I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6927 

To establish a commission on national debt and fiscal reforms. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 9, 2024 

Mrs. SPARTZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Budget, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, for 

a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish a commission on national debt and fiscal 

reforms. 

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 Commission Act 

5 of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF A DEBT COMMISSION. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF A DEBT COMMISSION.—No 

8 later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 

9 there shall be established in Congress a Debt Commission. 


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1 (b) MEMBERSHIP STRUCTURE.—The Debt Commis2 sion shall be composed of 16 members, of whom— 

3 (1) four members shall be appointed by the ma4 jority leader of the Senate from among the current 

5 Members of the Senate; 

6 (2) four members shall be appointed by the mi7 nority leader of the Senate from among the current 

8 Members of the Senate; 

9 (3) four members shall be appointed by the 

10 Speaker of the House of Representatives from 

11 among the current Members of the House of Rep12 resentatives; and 

13 (4) four members shall be appointed by the mi14 nority leader of the House of Representatives from 

15 among the current Members of the House of Rep16 resentatives. 

17 (c) QUALIFICATIONS.—Members appointed to the 

18 Debt Commission shall have significant depth of experi19 ence and expertise on fiscal issues. 

20 (d) VACANCY.—Any vacancy in the Debt Commission 

21 shall be filled in the same manner as the initial appoint22 ment under subsection (b). 

23 (e) CO-CHAIRS.—From among the members ap24 pointed in subsection (b), the leadership of the Senate and 

25 House of Representatives of the same political party as 


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1 the President shall designate 1 member, and the leader2 ship of the Senate and House of Representatives of the 

3 opposite political party as the President, shall designate 

4 1 member to serve as a co-chairs of the Debt Commission. 

5 (f) STAFF DIRECTOR.—The co-chairs of the Debt 

6 Commission, acting jointly, shall hire the staff director of 

7 the Debt Commission. 

8 (g) STAFF COMPENSATION.—The co-chairs of the 

9 Debt Commission may jointly appoint and fix the com10 pensation of staff of the Debt Commission as the co-chairs 

11 determine necessary, in accordance with the guidelines, 

12 rules, and requirements relating to employees of the Sen13 ate. 

14 (h) FUNDING.—Funding for the Debt Commission 

15 shall be derived in equal portions from— 

16 (1) the contingent fund of the Senate from the 

17 appropriations account ‘‘Miscellaneous Items’’, sub18 ject to the rules and regulations of the Senate; and 

19 (2) the applicable accounts of the House of 

20 Representatives. 

21 (i) DUTIES.—The Debt Commission shall identify 

22 policies to— 

23 (1) achieve a sustainable ratio of the public 

24 debt of the Federal Government to the gross domes25 tic product of the United States, in the midterm, inVerDate Sep 11 2014 07:09 Jan 10, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6927.IH H6927

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1 cluding changes to address growth, discretionary ap2 propriations, direct spending, and revenues; 

3 (2) improve the long-term solvency of Federal 

4 programs for which a Federal trust fund exists; and 

5 (3) reform budget processes for enhancing the 

6 fiscal oversight function of Congress. 

7 (j) POWERS OF DEBT COMMISSION.— 

8 (1) HEARINGS.— 

9 (A) PUBLIC HEARINGS.—The Debt Com10 mission shall hold public hearings and require 

11 attendance of witnesses and production of 

12 books, papers, and documents as the Debt 

13 Commission considers advisable. 

14 (B) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 30 

15 days after the date described in subsection (a), 

16 the Debt Commission shall hold the first meet17 ing. 

18 (C) AGENDA.—For each meeting of the 

19 Debt Commission, the co-chairs of the Debt 

20 Commission shall provide an agenda to the 

21 members of the Debt Commission not later 

22 than 48 hours before the meeting. 

23 (D) HEARING ANNOUNCEMENT.—The co24 chairs of the Debt Commission shall make a 

25 public announcement of the date, place, time, 


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1 and subject matter of any hearing to be con2 ducted under this subsection not later than 7 

3 days before the date of the hearing, unless the 

4 co-chairs determine that there is good cause to 

5 begin such hearing on an earlier date. 

6 (2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Upon written re7 quest of the co-chairs of the Debt Commission, the 

8 head of a Federal agency shall provide technical as9 sistance to the Debt Commission in a timely manner 

10 in order for the Debt Commission to carry out the 

11 duties of the Debt Commission. 

12 (3) TASK FORCES AND WORKING GROUPS.—The 

13 co-chairs may establish task forces and working 

14 groups to carry out the duties of the Debt Commis15 sion, which may include participation by outside ex16 perts. 

17 (4) CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE ESTI18 MATES.—The Director of the Congressional Budget 

19 Office shall, with respect to the legislative language 

20 of the Debt Commission under subsection (l)(1)(B), 

21 provide to the Debt Commission— 

22 (A) estimates of the legislative language in 

23 accordance with sections 308(a) and 201(f) of 

24 the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 

25 U.S.C. 639(a) and 8 601(f)); and 


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1 (B) information on the budgetary effect of 

2 the legislative language on the long-term fiscal 

3 outlook. 

4 (k) CONSULTATIONS WITH CONGRESS.— 

5 (1) RECOMMENDATIONS OF COMMITTEES.—Not 

6 later than 60 days after the date of enactment of 

7 this Act, each committee of the Senate and the 

8 House of Representatives may transmit to the Debt 

9 Commission any recommendations of the committee 

10 relating to changes in law to achieve the changes de11 scribed in subsection (i). 

12 (2) CONSULTATION WITH COMMITTEES.—The 

13 co-chairs shall consult with the chairman and rank14 ing minority member of each relevant committee of 

15 the Senate and of the House of Representatives re16 garding the contents of the final report and legisla17 tive language under subsection (l). 

18 (3) REQUIREMENTS FOR CONSULTATION.—The 

19 consultation required under paragraph (2) shall pro20 vide the opportunity for the chairman and ranking 

21 member of each relevant committee of the Senate or 

22 of the House of Representatives to provide— 

23 (A) recommendations for alternative means 

24 of addressing the recommendations contained in 

25 the Debt Commission report; and 


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1 (B) recommendations regarding which rec2 ommendations contained in the Debt Commis3 sion report should not be addressed in the pro4 posed report. 

5 (4) SUPPLEMENTAL VIEWS.—The Chair and 

6 Ranking Member of each relevant committee can 

7 submit supplemental views to include in the final re8 port under subsection (l). 

9 (l) FINAL REPORT, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND LEGIS10 LATIVE LANGUAGE.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—On November 15, 2024, or 

12 thereafter, but not later than 30 days before the 

13 date specified in section 401(a) of division D of the 

14 Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (Public Law 118– 

15 5), the Debt Commission shall meet to consider, and 

16 vote on— 

17 (A) a final report that contains a detailed 

18 statement of the findings, conclusions, and rec19 ommendations required under subsection (i); 

20 and 

21 (B) legislative language to carry out the 

22 recommendations of the Debt Commission in 

23 the report described in subparagraph (A), which 

24 shall include a statement of the economic and 


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1 budgetary effects of the recommendations by 

2 the Congressional Budget Office. 

3 (2) APPROVAL OF REPORT AND LEGISLATIVE

4 LANGUAGE.—A final report and legislative language 

5 of the Debt Commission under paragraph (1) shall 

6 require a separate vote and the approval of a major7 ity of the members of the Debt Commission, pro8 vided that such majority shall be required to include 

9 not less than 4 members of the Debt Commission 

10 appointed by members of the Republican Party and 

11 4 members appointed by members of the Democratic 

12 Party. 

13 (3) ADDITIONAL VIEWS.—A member of the 

14 Debt Commission who gives notice of an intention to 

15 file supplemental, minority, or additional views at 

16 the time of the final Debt Commission vote on the 

17 approval of the report and legislative language shall 

18 be entitled to 3 days to file those views in writing 

19 with the staff director of the Debt Commission to in20 clude in the final report. 

21 (4) REPORT AND LEGISLATIVE LANGUAGE TO

22 BE MADE PUBLIC.—Upon the approval or dis23 approval of a report and legislative language under 

24 paragraph (1) by the Debt Commission, the Debt 

25 Commission shall promptly, and not more than 24 


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1 hours after the approval or disapproval or, if timely 

2 notice is given under paragraph (3), not more than 

3 24 hours after additional views are filed under such 

4 paragraph (3), make the report, the legislative lan5 guage, and a record of the vote on the report and 

6 legislative language available to the public. 

7 (5) SUBMISSION OF REPORT AND LEGISLATIVE

8 LANGUAGE.—If a report or legislative language are 

9 approved by the Debt Commission under paragraph 

10 (1), not later than 3 days after the date on which 

11 the report or legislative language are made available 

12 to the public under paragraph (4), the Debt Com13 mission shall submit the report or legislative lan14 guage to the President, the Vice President, the 

15 Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the 

16 majority and minority leaders of each House of Con17 gress. 

18 (m) TERMINATION.—The Debt Commission shall ter19 minate on the date that is 30 days after the date the Debt 

20 Commission submits the final report under subsection (l) 

21 or December 31, 2024, whichever is earlier. 

22 SEC. 3. EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION OF DEBT COMMISSION 

23 BILLS. 

24 (a) QUALIFYING LEGISLATION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Only a Debt Commission bill 

2 shall be entitled to expedited consideration under 

3 this section. 

4 (2) DEBT COMMISSION BILL DEFINED.—In this 

5 section, the term ‘‘Debt Commission bill’’ means a 

6 bill consisting solely of legislative language that the 

7 Debt Commission approves and submits under sec8 tion 2(l)(5). 

9 (b) CONSIDERATION IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENT10 ATIVES.— 

11 (1) INTRODUCTION.—If the Debt Commission 

12 approves and submits legislative language under 

13 paragraphs (1) and (5), respectively, of section 2(l), 

14 the Debt Commission bill consisting solely of that 

15 legislative language shall be introduced in the House 

16 of Representatives (by request)— 

17 (A) by the majority leader of the House of 

18 Representatives, or by a Member of the House 

19 of Representatives designated by the majority 

20 leader of the House of Representatives, on the 

21 third legislative day after the date the Debt 

22 Commission approves and submits such legisla23 tive language; or 

24 (B) if the Debt Commission bill is not in25 troduced under subparagraph (A), by any MemVerDate Sep 11 2014 07:09 Jan 10, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6927.IH H6927

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1 ber of the House of Representatives on any leg2 islative day beginning on the legislative day 

3 after the legislative day described in subpara4 graph (A). 

5 (2) REFERRAL AND REPORTING.—Any com6 mittee of the House of Representatives to which a 

7 Debt Commission bill is referred shall report the 

8 Debt Commission bill to the House of Representa9 tives without amendment not later than 5 legislative 

10 days after the date on which the Debt Commission 

11 bill was so referred. If any committee of the House 

12 of Representatives to which a Debt Commission bill 

13 is referred fails to report the Debt Commission bill 

14 within that period, that committee shall be auto15 matically discharged from consideration of the Debt 

16 Commission bill, and the Debt Commission bill shall 

17 be placed on the appropriate calendar. 

18 (3) PROCEEDING TO CONSIDERATION.—After 

19 the last committee authorized to consider a Debt 

20 Commission bill reports it to the House of Rep21 resentatives or has been discharged from its consid22 eration, it shall be in order to move to proceed to 

23 consider the Debt Commission bill in the House of 

24 Representatives. Such a motion shall not be in order 

25 after the House of Representatives has disposed of 


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1 a motion to proceed with respect to the Debt Com2 mission bill. The previous question shall be consid3 ered as ordered on the motion to its adoption with4 out intervening motion. 

5 (4) CONSIDERATION.—The Debt Commission 

6 bill shall be considered as read. All points of order 

7 against the Debt Commission bill and against its 

8 consideration are waived. The previous question 

9 shall be considered as ordered on the Debt Commis10 sion bill to its passage without intervening motion 

11 except 2 hours of debate equally divided and con12 trolled by the proponent and an opponent. 

13 (5) VOTE ON PASSAGE.—The vote on passage 

14 of the Debt Commission bill shall occur pursuant to 

15 the constraints under clause 8 of rule XX of the 

16 Rules of the House of Representatives. 

17 (c) EXPEDITED PROCEDURE IN THE SENATE.— 

18 (1) INTRODUCTION IN THE SENATE.—If the 

19 Debt Commission approves and submits legislative 

20 language under paragraphs (1) and (5), respectively, 

21 of section 2(l)), a Debt Commission bill consisting 

22 solely of that legislative language may be introduced 

23 in the Senate (by request)— 

24 (A) by the majority leader of the Senate, 

25 or by a Member of the Senate designated by the 


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1 majority leader of the Senate, on the next day 

2 on which the Senate is in session; or 

3 (B) if the Debt Commission bill is not in4 troduced under subparagraph (A), by any Mem5 ber of the Senate on any day on which the Sen6 ate is in session beginning on the day after the 

7 day described in subparagraph (A). 

8 (2) COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION.—A Debt 

9 Commission bill introduced in the Senate under 

10 paragraph (1) shall be jointly referred to the com11 mittee or committees of jurisdiction, which commit12 tees shall report the Debt Commission bill without 

13 any revision and with a favorable recommendation, 

14 an unfavorable recommendation, or without rec15 ommendation, not later than 5 session days after the 

16 date on which the Debt Commission bill was so re17 ferred. If any committee to which a Debt Commis18 sion bill is referred fails to report the Debt Commis19 sion bill within that period, that committee shall be 

20 automatically discharged from consideration of the 

21 Debt Commission bill, and the Debt Commission bill 

22 shall be placed on the appropriate calendar. 

23 (3) PROCEEDING.—Notwithstanding rule XXII 

24 of the Standing Rules of the Senate, it is in order, 

25 not later than 2 days of session after the date on 


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1 which a Debt Commission bill is reported or dis2 charged from all committees to which the Debt Com3 mission bill was referred, for the majority leader of 

4 the Senate or the designee of the majority leader to 

5 move to proceed to the consideration of the Debt 

6 Commission bill. It shall also be in order for any 

7 Member of the Senate to move to proceed to the 

8 consideration of the Debt Commission bill at any 

9 time after the conclusion of such 2-day period. A 

10 motion to proceed is in order even though a previous 

11 motion to the same effect has been disagreed to. All 

12 points of order against the motion to proceed to the 

13 Debt Commission bill are waived. The motion to 

14 proceed is not debatable. The motion is not subject 

15 to a motion to postpone. A motion to reconsider the 

16 vote by which the motion is agreed to or disagreed 

17 to shall not be in order. If a motion to proceed to 

18 the consideration of the Debt Commission bill is 

19 agreed to, the Debt Commission bill shall remain the 

20 unfinished business until disposed of. All points of 

21 order against a Debt Commission bill and against 

22 consideration of the Debt Commission bill are 

23 waived. 

24 (4) NO AMENDMENTS.—An amendment to a 

25 Debt Commission bill, or a motion to postpone, or 


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1 a motion to proceed to the consideration of other 

2 business, or a motion to recommit the Debt Commis3 sion bill, is not in order. 

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

5 Appeals from the decisions of the Chair relating to 

6 the application of the rules of the Senate, as the 

7 case may be, to the procedure relating to a Debt 

8 Commission bill shall be decided without debate. 

9 (d) AMENDMENT.—A Debt Commission bill shall not 

10 be subject to amendment in either the Senate or the 

11 House of Representatives. 

12 (e) CONSIDERATION BY THE OTHER HOUSE.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—If, before passing a Debt 

14 Commission bill, a House receives from the other 

15 House a Debt Commission bill consisting of legisla16 tive language approved by the same Debt Commis17 sion as the Debt Commission bill in the receiving 

18 House— 

19 (A) the Debt Commission bill of the other 

20 House shall not be referred to a committee; and 

21 (B) the procedure in the receiving House 

22 shall be the same as if no Debt Commission bill 

23 had been received from the other House until 

24 the vote on passage, when the Debt Commission 

25 bill received from the other House shall supVerDate Sep 11 2014 07:09 Jan 10, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6927.IH H6927

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1 plant the Debt Commission bill of the receiving 

2 House. 

3 (2) REVENUE MEASURES.—This subsection 

4 shall not apply to the House of Representatives if a 

5 Debt Commission bill received from the Senate is a 

6 revenue measure. 

7 (f) RULES TO COORDINATE ACTION WITH OTHER

8 HOUSE.— 

9 (1) TREATMENT OF DEBT COMMISSION BILL OF

10 OTHER HOUSE.—If a Debt Commission bill is not 

11 introduced in the Senate or the Senate fails to con12 sider a Debt Commission bill under this section, the 

13 Debt Commission bill of the House of Representa14 tives consisting of legislative language approved by 

15 the same Debt Commission as the Debt Commission 

16 bill in the Senate shall be entitled to expedited floor 

17 procedures under this section. 

18 (2) TREATMENT OF COMPANION MEASURES IN

19 THE SENATE.—If, following passage of a Debt Com20 mission bill in the Senate, the Senate then receives 

21 from the House of Representatives a Debt Commis22 sion bill approved by the same Debt Commission and 

23 consisting of the same legislative language as the 

24 Senate-passed Debt Commission bill, the House25 passed Debt Commission bill shall not be debatable. 


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1 The vote on passage of the Debt Commission bill in 

2 the Senate shall be considered to be the vote on pas3 sage of the Debt Commission bill received from the 

4 House of Representatives. 

5 (3) VETOES.—If the President vetoes a Debt 

6 Commission bill, consideration of a veto message in 

7 the Senate under this paragraph shall be 10 hours 

8 equally divided between the majority and minority 

9 leaders of the Senate or the designees of the major10 ity and minority leaders of the Senate. 

11 SEC. 4. RULEMAKING. 

12 The provisions of this Act are enacted by Congress— 

13 (1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of 

14 the Senate and the House of Representatives, re15 spectively, and, as such, the provisions— 

16 (A) shall be considered as part of the rules 

17 of each House, respectively, or of that House to 

18 which they specifically apply; and 

19 (B) shall supersede other rules only to the 

20 extent that they are inconsistent therewith; and 

21 (2) with full recognition of the constitutional 

22 right of either House to change such rules (so far 

23 as relating to such House) at any time, in the same 


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1 manner, and to the same extent as in the case of 

2 any other rule of such House. 

Æ 


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