I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4043 

To suspend the debt ceiling temporarily, to hold the salaries of Members 

of a House of Congress in escrow if the House of Congress does not 

agree to a budget resolution or pass regular appropriation bills on a 

timely basis during a Congress, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 11, 2014 

Mr. ROTHFUS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on House 

Administration, 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 suspend the debt ceiling temporarily, to hold the salaries 

of Members of a House of Congress in escrow if the 

House of Congress does not agree to a budget resolution 

or pass regular appropriation bills on a timely basis 

during a Congress, 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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Getting Government 

5 to Work Act of 2014’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF DEBT CEILING. 

2 (a) SUSPENSION.—Section 3101(b) of title 31, 

3 United States Code, shall not apply for the period begin4 ning on the date of the enactment of this Act and ending 

5 on February 2, 2015. 

6 (b) SPECIAL RULE RELATING TO OBLIGATIONS

7 ISSUED DURING SUSPENSION PERIOD.—Effective Feb8 ruary 3, 2015, the limitation in section 3101(b) of title 

9 31, United States Code, as increased by section 3101A 

10 of such title, is increased to the extent that— 

11 (1) the face amount of obligations issued under 

12 chapter 31 of such title and the face amount of obli13 gations whose principal and interest are guaranteed 

14 by the United States Government (except guaran15 teed obligations held by the Secretary of the Treas16 ury) outstanding on February 3, 2015, exceeds 

17 (2) the face amount of such obligations out18 standing on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

19 An obligation shall not be taken into account under para20 graph (1) unless the issuance of such obligation was nec21 essary to fund a commitment incurred by the Federal Gov22 ernment that required payment before February 3, 2015. 


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1 SEC. 3. HOLDING SALARIES OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS IN 

2 ESCROW UPON FAILURE TO AGREE TO BUDG3 ET RESOLUTION OR PASS REGULAR APPRO4 PRIATIONS BILLS. 

5 (a) FAILURE TO PASS BUDGET RESOLUTION.— 

6 (1) HOLDING SALARIES IN ESCROW.—If by 

7 April 15 of any calendar year (beginning with 2015), 

8 a House of Congress has not agreed to a concurrent 

9 resolution on the budget pursuant to section 301 of 

10 the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 for the fiscal 

11 year which begins on October 1 of that calendar 

12 year, during the period described in paragraph (2) 

13 the payroll administrator of that House of Congress 

14 shall deposit in an escrow account all payments oth15 erwise required to be made during such period for 

16 the compensation of Members of Congress who serve 

17 in that House of Congress, and shall release such 

18 payments to such Members only upon the expiration 

19 of such period. 

20 (2) PERIOD DESCRIBED.—With respect to a 

21 House of Congress and a calendar year, the period 

22 described in this paragraph is the period which be23 gins on April 16 of the calendar year and ends on 

24 the earlier of— 

25 (A) the day on which the House of Con26 gress agrees to a concurrent resolution on the 


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1 budget for the fiscal year which begins on Octo2 ber 1 of that calendar year; or 

3 (B) the last day of the Congress during 

4 which that calendar year occurs. 

5 (b) FAILURE TO PASS REGULAR APPROPRIATION

6 BILLS.— 

7 (1) HOLDING SALARIES IN ESCROW.—If by 

8 July 31 of any calendar year (beginning with 2014), 

9 a House of Congress has not passed each of the reg10 ular appropriation bills for the fiscal year which be11 gins on October 1 of that calendar year, during the 

12 period described in paragraph (2) the payroll admin13 istrator of that House of Congress shall deposit in 

14 an escrow account all payments otherwise required 

15 to be made during such period for the compensation 

16 of Members of Congress who serve in that House of 

17 Congress, and shall release such payments to such 

18 Members only upon the expiration of such period. 

19 (2) PERIOD DESCRIBED.—With respect to a 

20 House of Congress and a calendar year, the period 

21 described in this paragraph is the period which be22 gins on August 1 of the calendar year and ends on 

23 the earlier of— 

24 (A) the first day by which the House of 

25 Congress has passed each of the regular approVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:10 Feb 15, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4043.IH H4043

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1 priation bills for the fiscal year which begins on 

2 October 1 of that calendar year; or 

3 (B) the last day of the Congress during 

4 which that calendar year occurs. 

5 (3) REGULAR APPROPRIATION BILL DE6 FINED.—The term ‘‘regular appropriation bill’’ 

7 means any annual appropriation bill which, with re8 spect to the Congress involved, is under the jurisdic9 tion of a single subcommittee of the Committee on 

10 Appropriations of the House of Representatives 

11 (pursuant to the Rules of the House of Representa12 tives for that Congress) and a single subcommittee 

13 of the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate 

14 (pursuant to the Standing Rules of the Senate). 

15 (c) ADMINISTRATION OF ESCROW.— 

16 (1) WITHHOLDING AND REMITTANCE OF

17 AMOUNTS FROM PAYMENTS HELD IN ESCROW.—The 

18 payroll administrator shall provide for the same 

19 withholding and remittance with respect to a pay20 ment deposited in an escrow account under sub21 section (a) or subsection (b) that would apply to the 

22 payment if the payment were not subject to such 

23 section. 

24 (2) ROLE OF SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.— 

25 The Secretary of the Treasury shall provide the payVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:10 Feb 15, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4043.IH H4043

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1 roll administrators of the Houses of Congress with 

2 such assistance as may be necessary to enable the 

3 payroll administrators to carry out this section. 

4 (d) RELEASE OF AMOUNTS AT END OF A CON5 GRESS.—In order to ensure that this section is carried out 

6 in a manner consistent with the twenty-seventh article of 

7 amendment to the Constitution of the United States, the 

8 payroll administrator of a House of Congress shall release 

9 for payments to Members of that House of Congress any 

10 amounts remaining in any escrow account under this sec11 tion on the last day of the Congress during which the 

12 amounts were deposited in such account. 

13 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

14 (1) the term ‘‘Member’’ includes a Delegate or 

15 Resident Commissioner to the Congress; and 

16 (2) the ‘‘payroll administrator’’ of a House of 

17 Congress means— 

18 (A) in the case of the House of Represent19 atives, the Chief Administrative Officer of the 

20 House of Representatives, or an employee of 

21 the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer 

22 who is designated by the Chief Administrative 

23 Officer to carry out this section; and 

24 (B) in the case of the Senate, the Sec25 retary of the Senate, or an employee of the OfVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:10 Feb 15, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4043.IH H4043

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1 fice of the Secretary of the Senate who is des2 ignated by the Secretary to carry out this sec3 tion. 

Æ 


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