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Union Calendar No. 220 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3442 

[Report No. 114–291] 

To provide further means of accountability of the United States debt and 

promote fiscal responsibility. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 8, 2015 

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

Committee on Ways and Means 

OCTOBER 7, 2015 

Additional sponsors: Mr. TIBERI, Mr. REED, Mr. FLORES, Mr. SAM JOHNSON

of Texas, Mrs. BLACK, Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania, Mr. NUNES, Mr. 

BUCHANAN, Mrs. NOEM, Mr. RENACCI, Mr. TOM PRICE of Georgia, Mr. 

ROSKAM, Ms. JENKINS of Kansas, Mr. PAULSEN, Mr. WOODALL, Mr. 

HENSARLING, Mr. WESTMORELAND, Mr. WILLIAMS, Mr. CARTER of 

Texas, Mr. HOLDING, Mr. FARENTHOLD, Ms. FOXX, Mr. THORNBERRY, 

Mr. REICHERT, Mr. MCCAUL, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. 

SESSIONS, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. YOUNG of Indiana, Mr. SMITH of Nebraska, Mr. BOUSTANY, Mr. BRADY of Texas, Mr. OLSON, and Mr. 

FORBES

OCTOBER 7, 2015 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 

and ordered to be printed 


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A BILL 

To provide further means of accountability of the United 

States debt and promote fiscal responsibility. 


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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 ‘‘Debt Management and 

5 Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY REPORT TO CON7 GRESS BEFORE REACHING DEBT LIMIT. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 31 of 

9 title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

10 end the following: 

11 ‘‘§ 3131. Report before reaching debt limit 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not more than sixty days and 

13 not less than twenty-one days prior to any date on which 

14 the Secretary of the Treasury anticipates the public debt 

15 will reach the limit specified under section 3101, as modi16 fied by section 3101A, the Secretary shall appear before 

17 the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Rep18 resentatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate, 

19 to submit the information described under subsection (b). 

20 ‘‘(b) INFORMATION REQUIRED TO BE PRE21 SENTED.—In an appearance described under subsection 

22 (a), the Secretary shall submit the following: 

23 ‘‘(1) DEBT REPORT.—A report on the state of 

24 the public debt, including— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the historical levels of the debt, cur2 rent amount and composition of the debt, and 

3 future projections of the debt; 

4 ‘‘(B) the drivers and composition of future 

5 debt; and 

6 ‘‘(C) how, if the debt limit is raised, the 

7 United States will meet debt obligations, includ8 ing principal and interest. 

9 ‘‘(2) STATEMENT OF INTENT.—A detailed ex10 planation of— 

11 ‘‘(A) proposals of the President to reduce 

12 the public debt in the short term (the current 

13 and following fiscal year), medium term (ap14 proximately three to five fiscal years), and long 

15 term (approximately ten fiscal years), and pro16 posals of the President to adjust the debt-to17 gross domestic product ratio; 

18 ‘‘(B) the impact an increased debt limit 

19 will have on future Government spending, debt 

20 service, and the position of the United States 

21 dollar as the international reserve currency; and 

22 ‘‘(C) projections of fiscal health and sus23 tainability of major direct-spending entitlement 

24 programs (including Social Security, Medicare, 

25 and Medicaid). 


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1 ‘‘(3) PROGRESS REPORT.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A detailed report on 

3 the progress of implementing all proposals of 

4 the President described under subparagraph 

5 (A) of paragraph (2). 

6 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—The report described 

7 under this paragraph shall only be submitted if 

8 a Secretary has already appeared at least once 

9 pursuant to this section during any term of of10 fice for a particular President. 

11 ‘‘(c) PUBLIC ACCESS TO INFORMATION.—The Sec12 retary of the Treasury shall place on the homepage of the 

13 Department of the Treasury a link to a webpage that shall 

14 serve as a repository of information made available to the 

15 public for at least 6 months following the date of release 

16 of the relevant information, including: 

17 ‘‘(1) The debt report submitted under sub18 section (b)(1). 

19 ‘‘(2) The detailed explanation submitted under 

20 subsection (b)(2). 

21 ‘‘(3) The progress report submitted under sub22 section (b)(3). 

23 ‘‘(4) Such other information as the Secretary 

24 reasonably believes is necessary or helpful to the 

25 public in understanding the statutory debt limit, 


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1 Government debt, and the reports and explanations 

2 described under paragraphs (1), (2), and (3).’’. 

3 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of analysis 

4 for chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, is amended 

5 by inserting after the item relating to section 3130 the 

6 following: 

‘‘3131. Report before reaching debt limit.’’. 


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srobinson on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
Union Calendar No. 220 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3442 

[Report No. 114–291] 

A BILL 

To provide further means of accountability of the 

bility. United States debt and promote fiscal responsiOCTOBER 7, 2015 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union and ordered to be printed 


srobinson on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS