II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 245 

To reduce Federal spending in a responsible manner. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 1, 2011 

Mr. CORKER (for himself, Mrs. MCCASKILL, Mr. BURR, Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. ISAKSON, Mr. CHAMBLISS, Mr. INHOFE, and Mr. KIRK) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on the Budget 

A BILL 

To reduce Federal spending in a responsible manner. 

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 ‘‘Commitment to Amer5 ican Prosperity Act of 2011’’ or the ‘‘CAP Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) This Act is authorized by the United States 

9 Constitution under clause 1 of section 8 of article I, 

10 relating to the power of the Congress to tax and 

11 spend. 


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1 (2) Should an amendment to the United States 

2 Constitution be adopted and ratified by the States 

3 setting a lower limitation on outlays than provided 

4 in this Act, it is appropriate for Congress to con5 sider legislation immediately modifying maximum 

6 outlay amounts in this Act. 

7 (3) Total Federal outlays have averaged 20.6 

8 percent of gross domestic product over the past 40 

9 years. 

10 (4) Total Federal outlays in fiscal year 2010 

11 were 23.8 percent of gross domestic product. 

12 (5) Total Federal outlays in fiscal year 2020 

13 are projected to be 25.9 percent of gross domestic 

14 product according to the Congressional Budget Of15 fice’s Alternative Fiscal Scenario. 

16 (6) It is appropriate and necessary to put total 

17 Federal outlays under a limitation, as a percent of 

18 gross domestic product, such that a downward glide 

19 path ultimately brings spending in line with histor20 ical norms. 

21 SEC. 3. OUTLAYS EXCEEDING THE GDP OUTLAY LIMIT. 

22 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 250(c)(4) of the Bal23 anced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 

24 is amended by striking paragraph (4), redesignating the 


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1 succeeding paragraphs accordingly, and adding the fol2 lowing paragraphs: 

3 ‘‘(19) The term ‘GDP’, for any fiscal year, 

4 means the gross domestic product during such fiscal 

5 year consistent with Department of Commerce defi6 nitions. 

7 ‘‘(20)(A) The term ‘emergency requirement’ 

8 means any provision that provides new budget au9 thority and resulting outlays for a situation that 

10 poses a threat to life, property, or national security 

11 and is— 

12 ‘‘(i) sudden, quickly coming into being, and 

13 not building up over time; 

14 ‘‘(ii) an urgent, pressing, and compelling 

15 need requiring immediate action; 

16 ‘‘(iii) unforeseen, unpredictable, and unan17 ticipated; and 

18 ‘‘(iv) not permanent, temporary in nature. 

19 ‘‘(B) An emergency that is part of an aggregate 

20 level of anticipated emergencies, particularly when 

21 normally estimated in advance, is not unforeseen. 

22 ‘‘(21) The term ‘target fiscal year’ means the 

23 fiscal year in which a GDP outlay limit is in effect 

24 under section 253A.’’. 


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1 (b) CAPS.—The Balanced Budget and Emergency 

2 Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended by inserting after 

3 section 253 the following: 

4 ‘‘SEC. 253A. ENFORCING GDP OUTLAY LIMITS. 

5 ‘‘(a) ENFORCING GDP OUTLAY LIMITS.—In this sec6 tion, the term ‘GDP outlay limit’ means an amount, as 

7 estimated by OMB, equal to— 

8 ‘‘(1) the average GDP for the first 3 of the 4 

9 fiscal years preceding the target fiscal year (fiscal 

10 year 2009, fiscal year 2010 and fiscal year 2011 for 

11 target year fiscal year 2013, and so on); multiplied 

12 by 

13 ‘‘(2)(A) 25 percent for fiscal year 2013; and 

14 ‘‘(B) for fiscal years 2014 through 2022, 25 

15 percent minus 0.1711 percent accumulating for each 

16 fiscal year (25 percent minus .1711 percent in fiscal 

17 year 2014, 25 percent minus .3422 percent in fiscal 

18 year 2015, and so on). 

19 ‘‘(b) GDP OUTLAY LIMIT AND OUTLAYS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) DETERMINING THE GDP OUTLAY LIMIT.— 

21 The Office of Management and Budget shall esti22 mate the GDP outlay limit for the target fiscal year 

23 at the outset of the previous fiscal year, on April 30, 

24 on August 20, and 15 days after the conclusion of 


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1 the fiscal year. CBO shall provide advisory reports 

2 calculating the GDP outlay limit at identical times. 

3 ‘‘(2) TOTAL FEDERAL OUTLAYS.—In this sec4 tion, total Federal outlays shall include all on-budget 

5 and off-budget outlays. 

6 ‘‘(c) SEQUESTRATION.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

8 ‘‘(A) EXCESS SPENDING.—Not later than 

9 45 calendar days after the beginning of a fiscal 

10 year, OMB shall conduct a sequestration to 

11 eliminate the excess outlay amount. 

12 ‘‘(B) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this 

13 subsection, the term ‘excess outlay amount’ 

14 means the amount by which total Federal out15 lays for a fiscal year exceed the GDP outlay 

16 limit as adjusted pursuant to paragraph (2). 

17 ‘‘(2) PREVIEW REPORT.—CBO shall submit an 

18 advisory sequestration preview report as described in 

19 section 254(c)(4) on August 10 of each year. OMB 

20 shall produce an sequestration preview report on Au21 gust 20 as described in section 254(c)(4). Fifteen 

22 days after the fiscal year begins, OMB shall issue an 

23 updated sequestration report as described in section 

24 254(e). Thirty days later, the OMB should issue its 

25 final sequestration report as described in section 


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1 254(f)(3). It shall be accompanied by a Presidential 

2 order detailing the uniform spending reductions. The 

3 reductions should generally follow the process set 

4 forth in section 253 and 254, except as provided in 

5 this section. 

6 ‘‘(3) CONGRESSIONAL ACTION.—If the August 

7 20 OMB report projects a sequestration, the Senate 

8 and House Budget Committees may report a resolu9 tion directing their committees to change the exist10 ing law to achieve the goals outlined in the August 

11 20 report. 

12 ‘‘(4) REDUCING NONEXEMPT BUDGETARY RE13 SOURCES BY A PROPORTIONAL PERCENTAGE.— 

14 ‘‘(A) CALCULATION.—OMB shall calculate 

15 the increase in outlays attributable to each of 

16 the 3 categories described in subparagraph (B) 

17 such that the outlay savings resulting from se18 questration, as calculated under this subsection, 

19 eliminate excess outlays. 

20 ‘‘(B) CATEGORIES.—The 3 categories are 

21 as follows: 

22 ‘‘(i) Direct spending (social security, 

23 medicare, and other such programs). 

24 ‘‘(ii) Discretionary security spending. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) Discretionary non-security 

2 spending. 

3 ‘‘(C) REDUCTIONS PROPORTIONAL.—The 

4 percentage reductions for each category de5 scribed in subparagraph (B) shall be in propor6 tion to the growth in outlays in such category 

7 from the previous fiscal year. 

8 ‘‘(D) UNIFORM REDUCTION WITHIN CAT9 EGORIES.—To achieve the percent reduction 

10 within a category under subparagraph (C), a 

11 uniform reduction will occur across all pro12 grams within that category to achieve the per13 cent reduction required for that category. 

14 ‘‘(E) PRO RATA BASIS.—If legislation 

15 funding the Government does not reflect fund16 ing amounts for the entire fiscal year, seques17 tration required by this section shall be done on 

18 a pro rata basis. If legislation funding the Gov19 ernment for the remainder of a fiscal year is 

20 enacted, the total sequestration required in a 

21 fiscal year shall total the necessary level which 

22 may be undertaken in a single step or in a se23 quence of steps. 

24 ‘‘(d) EXCEPTIONS.—Total Federal outlays may ex25 ceed the GDP outlay limit if during the fiscal year the 


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1 excess amount is being paid to reduce the public debt or 

2 the public debt is zero. 

3 ‘‘(e) NO EXEMPT PROGRAMS.—Section 255 shall not 

4 apply to this section, except that payments for net interest 

5 (budget function 900) shall be exempt. 

6 ‘‘(f) LOOK BACK.—If, after November 15, a bill re7 sulting in outlays for the fiscal year in progress is enacted 

8 that causes excess outlays, the excess outlays for the next 

9 fiscal year shall be increased by the amount or amounts 

10 of that breach.’’. 

11 (c) BBEDCA.—Notwithstanding section 275 of the 

12 Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 

13 1985, the relevant provisions of such Act shall apply to 

14 the extent necessary to enforce this Act, including amend15 ments made by this Act. 

16 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply be17 ginning in fiscal year 2013 and beyond, including any re18 ports and calculations required for implementation in fis19 cal year 2013. 

20 SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT PROCEDURES UNDER THE CON21 GRESSIONAL BUDGET ACT OF 1974. 

22 (a) ENFORCEMENT.—Title III of the Congressional 

23 Budget Act of 1974 is amended by adding after section 

24 315 the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 316. ENFORCEMENT PROCEDURES. 

2 ‘‘(a) GDP OUTLAY LIMITS.—It shall not be in order 

3 in the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider 

4 any bill, joint resolution, amendment, or conference report 

5 that includes any provision that would cause the most re6 cently reported, current GDP outlay limits set forth in sec7 tion 253A of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit 

8 Control Act of 1985 to be exceeded. 

9 ‘‘(b) WAIVER OR SUSPENSION.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN THE SENATE.—The provisions of this 

11 section may be waived or suspended in the Senate 

12 only by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the 

13 Members, present and voting. 

14 ‘‘(2) IN THE HOUSE.—The provisions of this 

15 section may be waived or suspended in the House of 

16 Representatives only by a rule or order proposing 

17 only to waive such provisions by an affirmative vote 

18 of two-thirds of the Members, present and voting. 

19 ‘‘(c) POINT OF ORDER PROTECTION.—In the House, 

20 it shall not be in order to consider a rule or order that 

21 waives the application of paragraph (2) of subsection (b). 

22 ‘‘(d) MOTION TO SUSPEND.—It shall not be in order 

23 for the Speaker to entertain a motion to suspend the appli24 cation of this section under clause 1 of rule XV.’’. 

25 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents in 

26 section 1(b) of the Congressional Budget and ImpoundVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:46 Feb 02, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S245.IS S245

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1 ment Control Act of 1974 is amended by inserting after 

2 the item relating to section 315 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 316. Enforcement procedures.’’. 

Æ 


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