I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4699 

To facilitate Presidential leadership and Congressional accountability 

regarding reduction of spending. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 1, 2006 

Mr. UDALL of Colorado (for himself, Mr. COOPER, and Mrs. MUSGRAVE) 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 facilitate Presidential leadership and Congressional 

accountability regarding reduction of spending. 

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

5 ‘‘Stimulating Leadership in Cutting Expenditures Act (or 

6 SLICE Act) of 2006’’. 

7 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 
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1 (1) the Congressional Budget Office has pro2 jected that unless current laws and policies are 

3 changed federal expenditures will exceed revenues 

4 during and after fiscal year 2007, which will require 

5 the government to borrow funds to offset these defi6 cits; 

7 (2) substantial federal appropriations will con8 tinue to be required for ongoing costs of national de9 fense and homeland security, as well as for other ur10 gent purposes; 

11 (3) rescinding previously-mandated spending on 

12 lower-priority items would help reduce the extent to 

13 which such necessary appropriations for urgent pur14 poses would require increases in the national debt 

15 that must be repaid, with interest, in the future; and 

16 (4) however, under current law, while the Presi17 dent can propose rescinding such spending, the Con18 gress is not required to act on any such proposals 

19 by the President. 

20 (c) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to enable 

21 the President to require Congress to debate and vote on 

22 certain presidential proposals for reducing spending. 
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1 SEC. 2. EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION OF CERTAIN PRO2 POSED SPENDING REDUCTIONS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part B of title X of the Congres4 sional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (2 

5 U.S.C. 681 et seq.) is amended by redesignating sections 

6 1013 through 1017 as sections 1014 through 1018, re7 spectively, and inserting after section 1012 the following 

8 new section: 

9 ‘‘EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION OF CERTAIN PROPOSED

10 RESCISSIONS

11 ‘‘SEC. 1013. (a) PROPOSED RESCISSION OF BUDGET

12 AUTHORITY.—In addition to the method of rescinding 

13 budget authority specified in section 1012, the President 

14 may propose the rescission of any budget authority pro15 vided in Public Law 109-59 or in an appropriation Act. 

16 Funds made available for obligation under this procedure 

17 may not be proposed for rescission again under this sec18 tion or section 1012. 

19 ‘‘(b) TRANSMITTAL OF SPECIAL MESSAGE.— 

20 ‘‘(1) PROPOSED RESCISSIONS OF TRANSPOR21 TATION PROJECTS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) The President may transmit to Con23 gress a special message proposing to rescind 

24 amounts of budget authority provided in the 

25 Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users 

26 (Public Law 109–59). 
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1 ‘‘(B) A special message transmitted pursu2 ant to this subsection shall be accompanied by 

3 a draft bill each section of which would affect 

4 only the specific project or purpose specified in 

5 such section. 

6 ‘‘(2) PROPOSED RESCISSIONS IN APPROPRIA7 TION ACTS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) the President may transmit to Con9 gress a special message proposing to rescind 

10 amounts of budget authority provided in an ap11 propriation Act and include with that special 

12 message a draft bill each section of which, if en13 acted, would only rescind the amount of budget 

14 authority specified in such section. That bill 

15 shall clearly identify the amount of budget au16 thority that is proposed to be rescinded for each 

17 program, project, or activity to which that 

18 budget authority relates. 

19 ‘‘(B) If a special message transmitted pur20 suant to this subsection proposes to rescind 

21 budget authority included in an appropriation 

22 Act that includes accounts within the jurisdic23 tion of more than one subcommittee of the 

24 Committee on Appropriations, the President 

25 shall send a draft bill that separates the pro-
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1 posed rescissions from accounts within the ju2 risdiction of each such subcommittee. 

3 ‘‘(C) Each special message shall specify, 

4 with respect to the budget authority proposed 

5 to be rescinded, the matters referred to in para6 graphs (1) through (5) of section 1012(a). 

7 ‘‘(c) PROCEDURES FOR EXPEDITED CONSIDER8 ATION.— 

9 ‘‘(1)(A) Before the close of the second legisla10 tive day of the House of Representatives after the 

11 date of receipt of a special message transmitted to 

12 Congress under subsection (b), the majority leader 

13 or minority leader of the House of Representatives 

14 shall introduce (by request) the draft bill accom15 panying that special message. If the bill is not intro16 duced as provided in the preceding sentence, then, 

17 on the third legislative day of the House of Rep18 resentatives after the date of receipt of that special 

19 message, any Member of that House may introduce 

20 the bill. 

21 ‘‘(B) A bill affecting Public Law 109-59 shall 

22 be referred to the Committee on Transportation and 

23 Infrastructure and a bill to rescind budgetary au24 thority included in an appropriation Act shall be re25 ferred to the Committee on Appropriations of the 
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1 House of Representatives. The committee of referral 

2 shall report the bill without substantive revision, and 

3 with or without recommendation. The bill shall be 

4 reported not later than the seventh legislative day of 

5 that House after the date of receipt of that special 

6 message. If the Committee of referral fails to report 

7 the bill within that period, that committee shall be 

8 automatically discharged from consideration of the 

9 bill, and the bill shall be placed on the appropriate 

10 calendar. 

11 ‘‘(C) A separate vote on each section and, if 

12 any section is approved, on final passage of a bill re13 ferred to in subparagraph (B) shall be taken in the 

14 House of Representatives on or before the close of 

15 the 10th legislative day of that House after the date 

16 of the introduction of the bill in that House. If the 

17 bill is passed, the Clerk of the House of Representa18 tives shall cause the bill to be engrossed, certified, 

19 and transmitted to the Senate within one calendar 

20 day of the day on which the bill is passed. 

21 ‘‘(2)(A) A motion in the House of Representa22 tives to proceed to the consideration of a bill under 

23 this section shall be highly privileged and not debat24 able. An amendment to the motion shall not be in 

25 order, nor shall it be in order to move to reconsider 
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1 the vote by which the motion is agreed to or dis2 agreed to. 

3 ‘‘(B) Debate in the House of Representatives 

4 on each section of a bill under this section shall not 

5 exceed one hour and debate on such bill shall not ex6 ceed 4 hours, in each case with such time being di7 vided equally between those favoring and those op8 posing the section or final passage of the bill. A mo9 tion further to limit debate shall not be debatable. 

10 It shall not be in order to move to recommit a bill 

11 under this section or to move to reconsider the vote 

12 by which the bill is agreed to or disagreed to. 

13 ‘‘(C) Appeals from decisions of the Chair relat14 ing to the application of the Rules of the House of 

15 Representatives to the procedure relating to a bill 

16 under this section shall be decided without debate. 

17 ‘‘(3)(A) A bill transmitted to the Senate pursu18 ant to paragraph (1)(C) shall be referred to the ap19 propriate committee. The committee shall report the 

20 bill without substantive revision and with or without 

21 recommendation. The bill shall be reported not later 

22 than the seventh legislative day of the Senate after 

23 it receives the bill. A committee failing to report the 

24 bill within such period shall be automatically dis-
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1 charged from consideration of the bill, and the bill 

2 shall be placed upon the appropriate calendar. 

3 ‘‘(B) A separate vote on each section and on 

4 final passage of a bill transmitted to the Senate 

5 shall be taken on or before the close of the 10th leg6 islative day of the Senate after the date on which 

7 the bill is transmitted. 

8 ‘‘(4)(A) A motion in the Senate to proceed to 

9 the consideration of a bill under this section shall be 

10 privileged and not debatable. An amendment to the 

11 motion shall not be in order, nor shall it be in order 

12 to move to reconsider the vote by which the motion 

13 is agreed to or disagreed to. 

14 ‘‘(B) Debate in the Senate on a bill under this 

15 section, and all debatable motions and appeals in 

16 connection therewith, shall not exceed 10 hours. The 

17 time shall be equally divided between, and controlled 

18 by, the majority leader and the minority leader or 

19 their designees. 

20 ‘‘(C) Debate in the Senate on any debatable 

21 motion or appeal in connection with a bill under this 

22 section shall be limited to not more than 1 hour, to 

23 be equally divided between, and controlled by, the 

24 mover and the manager of the bill, except that in 

25 the event the manager of the bill is in favor of any 
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1 such motion or appeal, the time in opposition there2 to, shall be controlled by the minority leader or his 

3 designee. Such leaders, or either of them, may, from 

4 time under their control on the passage of a bill, 

5 allot additional time to any Senator during the con6 sideration of any debatable motion or appeal. 

7 ‘‘(D) A motion in the Senate to further limit 

8 debate on a bill under this section is not debatable. 

9 A motion to recommit a bill under this section is not 

10 in order. 

11 ‘‘(d) AMENDMENTS AND DIVISIONS PROHIBITED.— 

12 No amendment to a bill considered under this section shall 

13 be in order in either the House of Representatives or the 

14 Senate. It shall not be in order to demand a division of 

15 the question in the House of Representatives (or in a Com16 mittee of the Whole) or in the Senate. No motion to sus17 pend the application of this subsection shall be in order 

18 in either House, nor shall it be in order in either House 

19 to suspend the application of this subsection by unanimous 

20 consent. 

21 ‘‘(e) REQUIREMENT TO MAKE AVAILABLE FOR OBLI22 GATION.—Any amount of budget authority proposed to be 

23 rescinded in a special message transmitted to Congress 

24 under subsection (b) shall be made available for obligation 

25 on the earlier of— 
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1 ‘‘(1) the day after the date upon which the 

2 House of Representatives defeats the section of a bill 

3 transmitted with that special message rescinding the 

4 amount proposed to be rescinded; or 

5 ‘‘(2) the day after the date upon which the Sen6 ate rejects the relevant section of a bill that makes 

7 rescissions to carry out the applicable special mes8 sage of the President. 

9 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 

10 ‘‘(1) the term ‘appropriation Act’ means any 

11 general or special appropriation Act, and any Act or 

12 joint resolution making supplemental, deficiency, or 

13 continuing appropriations; and 

14 ‘‘(2) the term ‘legislative day’ means, with re15 spect to either House of Congress, any calendar day 

16 during which that House is in session.’’. 

17 (b) EXERCISE OF RULEMAKING POWERS.—Section 

18 904 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 621 note) is amended— 

19 (1) by striking ‘‘and 1017’’ in subsection (a) 

20 and inserting ‘‘1013, and 1018’’; and 

21 (2) by striking ‘‘section 1017’’ in subsection (d) 

22 and inserting ‘‘sections 1013 and 1018’’. 

23 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—(1) Section 1011 

24 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 682(5)) is amended— 
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1 (A) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘1013’’ and 

2 inserting ‘‘1014’’; and 

3 (B) in paragraph (5)— 

4 (i) by striking ‘‘1016’’ and inserting 

5 ‘‘1017’’; and 

6 (ii) by striking ‘‘1017(b)(1)’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘1018(b)(1)’’. 

8 (2) Section 1015 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 685) (as re9 designated by section 2(a)) is amended— 

10 (A) by striking ‘‘1012 or 1013’’ each place it 

11 appears and inserting ‘‘1012, 1013, or 1014’’; 

12 (B) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘1012’’ 

13 and inserting ‘‘1012 or 1013’’; 

14 (C) in subsection (b)(2), by striking ‘‘1013’’ 

15 and inserting ‘‘1014’’; and 

16 (D) in subsection (e)(2)— 

17 (i) by striking ‘and’ at the end of subpara18 graph (A); 

19 (ii) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as 

20 subparagraph (C); 

21 (iii) by striking ‘‘1013’’ in subparagraph 

22 (C) (as so redesignated) and inserting ‘‘1014’’; 

23 and 

24 (iv) by inserting after subparagraph (A) 

25 the following new subparagraph: 
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1 ‘‘(B) he has transmitted a special message 

2 under section 1013 with respect to a proposed 

3 rescission; and’’. 

4 (3) Section 1016 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 686) (as re5 designated by section 2(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘1012 

6 or 1013’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘1012, 1013, 

7 or 1014’’. 

8 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of sections 

9 for subpart B of title X of such Act is amended— 

10 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec11 tions 1013 through 1017 as items relating to sec12 tions 1014 through 1018; and 

13 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec14 tion 1012 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 1013. Expedited consideration of certain proposed rescissions.’’. 

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