II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2819 

To provide a process for ensuring the United States does not default on 

its obligations. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 23, 2021 

Mr. MERKLEY (for himself and Mr. KAINE) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To provide a process for ensuring the United States does 

not default on its obligations. 

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 ‘‘Protect Our Citizens 

5 from Reckless Extortion of our Debt and Irresponsible 

6 Tactics Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘Protect Our CREDIT Act 

7 of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL PRESIDENTIAL MODIFICATION OF THE 

2 DEBT CEILING. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 31 of 

4 subtitle III of title 31, United States Code, is amended— 

5 (1) in section 3101(b), by inserting ‘‘or 3101B’’ 

6 after ‘‘section 3101A’’; and 

7 (2) by inserting after section 3101A the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘§ 3101B. Additional Presidential modification of the 

10 debt ceiling 

11 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘joint 

12 resolution’ means only a joint resolution— 

13 ‘‘(1) that is introduced during the period— 

14 ‘‘(A) beginning on the date a certification 

15 described in paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection 

16 (b) is received by Congress; and 

17 ‘‘(B) ending on the date that is 3 legisla18 tive days (excluding any day on which it is not 

19 in order to introduce resolutions) after the date 

20 described in subparagraph (A); 

21 ‘‘(2) which does not have a preamble; 

22 ‘‘(3) the title of which is only as follows: ‘Joint 

23 resolution relating to the disapproval of the Presi24 dent’s exercise of authority to increase the debt 

25 limit, as submitted under section 3101B of title 31, 


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1 United States Code, on llllll’ (with the 

2 blank containing the date of such submission); and 

3 ‘‘(4) the matter after the resolving clause of 

4 which is only as follows: ‘That Congress disapproves 

5 of the President’s exercise of authority to increase 

6 the debt limit, as exercised pursuant to the certifi7 cation submitted under section 3101B(b) of title 31, 

8 United States Code, on llllll.’ (with the 

9 blank containing the date of such submission). 

10 ‘‘(b) SUBMISSIONS TO CONGRESS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL SUBMISSION.—Before the begin12 ning of each fiscal year, the President shall submit 

13 to Congress a written certification specifying the 

14 amount of obligations that are subject to limit under 

15 section 3101(b), in addition to the amount of such 

16 obligations authorized to be outstanding on the date 

17 of the certification, that the President determines it 

18 shall be necessary to issue during the next fiscal 

19 year to meet existing commitments. 

20 ‘‘(2) SUBMISSION DURING FISCAL YEAR.—If the 

21 President determines during a fiscal year that the 

22 debt subject to limit under section 3101(b) is within 

23 $250,000,000,000 of such limit and that further 

24 borrowing is necessary to meet existing commitVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:58 Sep 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2819.IS S2819

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1 ments, the President shall submit to Congress a 

2 written certification— 

3 ‘‘(A) specifying the amount of obligations 

4 that are subject to limit under section 3101(b), 

5 in addition to the amount of such obligations 

6 authorized to be outstanding on the date of the 

7 certification, that the President determines it 

8 shall be necessary to issue during the fiscal year 

9 to meet existing commitments; and 

10 ‘‘(B) containing the reason for any discrep11 ancy from the certification submitted under 

12 paragraph (1) for the fiscal year. 

13 ‘‘(3) EFFECT OF FAILURE TO ENACT DIS14 APPROVAL.—If a joint resolution is not enacted with 

15 respect to a certification under paragraph (1) or (2) 

16 during the 15-legislative-day period beginning on the 

17 date on which Congress receives the certification, the 

18 limit under section 3101(b) is increased by the 

19 amount specified in the certification. 

20 ‘‘(4) EFFECT OF ENACTMENT OF DIS21 APPROVAL.—If a joint resolution is enacted with re22 spect to a certification under paragraph (1) or (2) 

23 during the 15-legislative-day period beginning on the 

24 date on which Congress receives the certification, the 

25 limit under section 3101(b)— 


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1 ‘‘(A) shall not be increased by the amount 

2 specified in the certification; and 

3 ‘‘(B) shall be increased in accordance with 

4 subsection (c)(2). 

5 ‘‘(c) SUSPENSION FOR MID-YEAR CERTIFICATION.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 3101(b) shall not 

7 apply for the period— 

8 ‘‘(A) beginning on the date on which the 

9 President submits to Congress a certification 

10 under subsection (b)(2); and 

11 ‘‘(B) ending on the earlier of— 

12 ‘‘(i) the date that is 15 legislative 

13 days after Congress receives the certifi14 cation; or 

15 ‘‘(ii) the date of enactment of a joint 

16 resolution with respect to the certification. 

17 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE RELATING TO OBLIGATIONS

18 ISSUED DURING SUSPENSION PERIOD.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a joint resolution is 

20 enacted with respect to a certification under 

21 subsection (b)(2), effective on the day after 

22 such date of enactment, the limitation in sec23 tion 3101(b) is increased to the extent that— 

24 ‘‘(i) the face amount of obligations 

25 issued under this chapter and the face 


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1 amount of obligations whose principal and 

2 interest are guaranteed by the United 

3 States Government (except guaranteed ob4 ligations held by the Secretary of the 

5 Treasury) outstanding on the calendar day 

6 after such date of enactment, exceeds 

7 ‘‘(ii) the face amount of such obliga8 tions outstanding on the date on which the 

9 President submits the certification. 

10 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—An obligation shall not 

11 be taken into account under subparagraph (A) 

12 unless the issuance of such obligation was nec13 essary to fund a commitment incurred by the 

14 Federal Government that required payment 

15 during the 15-legislative-day period described in 

16 paragraph (1)(B)(i). 

17 ‘‘(d) EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION IN HOUSE OF

18 REPRESENTATIVES.— 

19 ‘‘(1) REPORTING AND DISCHARGE.—Any com20 mittee of the House of Representatives to which a 

21 joint resolution is referred shall report it to the 

22 House of Representatives without amendment not 

23 later than 5 calendar days after the date of intro24 duction of the joint resolution. If a committee fails 

25 to report the joint resolution within that period, the 


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1 committee shall be discharged from further consider2 ation of the joint resolution and the joint resolution 

3 shall be referred to the appropriate calendar. 

4 ‘‘(2) PROCEEDING TO CONSIDERATION.—After 

5 each committee authorized to consider a joint resolu6 tion reports it to the House of Representatives or 

7 has been discharged from its consideration, it shall 

8 be in order, not later than the sixth day after intro9 duction of the joint resolution, to move to proceed 

10 to consider the joint resolution in the House of Rep11 resentatives. All points of order against the motion 

12 are waived. Such a motion shall not be in order after 

13 the House of Representatives has disposed of a mo14 tion to proceed on a joint resolution addressing a 

15 particular submission. The previous question shall be 

16 considered as ordered on the motion to its adoption 

17 without intervening motion. The motion shall not be 

18 debatable. A motion to reconsider the vote by which 

19 the motion is disposed of shall not be in order. 

20 ‘‘(3) CONSIDERATION.—The joint resolution 

21 shall be considered as read. All points of order 

22 against the joint resolution and against its consider23 ation are waived. The previous question shall be con24 sidered as ordered on the joint resolution to its pas25 sage without intervening motion except 2 hours of 


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1 debate equally divided and controlled by the pro2 ponent and an opponent. An amendment to the joint 

3 resolution or a motion to reconsider the vote on pas4 sage of the joint resolution shall not be in order. 

5 ‘‘(e) EXPEDITED PROCEDURE IN SENATE.— 

6 ‘‘(1) PLACEMENT ON CALENDAR.—Upon intro7 duction in the Senate, a joint resolution shall be im8 mediately placed on the calendar. 

9 ‘‘(2) FLOOR CONSIDERATION.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding rule 

11 XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, it is 

12 in order at any time during the period begin13 ning on the day after the date on which Con14 gress receives a certification under paragraph 

15 (1) or (2) of subsection (b) and ending on the 

16 sixth day after the date of introduction of a 

17 joint resolution (even though a previous motion 

18 to the same effect has been disagreed to) to 

19 move to proceed to the consideration of the 

20 joint resolution, and all points of order against 

21 the joint resolution (and against consideration 

22 of the joint resolution) are waived. The motion 

23 to proceed is not debatable. The motion is not 

24 subject to a motion to postpone. A motion to 

25 reconsider the vote by which the motion is 


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1 agreed to or disagreed to shall not be in order. 

2 If a motion to proceed to the consideration of 

3 the resolution is agreed to, the joint resolution 

4 shall remain the unfinished business until dis5 posed of. 

6 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATION.—Consideration of 

7 the joint resolution, and on all debatable mo8 tions and appeals in connection therewith, shall 

9 be limited to not more than 10 hours, which 

10 shall be divided equally between the majority 

11 and minority leaders or their designees. A mo12 tion further to limit debate is in order and not 

13 debatable. An amendment to, or a motion to 

14 postpone, or a motion to proceed to the consid15 eration of other business, or a motion to recom16 mit the joint resolution is not in order. 

17 ‘‘(C) VOTE ON PASSAGE.—If the Senate 

18 has voted to proceed to a joint resolution, the 

19 vote on passage of the joint resolution shall 

20 occur immediately following the conclusion of 

21 consideration of the joint resolution, and a sin22 gle quorum call at the conclusion of the debate 

23 if requested in accordance with the rules of the 

24 Senate. 


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1 ‘‘(D) RULINGS OF THE CHAIR ON PROCE2 DURE.—Appeals from the decisions of the Chair 

3 relating to the application of the rules of the 

4 Senate, as the case may be, to the procedure re5 lating to a joint resolution shall be decided 

6 without debate. 

7 ‘‘(f) COORDINATION WITH ACTION BY OTHER

8 HOUSE.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If, before passing the joint 

10 resolution, one House receives from the other a joint 

11 resolution— 

12 ‘‘(A) the joint resolution of the other 

13 House shall not be referred to a committee; and 

14 ‘‘(B) the procedure in the receiving House 

15 shall be the same as if no joint resolution had 

16 been received from the other House, except that 

17 the vote on final passage shall be on the joint 

18 resolution of the other House. 

19 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF JOINT RESOLUTION OF

20 OTHER HOUSE.—If the Senate fails to introduce or 

21 consider a joint resolution under this section, the 

22 joint resolution of the House shall be entitled to ex23 pedited floor procedures under this section. 

24 ‘‘(3) TREATMENT OF COMPANION MEASURES.— 

25 If, following passage of the joint resolution in the 


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1 Senate, the Senate receives the companion measure 

2 from the House of Representatives, the companion 

3 measure shall not be debatable. 

4 ‘‘(4) CONSIDERATION AFTER PASSAGE.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If Congress passes a 

6 joint resolution, the period beginning on the 

7 date the President is presented with the joint 

8 resolution and ending on the date the President 

9 signs, allows to become law without his signa10 ture, or vetoes and returns the joint resolution 

11 (but excluding days when either House is not in 

12 session) shall be disregarded in computing the 

13 legislative day period described in paragraphs 

14 (3) and (4) of subsection (b) and subsection 

15 (c)(1). 

16 ‘‘(B) DEBATE.—Debate on a veto message 

17 in the Senate under this section shall be 1 hour 

18 equally divided between the majority and minor19 ity leaders or their designees. 

20 ‘‘(5) VETO OVERRIDE.—If within the legislative 

21 day period described in paragraphs (3) and (4) of 

22 subsection (b) and subsection (c)(1), Congress over23 rides a veto of a joint resolution, except as provided 

24 in subsection (c)(2), the limit on debt provided in 


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1 section 3101(b) shall not be raised under this sec2 tion. 

3 ‘‘(g) RULES OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND

4 SENATE.—Subsections (a), (d), (e), and (f) (except for 

5 paragraphs (4)(A) and (5) of such subsection) are enacted 

6 by Congress— 

7 ‘‘(1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of 

8 the Senate and House of Representatives, respec9 tively, and as such it is deemed a part of the rules 

10 of each House, respectively, but applicable only with 

11 respect to the procedure to be followed in that 

12 House in the case of a joint resolution, and it super13 sedes other rules only to the extent that it is incon14 sistent with such rules; and 

15 ‘‘(2) with full recognition of the constitutional 

16 right of either House to change the rules (so far as 

17 relating to the procedure of that House) at any time, 

18 in the same manner, and to the same extent as in 

19 the case of any other rule of that House.’’. 

20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec21 tions for chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, is 

22 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

23 3101A the following: 

‘‘3101B. Additional Presidential modification of the debt ceiling.’’. 

Æ 


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