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[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3442 Engrossed in House (EH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3442

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

 
 To provide further means of accountability of the United States debt 
                   and promote fiscal responsibility.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Debt Management and Fiscal 
Responsibility Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY REPORT TO CONGRESS BEFORE REACHING 
              DEBT LIMIT.

    (a) In General.--Subchapter II of chapter 31 of title 31, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 3131. Report before reaching debt limit
    ``(a) In General.--Not more than sixty days and not less than 
twenty-one days prior to any date on which the Secretary of the 
Treasury anticipates the public debt will reach the limit specified 
under section 3101, as modified by section 3101A, the Secretary shall 
appear before the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate, to submit 
the information described under subsection (b).
    ``(b) Information Required To Be Presented.--In an appearance 
described under subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit the 
following:
            ``(1) Debt report.--A report on the state of the public 
        debt, including--
                    ``(A) the historical levels of the debt, current 
                amount and composition of the debt, and future 
                projections of the debt;
                    ``(B) the historical levels of Federal revenue, 
                including corporate and individual Federal income taxes 
                as a percent of the gross domestic product;
                    ``(C) the drivers and composition of future debt;
                    ``(D) how, if the debt limit is raised, the United 
                States will meet debt obligations, including principal 
                and interest;
                    ``(E) any reduction measures the Secretary intends 
                to take to fund Federal Government obligations if the 
                debt limit is not raised, including--
                            ``(i) notifying the Congress when the limit 
                        has been reached; and
                            ``(ii) notifying the Congress when the 
                        Secretary has begun taking such measures and 
                        specifying which measures are currently being 
                        used; and
                    ``(F) if the President recommends that Congress 
                adopt, in general, a balanced budget amendment to the 
                Constitution of the United States to help control the 
                accumulation of future debt.
            ``(2) Statement of intent.--A detailed explanation of--
                    ``(A) proposals of the President to reduce the 
                public debt in the short term (the current and 
                following fiscal year), medium term (approximately 
                three to five fiscal years), and long term 
                (approximately ten fiscal years), and proposals of the 
                President to adjust the debt-to-gross domestic product 
                ratio;
                    ``(B) the impact an increased debt limit will have 
                on future Government spending, debt service, and the 
                position of the United States dollar as the 
                international reserve currency;
                    ``(C) projections of fiscal health and 
                sustainability of major direct-spending entitlement 
                programs (including Social Security, Medicare, and 
                Medicaid);
                    ``(D) the plan of the President for each week that 
                the debt of the United States Government is at the 
                statutory limit, to publicly disclose, on the website 
                of the Department of the Treasury, the following:
                            ``(i) All reduction measures currently 
                        being used by the Secretary to avoid defaulting 
                        on obligations of the Government.
                            ``(ii) With respect to each reduction 
                        measure, whether or not such measure is 
                        currently being used--
                                    ``(I) the total dollar amount of 
                                such measure that has been used; and
                                    ``(II) the total dollar amount of 
                                such measure that the Secretary 
                                estimates is still available for use.
                            ``(iii) The date on which the Secretary 
                        estimates that all reduction measures will be 
                        exhausted, and the Government will begin 
                        defaulting on its obligations;
                    ``(E) any extraordinary measures the Secretary 
                intends to take to fund Federal government obligations 
                if the debt limit is not raised, a projection of how 
                long such extraordinary measures will fund the Federal 
                government, and a projection of the administrative cost 
                of taking such extraordinary measures; and
                    ``(F) whether the Administration acknowledges that 
                it is technologically capable of paying only principal 
                and interest on the national debt, as opposed to other 
                obligations, in the event that the debt limit, as 
                specified under section 3101, is reached.
            ``(3) Progress report.--
                    ``(A) In general.--A detailed report on the 
                progress of implementing all proposals of the President 
                described under subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2).
                    ``(B) Exception.--The report described under this 
                paragraph shall only be submitted if a Secretary has 
                already appeared at least once pursuant to this section 
                during any term of office for a particular President.
    ``(c) Public Access to Information.--The Secretary of the Treasury 
shall place on the homepage of the Department of the Treasury a link to 
a webpage that shall serve as a repository of information made 
available to the public for at least 6 months following the date of 
release of the relevant information, including:
            ``(1) The debt report submitted under subsection (b)(1).
            ``(2) The detailed explanation submitted under subsection 
        (b)(2).
            ``(3) The progress report submitted under subsection 
        (b)(3).
            ``(4) Such other information as the Secretary reasonably 
        believes is necessary or helpful to the public in understanding 
        the statutory debt limit, Government debt, and the reports and 
        explanations described under paragraphs (1), (2), and (3).
    ``(d) Reduction Measures Defined.--For purposes of this section, 
the term `reduction measures' means each of the following:
            ``(1) Directing or approving the issuance of debt by the 
        Federal Financing Bank for the purpose of entering into an 
        exchange transaction for debt that is subject to the limit 
        under this section.
            ``(2) Suspending investments in the Government Securities 
        Investment Fund of the Thrift Savings Fund.
            ``(3) Suspending investments in the stabilization fund 
        established under section 5302 of title 31, United States Code.
            ``(4) Suspending new investments in the Civil Service 
        Retirement and Disability Fund or the Postal Service Retiree 
        Health Benefits Fund.
            ``(5) Selling or redeeming securities, obligations, or 
        other invested assets of the Civil Service Retirement and 
        Disability Fund or the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits 
        Fund before maturity.
            ``(6) Such other measures as the Secretary determines 
        appropriate.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of analysis for chapter 31 of 
title 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item 
relating to section 3130 the following:

``3131. Report before reaching debt limit.''.

            Passed the House of Representatives February 11, 2016.

            Attest:

                                                                 Clerk.
114th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                               H. R. 3442

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

 To provide further means of accountability of the United States debt 
                   and promote fiscal responsibility.
```