I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1043 

To provide an optional fast-track procedure the President may use when 

submitting rescission requests, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 11, 2011 

Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for himself, Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia, Mr. WELCH, Mr. 

MCGOVERN, Mr. MATHESON, Mr. OWENS, Mr. SHULER, Mr. COOPER, 

Mr. BOSWELL, Mr. SCHRADER, Mr. PETERS, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. LARSEN

of Washington, Mr. BRALEY of Iowa, Mr. HONDA, Ms. BASS of California, Mr. ALTMIRE, Mr. BARROW, Mr. COSTA, Mr. CUELLAR, Mr. ROSS

of Arkansas, Mr. CARDOZA, Mr. PETERSON, Mr. BOREN, Mr. DONNELLY

of Indiana, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, and Mr. MCINTYRE) (all by 

request): 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 provide an optional fast-track procedure the President 

may use when submitting rescission requests, and for 

other purposes. 

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 AND PURPOSES. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Reduce Unnecessary Spending Act of 2011’’. 


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1 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to create 

2 an optional fast-track procedure the President may use 

3 when submitting rescission requests, which would lead to 

4 an up-or-down vote by Congress on the President’s pack5 age of rescissions, without amendment. 

6 SEC. 2. RESCISSIONS OF FUNDING. 

7 The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is amended 

8 by striking part C and inserting the following: 

9 ‘‘PART C—EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION OF 

10 PROPOSED RESCISSIONS 

11 ‘‘SEC. 1021. APPLICABILITY AND DISCLAIMER. 

12 ‘‘The rules, procedures, requirements, and definitions 

13 in this part apply only to executive and legislative actions 

14 explicitly taken under this part. They do not apply to ac15 tions taken under part B or to other executive and legisla16 tive actions not taken under this part. 

17 ‘‘SEC. 1022. DEFINITIONS. 

18 ‘‘In this part: 

19 ‘‘(1) The terms ‘appropriation Act’, ‘budget au20 thority’, and ‘new budget authority’ have the same 

21 meanings as in section 3 of the Congressional Budg22 et Act of 1974. 

23 ‘‘(2) The terms ‘account’, ‘current year’, ‘CBO’, 

24 and ‘OMB’ have the same meanings as in section 

25 250 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit 


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1 Control Act of 1985 as in effect on September 30, 

2 2002. 

3 ‘‘(3) The term ‘days of session’ shall be cal4 culated by excluding weekends and national holidays. 

5 Any day during which a chamber of Congress is not 

6 in session shall not be counted as a day of session 

7 of that chamber. Any day during which neither 

8 chamber is in session shall not be counted as a day 

9 of session of Congress. 

10 ‘‘(4) The term ‘entitlement law’ means the stat11 utory mandate or requirement of the United States 

12 to incur a financial obligation unless that obligation 

13 is explicitly conditioned on the appropriation in sub14 sequent legislation of sufficient funds for that pur15 pose, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance 

16 Program. 

17 ‘‘(5) The term ‘funding’ refers to new budget 

18 authority and obligation limits except to the extent 

19 that the funding is provided for entitlement law. 

20 ‘‘(6) The term ‘rescind’ means to eliminate or 

21 reduce the amount of enacted funding. 

22 ‘‘(7) The terms ‘withhold’ and ‘withholding’ 

23 apply to any executive action or inaction that pre24 cludes the obligation of funding at a time when it 

25 would otherwise have been available to an agency for 


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1 obligation. The terms do not include administrative 

2 or preparatory actions undertaken prior to obligation 

3 in the normal course of implementing budget laws. 

4 ‘‘SEC. 1023. TIMING AND PACKAGING OF RESCISSION RE5 QUESTS. 

6 ‘‘(a) TIMING.—If the President proposes that Con7 gress rescind funding under the procedures in this part, 

8 OMB shall transmit a message to Congress containing the 

9 information specified in section 1024, and the message 

10 transmitting the proposal shall be sent to Congress not 

11 later than 45 calendar days after the date of enactment 

12 of the funding. 

13 ‘‘(b) PACKAGING AND TRANSMITTAL OF REQUESTED

14 RESCISSIONS.—Except as provided in subsection (c), for 

15 each piece of legislation that provides funding, the Presi16 dent shall request at most 1 package of rescissions and 

17 the rescissions in that package shall apply only to funding 

18 contained in that legislation. OMB shall deliver each mes19 sage requesting a package of rescissions to the Secretary 

20 of the Senate if the Senate is not in session and to the 

21 Clerk of the House of Representatives if the House is not 

22 in session. OMB shall make a copy of the transmittal mes23 sage publicly available, and shall publish in the Federal 

24 Register a notice of the message and information on how 

25 it can be obtained. 


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1 ‘‘(c) SPECIAL PACKAGING RULES.—After enactment 

2 of— 

3 ‘‘(1) a joint resolution making continuing ap4 propriations; 

5 ‘‘(2) a supplemental appropriations bill; or 

6 ‘‘(3) an omnibus appropriations bill; 

7 covering some or all of the activities customarily funded 

8 in more than 1 regular appropriations bill, the President 

9 may propose as many as 2 packages rescinding funding 

10 contained in that legislation, each within the 45-day period 

11 specified in subsection (a). OMB shall not include the 

12 same rescission in both packages, and, if the President 

13 requests the rescission of more than one discrete amount 

14 of funding under the jurisdiction of a single subcommittee, 

15 OMB shall include each of those discrete amounts in the 

16 same package. 

17 ‘‘SEC. 1024. REQUESTS TO RESCIND FUNDING. 

18 ‘‘For each request to rescind funding under this part, 

19 the transmittal message shall— 

20 ‘‘(1) specify— 

21 ‘‘(A) the dollar amount to be rescinded; 

22 ‘‘(B) the agency, bureau, and account from 

23 which the rescission shall occur; 


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1 ‘‘(C) the program, project, or activity with2 in the account (if applicable) from which the re3 scission shall occur; 

4 ‘‘(D) the amount of funding, if any, that 

5 would remain for the account, program, project, 

6 or activity if the rescission request is enacted; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(E) the reasons the President requests 

9 the rescission; 

10 ‘‘(2) designate each separate rescission request 

11 by number; and 

12 ‘‘(3) include proposed legislative language to ac13 complish the requested rescissions which may not in14 clude— 

15 ‘‘(A) any changes in existing law, other 

16 than the rescission of funding; or 

17 ‘‘(B) any supplemental appropriations, 

18 transfers, or reprogrammings. 

19 ‘‘SEC. 1025. GRANTS OF AND LIMITATIONS ON PRESI20 DENTIAL AUTHORITY. 

21 ‘‘(a) PRESIDENTIAL AUTHORITY TO WITHHOLD

22 FUNDING.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law 

23 and if the President proposes a rescission of funding under 

24 this part, OMB may, subject to the time limits provided 


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1 in subsection (c), temporarily withhold that funding from 

2 obligation. 

3 ‘‘(b) EXPEDITED PROCEDURES AVAILABLE ONLY

4 ONCE PER BILL.—The President may not invoke the pro5 cedures of this part, or the authority to withhold funding 

6 granted by subsection (a), on more than 1 occasion for 

7 any Act providing funding. 

8 ‘‘(c) TIME LIMITS.—OMB shall make available for 

9 obligation any funding withheld under subsection (a) on 

10 the earliest of— 

11 ‘‘(1) the day on which the President determines 

12 that the continued withholding or reduction no 

13 longer advances the purpose of legislative consider14 ation of the rescission request; 

15 ‘‘(2) starting from the day on which OMB 

16 transmitted a message to Congress requesting the 

17 rescission of funding, 25 calendar days in which the 

18 House of Representatives has been in session or 25 

19 calendar days in which the Senate has been in ses20 sion, whichever occurs second; or 

21 ‘‘(3) the last day after which the obligation of 

22 the funding in question can no longer be fully ac23 complished in a prudent manner before its expira24 tion. 

25 ‘‘(d) DEFICIT REDUCTION.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Funds that are rescinded 

2 under this part shall be dedicated only to reducing 

3 the deficit or increasing the surplus. 

4 ‘‘(2) ADJUSTMENT OF LEVELS IN THE CONCUR5 RENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET.—Not later 

6 than 5 days after the date of enactment of an ap7 proval bill as provided under this part, the chairs of 

8 the Committees on the Budget of the Senate and the 

9 House of Representatives shall revise allocations and 

10 aggregates and other appropriate levels under the 

11 appropriate concurrent resolution on the budget to 

12 reflect the repeal or cancellation, and the applicable 

13 committees shall report revised suballocations pursu14 ant to section 302(b), as appropriate. 

15 ‘‘SEC. 1026. CONGRESSIONAL CONSIDERATION OF RESCIS16 SION REQUESTS. 

17 ‘‘(a) PREPARATION OF LEGISLATION TO CONSIDER

18 A PACKAGE OF EXPEDITED RESCISSION REQUESTS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the House of Represent20 atives receives a package of expedited rescission re21 quests, the Clerk shall prepare a House bill that 

22 only rescinds the amounts requested which shall 

23 read as follows: 

24 ‘‘ ‘There are enacted the rescissions numbered 

25 [insert number or numbers] as set forth in the PresVerDate Mar 15 2010 18:50 Mar 14, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1043.IH H1043

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1 idential message of [insert date] transmitted under 

2 part C of the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 as 

3 amended.’ 

4 ‘‘(2) EXCLUSION PROCEDURE.—The Clerk shall 

5 include in the bill each numbered rescission request 

6 listed in the Presidential package in question, except 

7 that the Clerk shall omit a numbered rescission re8 quest if the Chairman of the Committee on the 

9 Budget of the House, after consulting with the 

10 Chairman of the Committee on the Budget of the 

11 Senate, CBO, GAO, and the House and Senate com12 mittees that have jurisdiction over the funding, de13 termines that the numbered rescission does not refer 

14 to funding or includes matter not permitted under a 

15 request to rescind funding. 

16 ‘‘(b) INTRODUCTION AND REFERRAL OF LEGISLA17 TION TO ENACT A PACKAGE OF EXPEDITED RESCIS18 SIONS.—The majority leader or the minority leader of the 

19 House of Representatives, or a designee, shall (by request) 

20 introduce each bill prepared under subsection (a) not later 

21 than 4 days of session of the House after its transmittal, 

22 or, if no such bill is introduced within that period, any 

23 member of the House may introduce the required bill in 

24 the required form on the fifth or sixth day of session of 

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1 scission bill is introduced in accordance with the preceding 

2 sentence, it shall be referred to the House committee of 

3 jurisdiction. A copy of the introduced House bill shall be 

4 transmitted to the Secretary of the Senate, who shall pro5 vide it to the Senate committee of jurisdiction. 

6 ‘‘(c) HOUSE REPORT AND CONSIDERATION OF LEG7 ISLATION TO ENACT A PACKAGE OF EXPEDITED RESCIS8 SIONS.—The House committee of jurisdiction shall report 

9 without amendment the bill referred to it under subsection 

10 (b) not more than 5 days of session of the House after 

11 the referral. The committee may order the bill reported 

12 favorably, unfavorably, or without recommendation. If the 

13 committee has not reported the bill by the end of the 5- 

14 day period, the committee shall be automatically dis15 charged from further consideration of the bill and it shall 

16 be placed on the appropriate calendar. 

17 ‘‘(d) HOUSE MOTION TO PROCEED.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—After a bill to enact an ex19 pedited rescission package has been reported or the 

20 committee of jurisdiction has been discharged under 

21 subsection (c), it shall be in order to move to pro22 ceed to consider the bill in the House. A Member 

23 who wishes to move to proceed to consideration of 

24 the bill shall announce that fact, and the motion to 

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1 ignated by the Speaker within the legislative sched2 ule for the next calendar day of legislative session or 

3 the one immediately following it. 

4 ‘‘(2) FAILURE TO SET TIME.—If the Speaker 

5 does not designate a time under paragraph (1), 3 or 

6 more calendar days of legislative session after the 

7 bill has been reported or discharged, it shall be in 

8 order for any Member to move to proceed to con9 sider the bill. 

10 ‘‘(3) PROCEDURE.—A motion to proceed under 

11 this subsection shall not be in order after the House 

12 has disposed of a prior motion to proceed with re13 spect to that package of expedited rescissions. The 

14 previous question shall be considered as ordered on 

15 the motion to proceed, without intervening motion. A 

16 motion to reconsider the vote by which the motion 

17 to proceed has been disposed of shall not be in 

18 order. 

19 ‘‘(4) REMOVAL FROM CALENDAR.—If 5 cal20 endar days of legislative session have passed since 

21 the bill was reported or discharged under this sub22 section and no Member has made a motion to pro23 ceed, the bill shall be removed from the calendar. 

24 ‘‘(e) HOUSE CONSIDERATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) CONSIDERED AS READ.—A bill consisting 

2 of a package of rescissions under this part shall be 

3 considered as read. 

4 ‘‘(2) POINTS OF ORDER.—All points of order 

5 against the bill are waived, except that a point of 

6 order may be made that 1 or more numbered rescis7 sions included in the bill would enact language con8 taining matter not requested by the President or not 

9 permitted under this part as part of that package. 

10 If the Presiding Officer sustains such a point of 

11 order, the numbered rescission or rescissions that 

12 would enact such language are deemed to be auto13 matically stripped from the bill and consideration 

14 proceeds on the bill as modified. 

15 ‘‘(3) PREVIOUS QUESTION.—The previous ques16 tion shall be considered as ordered on the bill to its 

17 passage without intervening motion, except that 4 

18 hours of debate equally divided and controlled by a 

19 proponent and an opponent are allowed, as well as 

20 1 motion to further limit debate on the bill. 

21 ‘‘(4) MOTION TO RECONSIDER.—A motion to 

22 reconsider the vote on passage of the bill shall not 

23 be in order. 

24 ‘‘(f) SENATE CONSIDERATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) REFERRAL.—If the House of Representa2 tives approves a House bill enacting a package of re3 scissions, that bill as passed by the House shall be 

4 sent to the Senate and referred to the Senate com5 mittee of jurisdiction. 

6 ‘‘(2) COMMITTEE ACTION.—The committee of 

7 jurisdiction shall report without amendment the bill 

8 referred to it under this subsection not later than 3 

9 days of session of the Senate after the referral. The 

10 committee may order the bill reported favorably, un11 favorably, or without recommendation. 

12 ‘‘(3) DISCHARGE.—If the committee has not re13 ported the bill by the end of the 3-day period, the 

14 committee shall be automatically discharged from 

15 further consideration of the bill and it shall be 

16 placed on the appropriate calendar. 

17 ‘‘(4) MOTION TO PROCEED.—On the following 

18 day and for 3 subsequent calendar days in which the 

19 Senate is in session, it shall be in order for any Sen20 ator to move to proceed to consider the bill in the 

21 Senate. Upon such a motion being made, it shall be 

22 deemed to have been agreed to and the motion to re23 consider shall be deemed to have been laid on the 

24 table. 


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1 ‘‘(5) DEBATE.—Debate on the bill in the Sen2 ate under this subsection, and all debatable motions 

3 and appeals in connection therewith, shall not exceed 

4 10 hours, equally divided and controlled in the usual 

5 form. Debate in the Senate on any debatable motion 

6 or appeal in connection with such a bill shall be lim7 ited to not more than 1 hour, to be equally divided 

8 and controlled in the usual form. A motion to fur9 ther limit debate on such a bill is not debatable. 

10 ‘‘(6) MOTIONS NOT IN ORDER.—A motion to 

11 amend such a bill or strike a provision from it is not 

12 in order. A motion to recommit such a bill is not in 

13 order. 

14 ‘‘(g) SENATE POINT OF ORDER.—It shall not be in 

15 order under this part for the Senate to consider a bill ap16 proved by the House enacting a package of rescissions 

17 under this part if any numbered rescission in the bill 

18 would enact matter not requested by the President or not 

19 permitted under this Act as part of that package. If a 

20 point of order under this subsection is sustained, the bill 

21 may not be considered under this part.’’. 

22 SEC. 3. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

23 (a) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—Section 1(b) of the Con24 gressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 


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1 is amended by striking the matter for part C of title X 

2 and inserting the following: 

‘‘PART C—EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION OF PROPOSED RESCISSIONS

‘‘Sec. 1021. Applicability and disclaimer. 

‘‘Sec. 1022. Definitions. 

‘‘Sec. 1023. Timing and packaging of rescission requests. 

‘‘Sec. 1024. Requests to rescind funding. 

‘‘Sec. 1025. Grants of and limitations on presidential authority. 

‘‘Sec. 1026. Congressional consideration of rescission requests.’’. 

3 (b) TEMPORARY WITHHOLDING.—Section 1013(c) of 

4 the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is amended by 

5 striking ‘‘section 1012’’ and inserting ‘‘section 1012 or 

6 section 1025’’. 

7 (c) RULEMAKING.— 

8 (1) 904(a).—Section 904(a) of the Congres9 sional Budget Act of 1974 is amended by striking 

10 ‘‘and 1017’’ and inserting ‘‘1017, and 1026’’. 

11 (2) 904(d)(1).—Section 904(d)(1) of the Con12 gressional Budget Act of 1974 is amended by strik13 ing ‘‘1017’’ and inserting ‘‘1017 or 1026’’. 

14 SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS TO PART A OF THE IMPOUNDMENT 

15 CONTROL ACT. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part A of the Impoundment Con17 trol Act of 1974 is amended by inserting at the end the 

18 following: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 1002. SEVERABILITY. 

20 ‘‘If the judicial branch of the United States finally 

21 determines that 1 or more of the provisions of parts B 

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1 maining provisions of those parts shall continue in ef2 fect.’’. 

3 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—Section 1(b) of the Con4 gressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 

5 is amended by inserting at the end of the matter for part 

6 A of title X the following: 

‘‘Sec. 1002. Severability.’’. 

7 SEC. 5. EXPIRATION. 

8 Part C of the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (as 

9 amended by this Act) shall expire on December 31, 2015. 

Æ 


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