IIB 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3442 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 22, 2016 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

AN ACT 

To provide further means of accountability of the United 

States debt and promote fiscal responsibility. 

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 ‘‘Debt Management and 

3 Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2015’’. 

4 SEC. 2. SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY REPORT TO CON5 GRESS BEFORE REACHING DEBT LIMIT. 

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

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

8 end the following: 

9 ‘‘§ 3131. Report before reaching debt limit 

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

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

12 the Secretary of the Treasury anticipates the public debt 

13 will reach the limit specified under section 3101, as modi14 fied by section 3101A, the Secretary shall appear before 

15 the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Rep16 resentatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate, 

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

18 ‘‘(b) INFORMATION REQUIRED TO BE PRE19 SENTED.—In an appearance described under subsection 

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

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

22 the public debt, including— 

23 ‘‘(A) the historical levels of the debt, cur24 rent amount and composition of the debt, and 

25 future projections of the debt; 

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1 ‘‘(B) the historical levels of Federal rev2 enue, including corporate and individual Fed3 eral income taxes as a percent of the gross do4 mestic product; 

5 ‘‘(C) the drivers and composition of future 

6 debt; 

7 ‘‘(D) how, if the debt limit is raised, the 

8 United States will meet debt obligations, includ9 ing principal and interest; 

10 ‘‘(E) any reduction measures the Secretary 

11 intends to take to fund Federal Government ob12 ligations if the debt limit is not raised, includ13 ing— 

14 ‘‘(i) notifying the Congress when the 

15 limit has been reached; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) notifying the Congress when the 

17 Secretary has begun taking such measures 

18 and specifying which measures are cur19 rently being used; and 

20 ‘‘(F) if the President recommends that 

21 Congress adopt, in general, a balanced budget 

22 amendment to the Constitution of the United 

23 States to help control the accumulation of fu24 ture debt. 

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1 ‘‘(2) STATEMENT OF INTENT.—A detailed ex2 planation of— 

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

4 the public debt in the short term (the current 

5 and following fiscal year), medium term (ap6 proximately three to five fiscal years), and long 

7 term (approximately ten fiscal years), and pro8 posals of the President to adjust the debt-to9 gross domestic product ratio; 

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

11 will have on future Government spending, debt 

12 service, and the position of the United States 

13 dollar as the international reserve currency; 

14 ‘‘(C) projections of fiscal health and sus15 tainability of major direct-spending entitlement 

16 programs (including Social Security, Medicare, 

17 and Medicaid); 

18 ‘‘(D) the plan of the President for each 

19 week that the debt of the United States Gov20 ernment is at the statutory limit, to publicly 

21 disclose, on the website of the Department of 

22 the Treasury, the following: 

23 ‘‘(i) All reduction measures currently 

24 being used by the Secretary to avoid de25 faulting on obligations of the Government. 

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1 ‘‘(ii) With respect to each reduction 

2 measure, whether or not such measure is 

3 currently being used— 

4 ‘‘(I) the total dollar amount of 

5 such measure that has been used; and 

6 ‘‘(II) the total dollar amount of 

7 such measure that the Secretary esti8 mates is still available for use. 

9 ‘‘(iii) The date on which the Secretary 

10 estimates that all reduction measures will 

11 be exhausted, and the Government will 

12 begin defaulting on its obligations; 

13 ‘‘(E) any extraordinary measures the Sec14 retary intends to take to fund Federal govern15 ment obligations if the debt limit is not raised, 

16 a projection of how long such extraordinary 

17 measures will fund the Federal government, 

18 and a projection of the administrative cost of 

19 taking such extraordinary measures; and 

20 ‘‘(F) whether the Administration acknowl21 edges that it is technologically capable of pay22 ing only principal and interest on the national 

23 debt, as opposed to other obligations, in the 

24 event that the debt limit, as specified under sec25 tion 3101, is reached. 

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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 ‘‘(d) REDUCTION MEASURES DEFINED.—For pur4 poses of this section, the term ‘reduction measures’ means 

5 each of the following: 

6 ‘‘(1) Directing or approving the issuance of 

7 debt by the Federal Financing Bank for the purpose 

8 of entering into an exchange transaction for debt 

9 that is subject to the limit under this section. 

10 ‘‘(2) Suspending investments in the Govern11 ment Securities Investment Fund of the Thrift Sav12 ings Fund. 

13 ‘‘(3) Suspending investments in the stabiliza14 tion fund established under section 5302 of title 31, 

15 United States Code. 

16 ‘‘(4) Suspending new investments in the Civil 

17 Service Retirement and Disability Fund or the Post18 al Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund. 

19 ‘‘(5) Selling or redeeming securities, obligations, 

20 or other invested assets of the Civil Service Retire21 ment and Disability Fund or the Postal Service Re22 tiree Health Benefits Fund before maturity. 

23 ‘‘(6) Such other measures as the Secretary de24 termines appropriate.’’. 

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

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

3 by inserting after the item relating to section 3130 the 

4 following: 

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

Passed the House of Representatives February 11, 

2016. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 

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