I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2830 

To prohibit assistance to foreign countries whose governments hold more 

than $500,000,000,000 in United States Treasury securities, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 25, 2013 

Mr. MCCAUL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To prohibit assistance to foreign countries whose governments hold more than $500,000,000,000 in United 

States Treasury securities, 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. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Prioritizing Debt Re5 duction in U.S. Foreign Assistance Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT2 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com3 mittees’’ means— 

4 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations, 

5 the Committee on Appropriations, and the 

6 Committee on the Budget of the Senate; and 

7 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 

8 Committee on Appropriations, and the Com9 mittee on the Budget of the House of Rep10 resentatives. 

11 (2) MAJOR FOREIGN DEBT HOLDER.—The term 

12 ‘‘major foreign debt holder’’ means any foreign 

13 country the government of which the Secretary of 

14 the Treasury determines holds more than 

15 $500,000,000,000 in United States Treasury securi16 ties. 

17 (3) UNITED STATES TREASURY SECURITIES.— 

18 The term ‘‘United States Treasury securities’’ 

19 means obligations issued by the United States under 

20 chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code. 

21 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

22 Congress makes the following findings: 

23 (1) The Federal debt of the United States is 

24 approximately $17 trillion. 


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1 (2) Former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman, Ad2 miral Mike Mullen, has repeatedly stated that the 

3 biggest threat to the national security of the United 

4 States is its debt. 

5 (3) A growing proportion of the Federal debt of 

6 the United States is held by foreign governments, to 

7 some of which the United States provides direct for8 eign assistance. 

9 (4) According to a Department of the Treasury 

10 report entitled ‘‘Major Foreign Holders of Treasury 

11 Securities’’, foreign holdings of United States Treas12 ury securities stood at more than $4 trillion at the 

13 end of December 2012. 

14 (5) In August 2011, Standard and Poor’s 

15 downgraded the United States long-term sovereign 

16 credit from AAA to AA+ due to America’s excessive 

17 borrowing and unsustainable spending levels. 

18 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

19 It is the sense of Congress that— 

20 (1) the growing Federal debt of the United 

21 States jeopardizes the national security and eco22 nomic stability of the United States; and 

23 (2) paying money owed to America’s major for24 eign debt holders is a better use of American taxVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:25 Jul 30, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2830.IH H2830

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1 payer dollars than providing such debt holders with 

2 United States foreign assistance. 

3 SEC. 5. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

4 It shall be the policy of the United States to— 

5 (1) prohibit further United States foreign as6 sistance to major foreign debt holders; and 

7 (2) aggressively address the unsustainable Fed8 eral debt of the United States. 

9 SEC. 6. PROHIBITION ON ASSISTANCE TO MAJOR FOREIGN 

10 DEBT HOLDERS. 

11 Chapter 1 of part III of the Foreign Assistance Act 

12 of 1961 is amended by adding at the end the following 

13 new section: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 620N. PROHIBITION ON ASSISTANCE TO MAJOR FOR15 EIGN DEBT HOLDERS. 

16 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION.—Except as provided in sub17 section (b), no assistance may be provided directly or indi18 rectly under this Act to any foreign country the govern19 ment of which the Secretary of the Treasury determines 

20 holds more than $500,000,000,000 in United States 

21 Treasury securities. 

22 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.—Subsection (a) shall not apply 

23 with respect to the following: 

24 ‘‘(1) Assistance to respond to an emergency. 


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1 ‘‘(2) Assistance to meet humanitarian needs, in2 cluding needs for food, medicine, medical supplies 

3 and equipment, education, and clothing. 

4 ‘‘(c) WAIVER.—The Secretary of State may waive the 

5 prohibition under subsection (a) if the Secretary submits 

6 to the appropriate congressional committees a written cer7 tification that the waiver is in the national security inter8 ests of the United States. 

9 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

10 ‘‘(1) the term ‘appropriate congressional com11 mittees’ means— 

12 ‘‘(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations, 

13 the Committee on Appropriations, and the 

14 Committee on the Budget of the Senate; and 

15 ‘‘(B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, 

16 the Committee on Appropriations, and the 

17 Committee on the Budget of the House of Rep18 resentatives; and 

19 ‘‘(2) the term ‘United States Treasury securi20 ties’ means obligations issued by the United States 

21 under chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code.’’. 

22 SEC. 7. REPORT ON ASSISTANCE TO FOREIGN DEBT HOLD23 ERS. 

24 (a) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than September 30 

25 of each year, the Secretary of State shall submit to the 


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1 appropriate congressional committees a report on the pro2 vision of United States foreign assistance to foreign coun3 tries whose governments hold United States Treasury se4 curities. 

5 (b) CONTENT OF REPORT.—Each report submitted 

6 under this section shall include the following: 

7 (1) An analysis of the current and foreseeable 

8 risks to the long-term national security and eco9 nomic stability of the United States posed by the 

10 Federal debt of the United States. 

11 (2) How much foreign assistance per country, 

12 per year, has been provided to foreign countries 

13 whose governments hold United States Treasury se14 curities. 

15 (c) FORM.—Each report submitted under this section 

16 shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may contain 

17 a classified annex if necessary. 

18 (d) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary of State 

19 shall make each report required by subsection (a) avail20 able, in its unclassified form, to the public by posting it 

21 on the Internet website of the Department of State in a 

22 conspicuous manner and location. 

Æ 


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