I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4890 

To amend the Congressional and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to 

provide for the expedited consideration of certain proposed rescissions 

of budget authority. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 7, 2006 

Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin (for himself, Mr. DREIER, Mr. FEENEY, Mr. 

CHOCOLA, Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin, Mr. KINGSTON, Mr. HENSARLING, 

Mr. HERGER, Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr. ISTOOK, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. WILSON of 

South Carolina, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. RYUN of Kansas, Mr. GARRETT of 

New Jersey, Mr. FLAKE, Mr. CANTOR, Mrs. MUSGRAVE, Mr. CONAWAY, 

Mr. MATHESON, Mr. INGLIS of South Carolina, Mr. PENCE, Mr. 

FORTUN ̃O, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. UPTON, Mr. PLATTS, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. MCHENRY, Mr. MORAN of Kansas, Mr. PITTS, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. 

POMBO, Mr. SHADEGG, Mr. BEAUPREZ, Mrs. BONO, Mr. KIRK, Mr. 

MACK, Mr. TERRY, Mr. KENNEDY of Minnesota, Mr. PUTNAM, Mr. 

KLINE, Mr. CANNON, Mr. RENZI, Mr. GALLEGLY, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. 

SENSENBRENNER, Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania, and Mr. UDALL of Colorado) 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 amend the Congressional and Impoundment Control Act 

of 1974 to provide for the expedited consideration of 

certain proposed rescissions of budget authority. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Legislative Line Item 

3 Veto Act of 2006’’. 

4 SEC. 2. LEGISLATIVE LINE ITEM VETO. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title X of the Congressional 

6 Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 

7 621 et seq.) is amended by striking part C and inserting 

8 the following: 

9 ‘‘PART C—LEGISLATIVE LINE ITEM VETO

10 ‘‘SEC. 1021. (a) PROPOSED RESCISSIONS.—The 

11 President may propose, at the time and in the manner 

12 provided in subsection (b), the rescission of any dollar 

13 amount of discretionary budget authority or the rescission, 

14 in whole or in part, of any item of direct spending. 

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

16 ‘‘(1) SPECIAL MESSAGE.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The President may 

18 transmit to Congress a special message pro19 posing to rescind any dollar amount of discre20 tionary budget authority or any item of direct 

21 spending. 

22 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS OF SPECIAL MESSAGE.— 

23 Each special message shall specify, with respect 

24 to the budget authority or item of direct spend25 ing proposed to be rescinded— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the amount of budget authority 

2 or the specific item of direct spending that 

3 the President proposes be rescinded; 

4 ‘‘(ii) any account, department, or es5 tablishment of the Government to which 

6 such budget authority or item of direct 

7 spending is available for obligation, and 

8 the specific project or governmental func9 tions involved; 

10 ‘‘(iii) the reasons why such budget au11 thority or item of direct spending should 

12 be rescinded; 

13 ‘‘(iv) to the maximum extent prac14 ticable, the estimated fiscal, economic, and 

15 budgetary effect (including the effect on 

16 outlays and receipts in each fiscal year) of 

17 the proposed rescission; 

18 ‘‘(v) to the maximum extent prac19 ticable, all facts, circumstances, and con20 siderations relating to or bearing upon the 

21 proposed rescission and the decision to ef22 fect the proposed rescission, and the esti23 mated effect of the proposed rescission 

24 upon the objects, purposes, and programs 


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1 for which the budget authority or item of 

2 direct spending is provided; and 

3 ‘‘(vi) a draft bill that, if enacted, 

4 would rescind the budget authority or item 

5 of direct spending proposed to be rescinded 

6 in that special message. 

7 ‘‘(2) ENACTMENT OF RESCISSION BILL.— 

8 ‘‘(A) DEFICIT REDUCTION.—Amounts of 

9 budget authority or items of direct spending 

10 which are rescinded pursuant to enactment of a 

11 bill as provided under this section shall be dedi12 cated only to deficit reduction and shall not be 

13 used as an offset for other spending increases. 

14 ‘‘(B) ADJUSTMENT OF COMMITTEE ALLO15 CATIONS.—Not later than 5 days after the date 

16 of enactment of a rescission bill as provided 

17 under this section, the chairs of the Committees 

18 on the Budget of the Senate and the House of 

19 Representatives shall revise levels under section 

20 311(a) and adjust the committee allocations 

21 under section 302(a) to reflect the rescission, 

22 and the appropriate committees shall report re23 vised allocations pursuant to section 302(b), as 

24 appropriate. 


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1 ‘‘(C) ADJUSTMENTS TO CAPS.—After en2 actment of a rescission bill as provided under 

3 this section, the Office of Management and 

4 Budget shall revise applicable limits under the 

5 Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Con6 trol Act, as appropriate. 

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

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

10 ‘‘(A) INTRODUCTION.—Before the close of 

11 the second day of session of the Senate and the 

12 House of Representatives, respectively, after the 

13 date of receipt of a special message transmitted 

14 to Congress under subsection (b), the majority 

15 leader or minority leader of each House shall 

16 introduce (by request) a bill to rescind the 

17 amounts of budget authority or items of direct 

18 spending, as specified in the special message 

19 and the President’s draft bill. If the bill is not 

20 introduced as provided in the preceding sen21 tence in either House, then, on the third day of 

22 session of that House after the date of receipt 

23 of that special message, any Member of that 

24 House may introduce the bill. 


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1 ‘‘(B) REFERRAL AND REPORTING.—The 

2 bill shall be referred to the appropriate com3 mittee. The committee shall report the bill with4 out substantive revision and with or without 

5 recommendation. The committee shall report 

6 the bill not later than the fifth day of session 

7 of that House after the date of introduction of 

8 the bill in that House. If the committee fails to 

9 report the bill within that period, the committee 

10 shall be automatically discharged from consider11 ation of the bill, and the bill shall be placed on 

12 the appropriate calendar. 

13 ‘‘(C) FINAL PASSAGE.—A vote on final 

14 passage of the bill shall be taken in the Senate 

15 and the House of Representatives on or before 

16 the close of the 10th day of session of that 

17 House after the date of the introduction of the 

18 bill in that House. If the bill is passed, the Sec19 retary of the Senate or the Clerk of the House 

20 of Representatives, as the case may be, shall 

21 cause the bill to be transmitted to the other 

22 House before the close of the next day of ses23 sion of that House. 

24 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATION IN THE HOUSE OF REP25 RESENTATIVES.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) MOTION TO PROCEED TO CONSIDER2 ATION.—A motion in the House of Representa3 tives to proceed to the consideration of a bill 

4 under this subsection shall be highly privileged 

5 and not debatable. An amendment to the mo6 tion shall not be in order, nor shall it be in 

7 order to move to reconsider the vote by which 

8 the motion is agreed to or disagreed to. 

9 ‘‘(B) LIMITS ON DEBATE.—Debate in the 

10 House of Representatives on a bill under this 

11 subsection shall not exceed 4 hours, which shall 

12 be divided equally between those favoring and 

13 those opposing the bill. A motion further to 

14 limit debate shall not be debatable. It shall not 

15 be in order to move to recommit a bill under 

16 this subsection or to move to reconsider the 

17 vote by which the bill is agreed to or disagreed 

18 to. 

19 ‘‘(C) APPEALS.—Appeals from decisions of 

20 the Chair relating to the application of the 

21 Rules of the House of Representatives to the 

22 procedure relating to a bill under this section 

23 shall be decided without debate. 

24 ‘‘(D) APPLICATION OF HOUSE RULES.— 

25 Except to the extent specifically provided in this 


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1 section, consideration of a bill under this sec2 tion shall be governed by the Rules of the 

3 House of Representatives. It shall not be in 

4 order in the House of Representatives to con5 sider any bill introduced pursuant to the provi6 sions of this section under a suspension of the 

7 rules or under a special rule. 

8 ‘‘(3) CONSIDERATION IN THE SENATE.— 

9 ‘‘(A) MOTION TO PROCEED TO CONSIDER10 ATION.—A motion to proceed to the consider11 ation of a bill under this subsection in the Sen12 ate shall not be debatable. It shall not be in 

13 order to move to reconsider the vote by which 

14 the motion to proceed is agreed to or disagreed 

15 to. 

16 ‘‘(B) LIMITS ON DEBATE.—Debate in the 

17 Senate on a bill under this subsection, and all 

18 debatable motions and appeals in connection 

19 therewith (including debate pursuant to sub20 paragraph (D)), shall not exceed 10 hours, 

21 equally divided and controlled in the usual 

22 form. 

23 ‘‘(C) APPEALS.—Debate in the Senate on 

24 any debatable motion or appeal in connection 

25 with a bill under this subsection shall be limited 


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1 to not more than 1 hour, to be equally divided 

2 and controlled in the usual form. 

3 ‘‘(D) MOTION TO LIMIT DEBATE.—A mo4 tion in the Senate to further limit debate on a 

5 bill under this subsection is not debatable. 

6 ‘‘(E) MOTION TO RECOMMIT.—A motion to 

7 recommit a bill under this subsection is not in 

8 order. 

9 ‘‘(F) CONSIDERATION OF THE HOUSE

10 BILL.— 

11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If the Senate has 

12 received the House companion bill to the 

13 bill introduced in the Senate prior to the 

14 vote required under paragraph (1)(C), then 

15 the Senate may consider, and the vote 

16 under paragraph (1)(C) may occur on, the 

17 House companion bill. 

18 ‘‘(ii) PROCEDURE AFTER VOTE ON

19 SENATE BILL.—If the Senate votes, pursu20 ant to paragraph (1)(C), on the bill intro21 duced in the Senate, then immediately fol22 lowing that vote, or upon receipt of the 

23 House companion bill, the House bill shall 

24 be deemed to be considered, read the third 

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1 ate bill shall be considered to be the vote 

2 on the bill received from the House. 

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

4 No amendment to a bill considered under this section shall 

5 be in order in either the Senate or the House of Rep6 resentatives. It shall not be in order to demand a division 

7 of the question in the House of Representatives (or in a 

8 Committee of the Whole). No motion to suspend the appli9 cation of this subsection shall be in order in the House 

10 of Representatives, nor shall it be in order in the House 

11 of Representatives to suspend the application of this sub12 section by unanimous consent. 

13 ‘‘(e) TEMPORARY PRESIDENTIAL AUTHORITY TO

14 WITHHOLD.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—At the same time as the 

16 President transmits to Congress a special message 

17 pursuant to subsection (b), the President may direct 

18 that any dollar amount of discretionary budget au19 thority proposed to be rescinded in that special mes20 sage shall not be made available for obligation for a 

21 period not to exceed 180 calendar days from the 

22 date the President transmits the special message to 

23 Congress. 

24 ‘‘(2) EARLY AVAILABILITY.—The President 

25 may make any dollar amount of discretionary budget 


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1 authority deferred pursuant to paragraph (1) avail2 able at a time earlier than the time specified by the 

3 President if the President determines that continu4 ation of the deferral would not further the purposes 

5 of this Act. 

6 ‘‘(f) TEMPORARY PRESIDENTIAL AUTHORITY TO

7 SUSPEND.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—At the same time as the 

9 President transmits to Congress a special message 

10 pursuant to subsection (b), the President may sus11 pend the execution of any item of direct spending 

12 proposed to be rescinded in that special message for 

13 a period not to exceed 180 calendar days from the 

14 date the President transmits the special message to 

15 Congress. 

16 ‘‘(2) EARLY AVAILABILITY.—The President 

17 may terminate the suspension of any item of direct 

18 spending at a time earlier than the time specified by 

19 the President if the President determines that con20 tinuation of the suspension would not further the 

21 purposes of this Act. 

22 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 

23 ‘‘(1) the term ‘appropriation law’ means any 

24 general or special appropriation Act, and any Act or 


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1 joint resolution making supplemental, deficiency, or 

2 continuing appropriations; 

3 ‘‘(2) the term ‘deferral’ has, with respect to any 

4 dollar amount of discretionary budget authority, the 

5 same meaning as the phrase ‘deferral of budget au6 thority’ defined in section 1011(1) in part B (2 

7 U.S.C. 682(1)); 

8 ‘‘(3) the term ‘dollar amount of discretionary 

9 budget authority’ means the entire dollar amount of 

10 budget authority and obligation limitations— 

11 ‘‘(A) specified in an appropriation law, or 

12 the entire dollar amount of budget authority re13 quired to be allocated by a specific proviso in an 

14 appropriation law for which a specific dollar fig15 ure was not included; 

16 ‘‘(B) represented separately in any table, 

17 chart, or explanatory text included in the state18 ment of managers or the governing committee 

19 report accompanying such law; 

20 ‘‘(C) required to be allocated for a specific 

21 program, project, or activity in a law (other 

22 than an appropriation law) that mandates the 

23 expenditure of budget authority from accounts, 

24 programs, projects, or activities for which budg25 et authority is provided in an appropriation law; 


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1 ‘‘(D) represented by the product of the es2 timated procurement cost and the total quantity 

3 of items specified in an appropriation law or in4 cluded in the statement of managers or the gov5 erning committee report accompanying such 

6 law; or 

7 ‘‘(E) represented by the product of the es8 timated procurement cost and the total quantity 

9 of items required to be provided in a law (other 

10 than an appropriation law) that mandates the 

11 expenditure of budget authority from accounts, 

12 programs, projects, or activities for which dollar 

13 amount of discretionary budget authority is 

14 provided in an appropriation law; 

15 ‘‘(4) the terms ‘rescind’ or ‘rescission’ mean to 

16 modify or repeal a provision of law to prevent— 

17 ‘‘(A) budget authority from having legal 

18 force or effect; 

19 ‘‘(B) in the case of entitlement authority, 

20 to prevent the specific legal obligation of the 

21 United States from having legal force or effect; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(C) in the case of the food stamp pro24 gram, to prevent the specific provision of law 


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1 that provides such benefit from having legal 

2 force or effect; 

3 ‘‘(5) the term ‘direct spending’ means budget 

4 authority provided by law (other than an appropria5 tion law); entitlement authority; and the food stamp 

6 program; 

7 ‘‘(6) the term ‘item of direct spending’ means 

8 any specific provision of law enacted after the effec9 tive date of the Legislative Line Item Veto Act of 

10 2006 that is estimated to result in a change in 

11 budget authority or outlays for direct spending rel12 ative to the most recent levels calculated pursuant to 

13 section 257 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency 

14 Deficit Control Act of 1985 and included with a 

15 budget submission under section 1105(a) of title 31, 

16 United States Code, and with respect to estimates 

17 made after that budget submission that are not in18 cluded with it, estimates consistent with the eco19 nomic and technical assumptions underlying the 

20 most recently submitted President’s budget; 

21 ‘‘(7) the term ‘suspend the execution’ means, 

22 with respect to an item of direct spending or a tar23 geted tax benefit, to stop for a specified period, in 

24 whole or in part, the carrying into effect of the spe25 cific provision of law that provides such benefit; and 


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1 ‘‘(8)(A) the term ‘targeted tax benefit’ means— 

2 ‘‘(i) any revenue-losing provision that pro3 vides a Federal tax deduction, credit, exclusion, 

4 or preference to 100 or fewer beneficiaries 

5 under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 in 

6 any fiscal year for which the provision is in ef7 fect; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) any Federal tax provision that pro9 vides temporary or permanent transitional relief 

10 for 10 or fewer beneficiaries in any fiscal year 

11 from a change to the Internal Revenue Code of 

12 1986; 

13 ‘‘(B) a provision shall not be treated as de14 scribed in subparagraph (A)(i) if the effect of that 

15 provision is that— 

16 ‘‘(i) all persons in the same industry or en17 gaged in the same type of activity receive the 

18 same treatment; 

19 ‘‘(ii) all persons owning the same type of 

20 property, or issuing the same type of invest21 ment, receive the same treatment; or 

22 ‘‘(iii) any difference in the treatment of 

23 persons is based solely on— 


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1 ‘‘(I) in the case of businesses and as2 sociations, the size or form of the business 

3 or association involved; 

4 ‘‘(II) in the case of individuals, gen5 eral demographic conditions, such as in6 come, marital status, number of depend7 ents, or tax-return-filing status; 

8 ‘‘(III) the amount involved; or 

9 ‘‘(IV) a generally-available election 

10 under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; 

11 ‘‘(C) a provision shall not be treated as de12 scribed in subparagraph (A)(ii) if— 

13 ‘‘(i) it provides for the retention of prior 

14 law with respect to all binding contracts or 

15 other legally enforceable obligations in existence 

16 on a date contemporaneous with congressional 

17 action specifying such date; or 

18 ‘‘(ii) it is a technical correction to pre19 viously enacted legislation that is estimated to 

20 have no revenue effect; 

21 ‘‘(D) for purposes of subparagraph (A)— 

22 ‘‘(i) all businesses and associations that 

23 are members of the same controlled group of 

24 corporations (as defined in section 1563(a) of 


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1 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) shall be 

2 treated as a single beneficiary; 

3 ‘‘(ii) all qualified plans of an employer 

4 shall be treated as a single beneficiary; 

5 ‘‘(iii) all holders of the same bond issue 

6 shall be treated as a single beneficiary; and 

7 ‘‘(iv) if a corporation, partnership, associa8 tion, trust or estate is the beneficiary of a pro9 vision, the shareholders of the corporation, the 

10 partners of the partnership, the members of the 

11 association, or the beneficiaries of the trust or 

12 estate shall not also be treated as beneficiaries 

13 of such provision; 

14 ‘‘(E) for the purpose of this paragraph, the 

15 term ‘revenue-losing provision’ means any provision 

16 that results in a reduction in Federal tax revenues 

17 for any one of the two following periods— 

18 ‘‘(i) the first fiscal year for which the pro19 vision is effective; or 

20 ‘‘(ii) the period of the 5 fiscal years begin21 ning with the first fiscal year for which the pro22 vision is effective; and 

23 ‘‘(F) the terms used in this paragraph shall 

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1 erally in the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, unless 

2 otherwise expressly provided. 

3 ‘‘(h) APPLICATION TO TARGETED TAX BENEFITS.— 

4 The President may propose the repeal of any targeted tax 

5 benefit in any bill that includes such a benefit, under the 

6 same conditions, and subject to the same Congressional 

7 consideration, as a proposal under this section to rescind 

8 an item of direct spending.’’. 

9 (b) EXERCISE OF RULEMAKING POWERS.—Section 

10 904 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 

11 621 note) is amended— 

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

13 and inserting ‘‘1017, and 1021’’; and 

14 (2) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘section 

15 1017’’ and inserting ‘‘sections 1017 and 1021’’. 

16 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—(1) Section 1(a) of 

17 the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act 

18 of 1974 is amended by— 

19 (A) striking ‘‘Parts A and B’’ before ‘‘title 

20 X’’ and inserting ‘‘Parts A, B, and C’’; and 

21 (B) striking the last sentence and inserting 

22 at the end the following new sentence: ‘‘Part C 

23 of title X also may be cited as the ‘Legislative 

24 Line Item Veto Act of 2006’.’’. 


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1 (2) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents set 

2 forth in section 1(b) of the Congressional Budget and Im3 poundment Control Act of 1974 is amended by deleting 

4 the contents for part C of title X and inserting the fol5 lowing: 

‘‘PART C—LEGISLATIVE LINE ITEM VETO

‘‘Sec. 1021. Expedited consideration of certain proposed rescissions.’’. 

6 (d) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this Act or 

7 the amendments made by it is held to be unconstitutional, 

8 the remainder of this Act and the amendments made by 

9 it shall not be affected by the holding. 

10 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

11 this Act shall— 

12 (1) take effect on the date of enactment of this 

13 Act; and 

14 (2) apply only to any dollar amount of discre15 tionary budget authority, item of direct spending, or 

16 targeted tax benefit provided in an Act enacted on 

17 or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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