I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1803

To preserve and protect the surpluses of the Social Security trust funds

by reaffirming the exclusion of receipts and disbursement from the budget, by setting a limit on the debt held by the public, and by amending

the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to provide a process to reduce

the limit on the debt held by the public.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 13, 1999

Mr. KASICH (for himself and Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Budget, and in addition

to the Committees on Rules, and Ways and Means, 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 preserve and protect the surpluses of the Social Security

trust funds by reaffirming the exclusion of receipts and

disbursement from the budget, by setting a limit on

the debt held by the public, and by amending the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to provide a process to

reduce the limit on the debt held by the public.

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 ‘‘Social Security Surplus

3 Preservation and Debt Reduction Act’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 Congress finds that—

6 (1) the $69,246,000,000 unified budget surplus

7 achieved in fiscal year 1998 was entirely due to sur8 pluses generated by the social security trust funds

9 and the cumulative unified budget surpluses pro10 jected for subsequent fiscal years are primarily due

11 to surpluses generated by the social security trust

12 funds;

13 (2) Congress and the President should balance

14 the budget excluding the surpluses generated by the

15 social security trust funds;

16 (3) according to the Congressional Budget Of17 fice, balancing the budget excluding the surpluses

18 generated by the social security trust funds will re19 duce the debt held by the public by a total of

20 $1,723,000,000,000 by the end of fiscal year 2009;

21 and

22 (4) social security surpluses should be used to

23 enhance retirement security or to reduce the debt

24 held by the public and should not be spent on other

25 programs.
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1 SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF THE SOCIAL SECURITY TRUST

2 FUNDS.

3 (a) PROTECTION BY CONGRESS.—

4 (1) REAFFIRMATION OF SUPPORT.—Congress

5 reaffirms its support for the provisions of section

6 13301 of the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 that

7 provides that the receipts and disbursements of the

8 social security trust funds shall not be counted for

9 the purposes of the budget submitted by the Presi10 dent, the congressional budget, or the Balanced

11 Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.

12 (2) PROTECTION OF SOCIAL SECURITY BENE13 FITS.—If there are sufficient balances in the Federal

14 Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and

15 the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund, the

16 Secretary of Treasury shall give priority to the pay17 ment of social security benefits required to be paid

18 by law.

19 (b) POINTS OF ORDER.—Section 301 of the Congres20 sional Budget Act of 1974 is amended by adding at the

21 end the following:

22 ‘‘(j) SOCIAL SECURITY POINT OF ORDER.—It shall

23 not be in order in the House of Representatives or the

24 Senate to consider a concurrent resolution on the budget,

25 an amendment thereto, or a conference report thereon
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1 that violates section 13301 of the Budget Enforcement

2 Act of 1990.

3 ‘‘(k) DEBT HELD BY THE PUBLIC POINT OF

4 ORDER.—It shall not be in order in the House of Rep5 resentatives or the Senate to consider any bill, joint resolu6 tion, amendment, motion, or conference report that

7 would—

8 ‘‘(1) increase the limit on the debt held by the

9 public in section 253A(a) of the Balanced Budget

10 and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985; or

11 ‘‘(2) provide additional borrowing authority

12 that would result in the limit on the debt held by the

13 public in section 253A(a) of the Balanced Budget

14 and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 being

15 exceeded.

16 ‘‘(l) SOCIAL SECURITY SURPLUS PROTECTION POINT

17 OF ORDER.—

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall not be in order in

19 the House of Representatives or the Senate to con20 sider a concurrent resolution on the budget, an

21 amendment thereto, or a conference report thereon

22 that sets forth a deficit in any fiscal year.

23 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not

24 apply if—
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1 ‘‘(A) the limit on the debt held by the pub2 lic in section 253A(a) of the Balanced Budget

3 and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is

4 suspended; or

5 ‘‘(B) the deficit for a fiscal year results

6 solely from the enactment of—

7 ‘‘(i) retirement security reform legisla8 tion, as defined in section 253A(e)(2) of

9 the Balanced Budget and Emergency Def10 icit Control Act of 1985; or

11 ‘‘(ii) provisions of legislation that are

12 designated as an emergency requirement

13 pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A) or 252(e)

14 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency

15 Deficit Control Act of 1985.’’.

16 SEC. 4. DEDICATION OF SOCIAL SECURITY SURPLUSES TO

17 REDUCTION IN THE DEBT HELD BY THE PUB18 LIC.

19 (a) AMENDMENTS TO THE CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET

20 ACT OF 1974.—The Congressional Budget Act of 1974

21 is amended—

22 (1) in section 3, by adding at the end the fol23 lowing:

24 ‘‘(11)(A) The term ‘debt held by the public’

25 means the outstanding face amount of all debt obli-
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1 gations issued by the United States Government

2 that are held by outside investors, including individ3 uals, corporations, State or local governments, for4 eign governments, and the Federal Reserve System.

5 ‘‘(B) For the purpose of this paragraph, the

6 term ‘face amount’, for any month, of any debt obli7 gation issued on a discount basis that is not redeem8 able before maturity at the option of the holder of

9 the obligation is an amount equal to the sum of—

10 ‘‘(i) the original issue price of the obliga11 tion; plus

12 ‘‘(ii) the portion of the discount on the ob13 ligation attributable to periods before the begin14 ning of such month.

15 ‘‘(12) The term ‘social security surplus’ means

16 the amount for a fiscal year that receipts exceed out17 lays of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance

18 Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance

19 Trust Fund.’’;

20 (2) in section 301(a) by—

21 (A) redesignating paragraphs (6) and (7)

22 as paragraphs (7) and (8), respectfully; and

23 (B) inserting after paragraph (5) the fol24 lowing:

25 ‘‘(6) the debt held by the public; and’’; and
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1 (3) in section 310(a) by—

2 (A) striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph

3 (3);

4 (B) by redesignating paragraph (4) as

5 paragraph (5); and

6 (C) inserting the following new paragraph;

7 ‘‘(4) specify the amounts by which the statutory

8 limit on the debt held by the public is to be changed

9 and direct the committee having jurisdiction to rec10 ommend such change; or’’.

11 (b) AMENDMENTS TO THE BALANCED BUDGET AND

12 EMERGENCY DEFICIT CONTROL ACT OF 1985.—The Bal13 anced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985

14 is amended—

15 (1) in section 250, by striking subsection (b)

16 and inserting the following:

17 ‘‘(b) GENERAL STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.—This part

18 provides for the enforcement of—

19 ‘‘(1) a balanced budget excluding the receipts

20 and disbursements of the social security trust funds;

21 and

22 ‘‘(2) a limit on the debt held by the public to

23 ensure that social security surpluses are used for re24 tirement security reform or to reduce debt held by

25 the public and are not spent on other programs.’’;
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1 (2) in section 250(c)(1), by inserting ‘‘ ‘ debt

2 held by the public’, ‘social security surplus’ ’’ after

3 ‘‘outlays’, ’’; and

4 (3) by inserting after section 253 the following:

5 ‘‘SEC. 253A. DEBT HELD BY THE PUBLIC LIMIT.

6 ‘‘(a) LIMIT.—The debt held by the public shall not

7 exceed—

8 ‘‘(1) for the period beginning May 1, 2000

9 through April 30, 2001, $3,628,000,000,000;

10 ‘‘(2) for the period beginning May 1, 2001

11 through April 30, 2002, $3,512,000,000,000;

12 ‘‘(3) for the period beginning May 1, 2002

13 through April 30, 2004, $3,383,000,000,000;

14 ‘‘(4) for the period beginning May 1, 2004

15 through April 30, 2006, $3,100,000,000,000;

16 ‘‘(5) for the period beginning May 1, 2006

17 through April 30, 2008, $2,775,000,000,000; and,

18 ‘‘(6) for the period beginning May 1, 2008

19 through April 30, 2010, $2,404,000,000,000.

20 ‘‘(b) ADJUSTMENTS FOR ACTUAL SOCIAL SECURITY

21 SURPLUS LEVELS.—

22 ‘‘(1) ESTIMATED LEVELS.—The estimated level

23 of social security surpluses for the purposes of this

24 section is—
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1 ‘‘(A) for fiscal year 1999,

2 $127,000,000,000;

3 ‘‘(B) for fiscal year 2000,

4 $137,000,000,000;

5 ‘‘(C) for fiscal year 2001,

6 $145,000,000,000;

7 ‘‘(D) for fiscal year 2002,

8 $153,000,000,000;

9 ‘‘(E) for fiscal year 2003,

10 $162,000,000,000;

11 ‘‘(F) for fiscal year 2004,

12 $171,000,000,000;

13 ‘‘(G) for fiscal year 2005,

14 $184,000,000,000;

15 ‘‘(H) for fiscal year 2006,

16 $193,000,000,000;

17 ‘‘(I) for fiscal year 2007,

18 $204,000,000,000;

19 ‘‘(J) for fiscal year 2008,

20 $212,000,000,000; and

21 ‘‘(K) for fiscal year 2009,

22 $218,000,000,000.

23 ‘‘(2) ADJUSTMENT TO THE LIMIT FOR ACTUAL

24 SOCIAL SECURITY SURPLUSES.—After October 1 and

25 no later than December 31 of each year, the Sec-
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1 retary shall make the following calculations and ad2 justments:

3 ‘‘(A) CALCULATION.—After the Secretary

4 determines the actual level for the social secu5 rity surplus for the current year, the Secretary

6 shall take the estimated level of the social secu7 rity surplus for that year specified in paragraph

8 (1) and subtract that actual level.

9 ‘‘(B) ADJUSTMENT.—

10 ‘‘(i) 2000 THROUGH 2004.—WITH RE11 SPECT TO THE PERIODS DESCRIBED IN

12 SUBSECTIONS (A)(1), (A)(2), AND (A)(3), THE

13 SECRETARY SHALL ADD THE AMOUNT CAL14 CULATED UNDER SUBPARAGRAPH (A) TO—

15 ‘‘(I) the limit set forth in sub16 section (a) for the period of years that

17 begins on May 1st of the following

18 calendar year; and

19 ‘‘(II) each subsequent limit.

20 ‘‘(ii) 2004 THROUGH 2010.—With re21 spect to the periods described in sub22 sections (a)(4), (a)(5), and (a)(6), the Sec23 retary shall add the amount calculated

24 under subparagraph (A) to—
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1 ‘‘(I) the limit set forth in sub2 section (a) for the period of years that

3 includes May 1st of the following cal4 endar year; and

5 ‘‘(II) each subsequent limit.

6 ‘‘(c) ADJUSTMENT TO THE LIMIT FOR EMER7 GENCIES.—

8 ‘‘(1) ESTIMATE OF LEGISLATION.—

9 ‘‘(A) CALCULATION.—If legislation is en10 acted into law that contains a provision that is

11 designated as an emergency requirement pursu12 ant to section 251(b)(2)(A) or 252(e), OMB

13 shall estimate the amount the debt held by the

14 public will change as a result of the provision’s

15 effect on the level of total outlays and receipts

16 excluding the impact on outlays and receipts of

17 the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance

18 Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insur19 ance Trust Fund.

20 ‘‘(B) BASELINE LEVELS.—OMB shall cal21 culate the changes in subparagraph (A) relative

22 to baseline levels for each fiscal year through

23 fiscal year 2010 using current estimates.

24 ‘‘(C) ESTIMATE.—OMB shall include the

25 estimate required by this paragraph in the re-
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1 port required under section 251(a)(7) or section

2 252(d), as the case may be.

3 ‘‘(2) ADJUSTMENT.—After January 1 and no

4 later than May 1 of each calendar year beginning

5 with calendar year 2000—

6 ‘‘(A) with respect to the periods described

7 in subsections (a)(1), (a)(2), and (a)(3), the

8 Secretary shall add the amounts calculated

9 under paragraph (1)(A) for the current year in10 cluded in the report referenced in paragraph

11 (1)(C) to—

12 ‘‘(i) the limit set forth in subsection

13 (a) for the period of years that begins on

14 May 1 of that calendar year; and

15 ‘‘(ii) each subsequent limit; and

16 ‘‘(B) with respect to the periods described

17 in subsections (a)(4), (a)(5), and (a)(6), the

18 Secretary shall add the amounts calculated

19 under paragraph (1)(A) for the current year in20 cluded in the report referenced in paragraph

21 (1)(C) to—

22 ‘‘(i) the limit set forth in subsection

23 (a) for the period of years that includes

24 May 1 of that calendar year; and

25 ‘‘(ii) each subsequent limit.
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1 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTION.—The Secretary shall not

2 make the adjustments pursuant to this section if the

3 adjustments for the current year are less than the

4 on-budget surplus for the year before the current

5 year.

6 ‘‘(d) ADJUSTMENT TO THE LIMIT FOR LOW ECO7 NOMIC GROWTH AND WAR.—

8 ‘‘(1) SUSPENSION OF STATUTORY LIMIT ON

9 DEBT HELD BY THE PUBLIC.—

10 ‘‘(A) LOW ECONOMIC GROWTH.—If the

11 most recent of the Department of Commerce’s

12 advance, preliminary, or final reports of actual

13 real economic growth indicate that the rate of

14 real economic growth for each of the most re15 cently reported quarter and the immediately

16 preceding quarter is less than 1 percent, the

17 limit on the debt held by the public established

18 in this section is suspended.

19 ‘‘(B) WAR.—If a declaration of war is in

20 effect, the limit on the debt held by the public

21 established in this section is suspended.

22 ‘‘(2) RESTORATION OF STATUTORY LIMIT ON

23 DEBT HELD BY THE PUBLIC.—

24 ‘‘(A) RESTORATION OF LIMIT.—The statu25 tory limit on debt held by the public shall be re-
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1 stored on May 1 following the quarter in which

2 the level of real Gross Domestic Product in the

3 final report from the Department of Commerce

4 is equal to or is higher than the level of real

5 Gross Domestic Product in the quarter pre6 ceding the first two quarters that caused the

7 suspension of the pursuant to paragraph (1).

8 ‘‘(B) ADJUSTMENT.—

9 ‘‘(i) CALCULATION.—The Secretary

10 shall take level of the debt held by the pub11 lic on October 1 of the year preceding the

12 date referenced in subparagraph (A) and

13 subtract the limit in subsection (a) for the

14 period of years that includes the date ref15 erenced in subparagraph (A).

16 ‘‘(ii) ADJUSTMENT.—The Secretary

17 shall add the amount calculated under

18 clause (i) to—

19 ‘‘(I) the limit in subsection (a)

20 for the period of fiscal years that in21 cludes the date referenced in subpara22 graph (A); and

23 ‘‘(II) each subsequent limit.
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1 ‘‘(e) ADJUSTMENT TO THE LIMIT FOR RETIREMENT

2 SECURITY REFORM PROVISIONS THAT AFFECT ON-BUDG3 ET LEVELS.—

4 ‘‘(1) ESTIMATE OF LEGISLATION.—

5 ‘‘(A) CALCULATION.—If retirement secu6 rity reform legislation is enacted, OMB shall es7 timate the amount the debt held by the public

8 will change as a result of the legislation’s effect

9 on the level of total outlays and receipts exclud10 ing the impact on outlays and receipts of the

11 Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust

12 Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance

13 Trust Fund.

14 ‘‘(B) BASELINE LEVELS.—OMB shall cal15 culate the changes in subparagraph (A) relative

16 to baseline levels for each fiscal year through

17 fiscal year 2010 using current estimates.

18 ‘‘(C) ESTIMATE.—OMB shall include the

19 estimate required by this paragraph in the re20 port required under section 252(d) for retire21 ment security reform legislation.

22 ‘‘(2) ADJUSTMENT TO LIMIT ON THE DEBT

23 HELD BY THE PUBLIC.—If retirement security re24 form legislation is enacted, the Secretary shall ad25 just the limit on the debt held by the public for each
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1 period of fiscal years by the amounts determined

2 under paragraph (1)(A) for the relevant fiscal years

3 included in the report referenced in paragraph

4 (1)(C).

5 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

6 ‘‘(1) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means

7 the Secretary of the Treasury.

8 ‘‘(2) RETIREMENT SECURITY REFORM LEGISLA9 TION.—The term ‘retirement security reform legisla10 tion’ means a bill or joint resolution that is enacted

11 into law and includes a provision stating the fol12 lowing:

13 ‘‘ ‘( ) RETIREMENT SECURITY REFORM LEGIS14 LATION.—For the purposes of the Social Security

15 Surplus Preservation and Debt Reduction Act, this

16 Act constitutes retirement security reform legisla17 tion.’

18 This paragraph shall apply only to the first bill or

19 joint resolution enacted into law as described in this

20 paragraph.

21 ‘‘(3) RETIREMENT SECURITY REFORM PROVI22 SIONS.—The term ‘retirement security reform provi23 sions’ means a provision or provisions identified in

24 retirement security reform legislation stating the fol25 lowing:
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1 ‘‘ ‘( ) RETIREMENT SECURITY REFORM PROVI2 SIONS.—For the purposes of the Social Security

3 Surplus Preservation and Debt Reduction Act,

4 llll of this Act constitutes or constitute social

5 security reform provisions.’, with a list of specific

6 provisions in that bill or joint resolution specified in

7 the blank space.’’.

8 SEC. 5. PRESIDENT’S BUDGET.

9 Section 1105(f) of title 31, United States Code, is

10 amended by striking ‘‘in a manner consistent’’ and insert11 ing ‘‘in compliance’’.

12 SEC. 6. SUNSET.

13 This Act and the amendments made by it shall expire

14 on April 30, 2010.

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