IA 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. J. RES. 41 

To establish a National Committee on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 16, 2021 

Mr. KINZINGER (for himself and Mr. PHILLIPS) submitted the following joint 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Rules 

JOINT RESOLUTION 

To establish a National Committee on Fiscal Responsibility 

and Reform. 

1 Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives

2 of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This joint resolution may be cited as the ‘‘National 

5 Committee on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform Act of 

6 2021’’. 

7 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF A JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a joint 

9 select committee of Congress to be known as the National 

10 Committee on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (hereafter 

11 known as the ‘‘Committee’’). 


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1 (b) GOAL.—The goal of the Committee shall be to 

2 reduce the deficit by at least $3,250,000,000,000 over the 

3 period of fiscal years 2021 to 2031. 

4 SEC. 3. FUNCTIONS OF THE COMMITTEE. 

5 The functions of the Committee are to— 

6 (1) investigate policies to improve the fiscal sit7 uation in the medium term; 

8 (2) achieve fiscal sustainability over the long 

9 run; 

10 (3) propose legislation designed to balance the 

11 budget, excluding interest payments on the debt, by 

12 2031; and 

13 (4) issue a final report to the appropriate con14 gressional committees. 

15 SEC. 4. MEMBERSHIP. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Committee shall be composed 

17 of 12 members appointed pursuant to subsection (b). 

18 (b) APPOINTMENT.—Members of the Committee shall 

19 be appointed as follows: 

20 (1) The majority leader of the Senate shall ap21 point three members from among Members of the 

22 Senate. 

23 (2) The minority leader of the Senate shall ap24 point three members from among Members of the 

25 Senate. 


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1 (3) The Speaker of the House of Representa2 tives shall appoint three members from among Mem3 bers of the House of Representatives. 

4 (4) The Speaker, in consultation with the mi5 nority leader, of the House of Representatives, shall 

6 appoint three members from among Members of the 

7 House of Representatives. 

8 (c) CO-CHAIRS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be four Co10 Chairs of the Committee. The Co-Chairs shall be ap11 pointed not later than 14 calendar days after the 

12 date of enactment of this joint resolution. The Co13 chairs shall be selected by: 

14 (A) The majority leader of the Senate shall 

15 appoint one Co-Chair from among Members of 

16 the Senate. 

17 (B) The minority leader of the Senate shall 

18 appoint one Co-Chair from among Members of 

19 the Senate. 

20 (C) The Speaker of the House of Rep21 resentatives shall appoint one Co-Chair from 

22 among Members of the House of Representa23 tives. 

24 (D) The minority leader of the House of 

25 Representatives shall appoint one Co-Chair 


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1 from among Members of the House of Rep2 resentatives. 

3 (2) STAFF DIRECTOR.—The Co-Chairs, acting 

4 jointly, shall hire the staff director of the Com5 mittee. 

6 (d) DATE.—Members of the Committee shall be ap7 pointed not later than 14 calendar days after the date of 

8 enactment of this joint resolution. 

9 (e) PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT.—Members shall be 

10 appointed for the life of the Committee. Any vacancy in 

11 the Committee shall not affect its powers, but shall be 

12 filled not later than 14 calendar days after the date on 

13 which the vacancy occurs, in the same manner as the origi14 nal designation was made. If a member of the Committee 

15 ceases to be a Member of the House of Representatives 

16 or the Senate, as the case may be, the member is no longer 

17 a member of the Committee and a vacancy shall exist. 

18 SEC. 5. REPORTS. 

19 (a) VOTE ON FINAL REPORT.—No later than 360 

20 days after the date of enactment of this joint resolution, 

21 the Committee shall vote on the approval of a final report 

22 containing a set of recommendations to achieve the mis23 sion set forth in this resolution. 

24 (b) SUPER MAJORITY REQUIREMENT.—The issuance 

25 of a final report of the Committee shall require the apVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HJ41.IH HJ41

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1 proval of not less than 8 of the 12 members of the Com2 mittee. 

3 (c) TRANSMISSION OF REPORT AND LEGISLATIVE

4 LANGUAGE.—If the report and legislative language are 

5 approved by the Committee pursuant to subsection (b), 

6 the Committee shall submit the Committee report and leg7 islative language described in section 3 to the President, 

8 the Vice President, the Speaker of the House of Rep9 resentatives, and the majority and minority leaders of each 

10 House of Congress. 

11 (d) REPORT AND LEGISLATIVE LANGUAGE TO BE

12 MADE PUBLIC.—Upon the approval or disapproval of the 

13 Committee report and legislative language pursuant to 

14 subsection (b), the Committee shall promptly make the full 

15 report and legislative language, and a record of the vote, 

16 available to the public. 

17 SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATION. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—To enable the Committee to exer19 cise its powers, functions, and duties, there are authorized 

20 to be disbursed by the Senate the actual and necessary 

21 expenses of the Committee approved by the co-chairs, sub22 ject to the rules and regulations of the Senate and the 

23 House. 

24 (b) EXPENSES.—In carrying out its functions, the 

25 Committee is authorized to incur expenses in the same 


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1 manner and under the same conditions as the Joint Eco2 nomic Committee is authorized by section 11 of Public 

3 Law 79–304 (15 U.S.C. 1024(d)). 

4 (c) QUORUM.—Eight members of the Committee 

5 shall constitute a quorum for purposes of voting and 

6 issuing a final report. Four members of the Committee 

7 shall constitute a quorum for conducting a hearing or 

8 markup. 

9 (d) VOTING.— 

10 (1) PROXY VOTING.—Proxy voting shall be al11 lowed on behalf of the members of the Committee 

12 pursuant to House and Senate rules. 

13 (2) CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE ESTI14 MATES.—The Congressional Budget Office shall pro15 vide estimates of the legislation in accordance with 

16 sections 308(a) and 201(f) of the Congressional 

17 Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 639(a) and 601(f)) 

18 (including estimates of the effect of interest payment 

19 on the debt). In addition, the Congressional Budget 

20 Office shall provide information on the budgetary ef21 fect of the legislation beyond the year 2031. The 

22 Committee may not vote on any version of the re23 port, recommendations, or legislative language un24 less such estimates are available for consideration by 


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1 all members of the Committee at least 48 hours 

2 prior to the vote as certified by the Co-Chairs. 

3 (e) MEETINGS.— 

4 (1) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 21 cal5 endar days after the date of enactment of this joint 

6 resolution, the Committee shall hold its first meet7 ing. The Committee may adopt its rules of procedure 

8 at this time, which shall be published in the Con9 gressional Record. 

10 (2) AGENDA.—The Co-Chairs of the Committee 

11 shall provide an agenda to its members not less than 

12 48 hours in advance of any meeting. 

13 (f) HEARINGS.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Committee may, for the 

15 purpose of carrying out this section, hold such hear16 ings, sit and act at such times and places, require 

17 attendance of witnesses and production of books, pa18 pers, and documents, take such testimony, receive 

19 such evidence, and administer such oaths as the 

20 Committee considers advisable. 

21 (2) HEARING PROCEDURES AND RESPONSIBIL22 ITIES OF CO-CHAIRS.— 

23 (A) ANNOUNCEMENT.—The Co-Chairs of 

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1 ter of any hearing to be conducted, not less 

2 than 7 days in advance of such hearing, unless 

3 all four Co-Chairs determine that there is good 

4 cause to begin such hearing at an earlier date. 

5 (B) WRITTEN STATEMENT.—A witness ap6 pearing before the Committee shall file a writ7 ten statement of proposed testimony at least 24 

8 hours before the appearance of the witness, un9 less the requirement is waived by the Co-Chairs, 

10 following their determination that there is good 

11 cause for failure to comply with such require12 ment. 

13 (g) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Upon written request 

14 of the four Co-Chairs, a Federal agency shall provide tech15 nical assistance to the Committee in order for the Com16 mittee to carry out its duties. 

17 SEC. 7. STAFF OF THE COMMITTEE. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Co-Chairs of the Committee 

19 may jointly appoint and fix the compensation of staff as 

20 they deem necessary, within the guidelines for employees 

21 of the Senate and following all applicable rules and em22 ployment requirements of the Senate. 

23 (b) ETHICAL STANDARDS.—Members on the Com24 mittee who serve in the House of Representatives shall be 

25 governed by the ethics rules and requirements of the 


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1 House. Members of the Senate who serve on the Com2 mittee and staff of the Committee shall comply with the 

3 ethics rules of the Senate. 

4 SEC. 8. EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION OF COMMITTEE REC5 OMMENDATIONS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—If approved by the majority re7 quired by section 5(b), the proposed legislative language 

8 submitted pursuant to section 3 shall be introduced in the 

9 Senate (by request) on the next day on which the Senate 

10 is in session by the majority leader of the Senate or by 

11 a Member of the Senate designated by the majority leader 

12 of the Senate and shall be introduced in the House of Rep13 resentatives (by request) on the next legislative day by the 

14 majority leader of the House or by a Member of the House 

15 designated by the majority leader of the House. 

16 (b) CONSIDERATION IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENT17 ATIVES.— 

18 (1) REFERRAL AND REPORTING.—Any com19 mittee of the House of Representatives to which the 

20 joint committee bill is referred shall report it to the 

21 House without amendment not later than 7 session 

22 days. If a committee fails to report the joint com23 mittee bill within that period, it shall be in order to 

24 move that the House discharge the committee from 

25 further consideration of the bill. Such a motion shall 


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1 not be in order after the last committee authorized 

2 to consider the bill reports it to the House or after 

3 the House has disposed of a motion to discharge the 

4 bill. The previous question shall be considered as or5 dered on the motion to its adoption without inter6 vening motion except 20 minutes of debate equally 

7 divided and controlled by the proponent and an op8 ponent. If such a motion is adopted, House shall 

9 proceed immediately to consider the bill in accord10 ance with this subsection. A motion to reconsider the 

11 vote by which the motion is disposed of shall not be 

12 in order. 

13 (2) PROCEEDING TO CONSIDERATION.—After 

14 the last committee authorized to consider a joint 

15 committee bill reports it to the House or has been 

16 discharged (other than by motion) from its consider17 ation, it shall be in order to move to proceed to con18 sider the joint committee bill in the House. Such a 

19 motion shall not be in order after the House has dis20 posed of a motion to proceed with respect to the 

21 joint committee bill. The previous question shall be 

22 considered as ordered on the motion to its adoption 

23 without intervening motion. A motion to reconsider 

24 the vote by which the motion is disposed of shall not 

25 be in order. 


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1 (3) CONSIDERATION.—The joint committee bill 

2 shall be considered as read. All points of order 

3 against the joint committee bill and against its con4 sideration are waived. The previous question shall be 

5 considered as ordered on the joint committee bill to 

6 its passage without intervening motion except 2 

7 hours of debate equally divided and controlled by the 

8 proponent and an opponent and one motion to limit 

9 debate on the joint committee bill. A motion to re10 consider the vote on passage of the joint committee 

11 bill shall not be in order. 

12 (4) VOTE ON PASSAGE.—The vote on passage 

13 of the joint committee bill shall occur not later than 

14 7 session days after being reported. 

15 (c) EXPEDITED PROCEDURE IN THE SENATE.— 

16 (1) COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION.—A joint com17 mittee bill introduced in the Senate under subsection 

18 (a) shall be referred to the committee or committees 

19 of jurisdiction, which committees shall report the bill 

20 without any revision and with a favorable rec21 ommendation, an unfavorable recommendation, or 

22 without recommendation, not later than 7 session 

23 days. If any committee fails to report the bill within 

24 that period, that committee shall be automatically 


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1 discharged from consideration of the bill, and the 

2 bill shall be placed on the appropriate calendar. 

3 (2) MOTION TO PROCEED.—Notwithstanding 

4 Rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, it 

5 is in order, not later than 2 days of session after the 

6 date on which a joint committee bill is reported or 

7 on which Committee(s) are discharged from their 

8 consideration of the bill, for the majority leader of 

9 the Senate or the majority leader’s designee to move 

10 to proceed to the consideration of the joint com11 mittee bill. It shall also be in order for any Member 

12 of the Senate to move to proceed to the consider13 ation of the joint committee bill at any time after 

14 the conclusion of such 2-day period. All points of 

15 order against the motion to proceed to the joint 

16 committee bill are waived. The motion to proceed is 

17 not debatable. The motion is not subject to a motion 

18 to postpone. A motion to reconsider the vote by 

19 which the motion is agreed to or disagreed to shall 

20 not be in order. If a motion to proceed to the consid21 eration of the joint committee bill is agreed to, the 

22 joint committee bill shall remain the unfinished busi23 ness until disposed of. 

24 (3) CONSIDERATION.—All points of order 

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1 eration of the joint committee bill are waived. Con2 sideration of the joint committee bill and of all de3 batable motions and appeals in connection therewith 

4 shall not exceed a total of 30 hours which shall be 

5 divided equally between the majority and minority 

6 leaders or their designees. A motion further to limit 

7 debate on the joint committee bill is in order, shall 

8 require an affirmative vote of three-fifths of the 

9 Members duly chosen and sworn, and is not debat10 able. Any debatable motion or appeal is debatable 

11 for not to exceed 1 hour, to be divided equally be12 tween those favoring and those opposing the motion 

13 or appeal. All time used for consideration of the 

14 joint committee bill, including time used for quorum 

15 calls and voting, shall be counted against the total 

16 30 hours of consideration. 

17 (4) NO AMENDMENTS.—An amendment to the 

18 joint committee bill, or a motion to postpone, or a 

19 motion to proceed to the consideration of other busi20 ness, or a motion to recommit the joint committee 

21 bill, is not in order. 

22 (5) VOTE ON PASSAGE.—If the Senate has 

23 voted to proceed to the joint committee bill, the vote 

24 on passage of the joint committee bill shall occur im25 mediately following the conclusion of the debate on 


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1 a joint committee bill, and a single quorum call at 

2 the conclusion of the debate if requested. The vote 

3 on passage of the committee bill shall occur not later 

4 than 7 session days. 

5 (6) RULINGS OF THE CHAIR ON PROCEDURE.— 

6 Appeals from the decisions of the Chair relating to 

7 the application of the rules of the Senate, as the 

8 case may be, to the procedure relating to a joint 

9 committee bill shall be decided without debate. 

10 (d) AMENDMENT.—The joint committee bill shall not 

11 be subject to amendment in either the House of Rep12 resentatives or the Senate. 

13 (e) CONSIDERATION BY THE OTHER HOUSE.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—If, before passing the Com15 mittee, one House receives from the other a joint 

16 committee bill— 

17 (A) the joint committee bill of the other 

18 House not be referred to a committee; and 

19 (B) the procedure in the receiving House 

20 shall be the same as if no joint committee bill 

21 had been received from the other House until 

22 the vote on passage, when the joint committee 

23 bill received from the other House shall sup24 plant the joint committee bill of the receiving 

25 House. 


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1 (2) REVENUE MEASURE.—This subsection shall 

2 not apply to the House of Representatives if the 

3 joint committee bill received from the Senate is a 

4 revenue measure. 

5 (f) RULES TO COORDINATE ACTION WITH OTHER

6 HOUSE.— 

7 (1) TREATMENT OF JOINT COMMITTEE BILL OF

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

9 consider a joint committee bill under this section, 

10 the joint committee bill of the House shall be enti11 tled to expedited floor procedures under this section. 

12 (2) TREATMENT OF COMPANION MEASURES IN

13 THE SENATE.—If following passage of the joint com14 mittee bill in the Senate, the Senate then receives 

15 the joint committee bill from the House of Rep16 resentatives, the House-passed joint committee bill 

17 shall not be debatable. The vote on passage of the 

18 joint committee bill in the Senate shall be considered 

19 to be the vote on passage of the joint committee bill 

20 received from the House of Representatives. 

21 (3) VETOES.—If the President vetoes the joint 

22 committee bill, debate on a veto message in the Sen23 ate under this section shall be 1 hour equally divided 

24 between the majority and minority leaders or their 

25 designees. 


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1 (g) LOSS OF PRIVILEGE.—The provisions of this sec2 tion shall cease to apply to the joint committee bill if— 

3 (1) the Committee fails to vote on the report or 

4 proposed legislative language required under section 

5 3 not later than 390 days after the date of enact6 ment of this joint resolution; or 

7 (2) the joint committee bill does not pass both 

8 Houses not later than 180 days. 

9 SEC. 9. TERMINATION. 

10 The Committee shall terminate 30 days after submit11 ting its final report. 

12 SEC. 10. DEFINITION. 

13 In this Act, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com14 mittees’’ means— 

15 (1) the Committees on Appropriations, Ways 

16 and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Budget of 

17 the House of Representatives; and 

18 (2) the Committees on Appropriations, Finance, 

19 Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and Budget 

20 of the Senate. 

Æ 


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