 including any estimates of revenue increases or decreases 

6 resulting from changes in gross domestic product. To the 

7 extent practicable, the analysis should use a variety of eco8 nomic models in order to reflect the full range of possible 

9 economic outcomes resulting from the bill or resolution. 

10 The analysis (or a technical appendix to the analysis) shall 

11 specify the economic and econometric models used, sources 

12 of data, relevant data transformations, and shall include 

13 such explanation as is necessary to make the models com14 prehensible to academic and public policy analysts. 

15 ‘‘(c) WAIVERS.—Subsection (a) may be waived or 

16 suspended in the House of Representatives or the Senate 

17 only by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of its Members, 

18 duly chosen and sworn. 

19 ‘‘(d) APPEALS.—An affirmative vote of two-thirds of 

20 the Members, duly chosen and sworn, shall be required 

21 in the Senate to sustain an appeal of the ruling of the 

22 Chair on a point of order under subsection (a).’’. 

23 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con24 tents set forth in section 1(b) of the Congressional Budget 

25 and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is amended by inmstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 serting after the item relating to section 315 the following 

2 new item: 

‘‘Sec. 316. Point of order against consideration of extension of statutory debt 

limit.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

4 Section 3 of the Congressional Budget and Impound5 ment Control Act of 1974 is amended by adding at the 

6 end the following new paragraphs: 

7 ‘‘(12) The term ‘macroeconomic impact anal8 ysis’ means— 

9 ‘‘(A) an estimate of the changes in eco10 nomic output, employment, interest rates, cap11 ital stock, and tax revenues expected to result 

12 from enactment of the proposal; 

13 ‘‘(B) an estimate of revenue feedback ex14 pected to result from enactment of the proposal; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(C) a statement identifying the critical 

17 assumptions and the source of data underlying 

18 that estimate. 

19 ‘‘(13) The term ‘major bill or resolution’ means 

20 any bill or resolution if the gross budgetary effects 

21 of such bill or resolution for any fiscal year in the 

22 period for which an estimate is prepared under sec23 tion 316 is estimated to be greater than .25 percent 

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1 of the current projected gross domestic product of 

2 the United States for any such fiscal year. 

3 ‘‘(14) The term ‘budgetary effect’, when applied 

4 to a major bill or resolution, means the changes in 

5 revenues, outlays, deficits, and debt resulting from 

6 that measure. 

7 ‘‘(15) The term ‘revenue feedback’ means 

8 changes in revenue resulting from changes in eco9 nomic growth as the result of the enactment of any 

10 major bill or resolution.’’. 

11 SEC. 4. SEQUESTRATION AND DIRECTIVE TO THE COM12 MITTEE ON THE BUDGET OF THE HOUSE OF 

13 REPRESENTATIVES. 

14 (a) SEQUESTRATION.— 

15 (1) SUBMISSIONS OF SPENDING REDUCTION.— 

16 Not later than April 27, 2012, the House commit17 tees named in paragraph (2) shall submit rec18 ommendations to the Committee on the Budget of 

19 the House of Representatives. After receiving those 

20 recommendations, such committee shall report to the 

21 House a reconciliation bill carrying out all such rec22 ommendations without substantive revision. 

23 (2) INSTRUCTIONS.— 

24 (A) COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE.—The 

25 Committee on Agriculture shall submit changes 

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1 in laws within its jurisdiction sufficient to re2 duce the deficit by $8,200,000,000 for the pe3 riod of fiscal years 2012 and 2013; by 

4 $19,700,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 

5 2012 through 2017; and by $33,200,000,000 

6 for the period of fiscal years 2012 through 

7 2022. 

8 (B) COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COM9 MERCE.—The Committee on Energy and Com10 merce shall submit changes in laws within its 

11 jurisdiction sufficient to reduce the deficit by 

12 $3,750,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 

13 2012 and 2013; by $28,430,000,000 for the pe14 riod of fiscal years 2012 through 2017; and by 

15 $96,760,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 

16 2012 through 2022. 

17 (C) COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL SERV18 ICES.—The Committee on Financial Services 

19 shall submit changes in laws within its jurisdic20 tion sufficient to reduce the deficit by 

21 $3,000,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 

22 2012 and 2013; by $16,700,000,000 for the pe23 riod of fiscal years 2012 through 2017 and by 

24 $29,800,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 

25 2012 through 2022. 

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1 (D) COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY.—The 

2 Committee on the Judiciary shall submit 

3 changes in laws within its jurisdiction sufficient 

4 to reduce the deficit by $100,000,000 for the 

5 period of fiscal years 2012 and 2013; by 

6 $11,200,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 

7 2012 through 2017; and by $39,700,000,000 

8 for the period of fiscal years 2012 through 

9 2022. 

10 (E) COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOV11 ERNMENT REFORM.—The Committee on Over12 sight and Government Reform shall submit 

13 changes in laws within its jurisdiction sufficient 

14 to reduce the deficit by $2,200,000,000 for the 

15 period of fiscal years 2012 and 2013; by 

16 $30,100,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 

17 2012 through 2017; and by $78,900,000,000 

18 for the period of fiscal years 2012 through 

19 2022. 

20 (F) COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS.— 

21 The Committee on Ways and Means shall sub22 mit changes in laws within its jurisdiction suffi23 cient to reduce the deficit by $1,200,000,000 

24 for the period of fiscal years 2012 and 2013; by 

25 $23,000,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 

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1 2012 through 2017; and by $53,000,000,000 

2 for the period of fiscal years 2012 through 

3 2022. 

4 (b) DIRECTIVE TO THE COMMITTEE ON THE BUDGET

5 OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO REPLACE THE

6 SEQUESTER ESTABLISHED BY THE BUDGET CONTROL

7 ACT OF 2011.— 

8 (1) SUBMISSION.—In the House, the Com9 mittee on the Budget shall report to the House a bill 

10 carrying out the directions set forth in paragraph 

11 (2). 

12 (2) DIRECTIONS.—The bill referred to in para13 graph (1) shall include the following provisions: 

14 (A) REPLACING THE SEQUESTER ESTAB15 LISHED BY THE BUDGET CONTROL ACT OF

16 2011.—The language shall amend section 251A 

17 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit 

18 Control Act of 1985 to replace the sequester es19 tablished under that section consistent with this 

20 bill. 

21 (B) APPLICATION OF PROVISIONS.—The 

22 bill referred to in paragraph (1) shall include 

23 language making its application contingent 

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1 upon the enactment of the reconciliation bill re2 ferred to in subsection (a). 

Æ 

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