I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4921 

To establish procedures for the expedited consideration by Congress of certain 

proposals by the President to rescind amounts of budget authority. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 24, 2010 

Mr. MINNICK (for himself, Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN, Mr. MATHESON, Mr. 

SHULER, Mr. BOYD, Mr. TANNER, Mr. ROSS, Mr. CARDOZA, Mr. COOPER, Ms. MARKEY of Colorado, Mr. CHILDERS, Mr. POMEROY, Mr. 

COSTA, Mr. BOREN, Mr. BARROW, Mr. BRIGHT, Ms. GIFFORDS, Mr. 

DAVIS of Tennessee, Mr. KRATOVIL, Mr. MURPHY of New York, Mr. 

NYE, Mr. BACA, Mr. PETERSON, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. PATRICK

J. MURPHY of Pennsylvania, Mr. SCHRADER, Mr. CUELLAR, Mr. MCINTYRE, and Mr. PETERS) 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 establish procedures for the expedited consideration by 

Congress of certain proposals by the President to rescind 

amounts of budget authority. 

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 ‘‘Budget Enforcement 

5 Legislative Tool Act of 2010’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION OF CERTAIN PRO2 POSED RESCISSIONS. 

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 DISCRE12 TIONARY BUDGET AUTHORITY.—In addition to the meth13 od of rescinding discretionary budget authority specified 

14 in section 1012, the President may propose, at the time 

15 and in the manner provided in subsection (b), the rescis16 sion of any discretionary budget authority provided in an 

17 appropriations Act. Funds made available for obligation 

18 under this procedure may not be proposed for rescission 

19 again under this section or section 1012. 

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

21 ‘‘(1) Not later than 3 days after the date of en22 actment of an appropriations Act subject to rescis23 sion under this section, the President may transmit 

24 to Congress a special message proposing to rescind 

25 amounts of discretionary budget authority provided 

26 in that Act and include with that special message a 


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1 draft bill or joint resolution that, if enacted, would 

2 only rescind that discretionary budget authority. 

3 ‘‘(2) In the case of an Act that includes ac4 counts within the jurisdiction of more than one sub5 committee of the Committee on Appropriations, the 

6 President in proposing to rescind discretionary 

7 budget authority under this section shall send a sep8 arate special message and accompanying draft bill or 

9 joint resolution for accounts within the jurisdiction 

10 of each such subcommittee. 

11 ‘‘(3) Each special message shall specify, with 

12 respect to the discretionary budget authority pro13 posed to be rescinded, the matters referred to in 

14 paragraphs (1) through (5) of section 1012(a). 

15 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON AMOUNTS SUBJECT TO RESCIS16 SION.— 

17 ‘‘(1) The amount of discretionary budget au18 thority which the President may propose to rescind 

19 in a special message under this section for a par20 ticular program, project, or activity for a fiscal year 

21 may not exceed 25 percent of the amount appro22 priated for that program, project, or activity in that 

23 Act. 


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1 ‘‘(2) The limitation contained in paragraph (1) 

2 shall only apply to a program, project, or activity 

3 that is authorized by law. 

4 ‘‘(d) PROCEDURES FOR EXPEDITED CONSIDER5 ATION.— 

6 ‘‘(1)(A) Before the close of the second day of 

7 continuous session of the applicable House after the 

8 date of receipt of a special message transmitted to 

9 Congress under subsection (b), the majority leader 

10 or minority leader of the House of Congress in 

11 which the Act involved originated shall introduce (by 

12 request) the draft bill or joint resolution accom13 panying that special message. If the bill or joint res14 olution is not introduced as provided in the pre15 ceding sentence, then, on the third day of continuous 

16 session of that House after the date of receipt of 

17 that special message, any Member of that House 

18 may introduce the bill or joint resolution. 

19 ‘‘(B) The bill or joint resolution shall be re20 ferred to the Committee on Appropriations of that 

21 House. The committee shall report the bill or joint 

22 resolution without substantive revision and with or 

23 without recommendation. The bill or joint resolution 

24 shall be reported not later than the seventh day of 

25 continuous session of that House after the date of 


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1 receipt of that special message. If the Committee on 

2 Appropriations fails to report the bill or joint resolu3 tion within that period, that committee shall be 

4 automatically discharged from consideration of the 

5 bill or joint resolution, and the bill or joint resolu6 tion shall be placed on the appropriate calendar. 

7 ‘‘(C) A vote on final passage of the bill or joint 

8 resolution shall be taken in that House on or before 

9 the close of the 10th calendar day of continuous ses10 sion of that House after the date of the introduction 

11 of the bill or joint resolution in that House. If the 

12 bill or joint resolution is agreed to, the Clerk of the 

13 House of Representatives (in the case of a bill or 

14 joint resolution agreed to in the House of Represent15 atives) or the Secretary of the Senate (in the case 

16 of a bill or joint resolution agreed to in the Senate) 

17 shall cause the bill or joint resolution to be en18 grossed, certified, and transmitted to the other 

19 House of Congress on the same calendar day on 

20 which the bill or joint resolution is agreed to. 

21 ‘‘(2)(A) A bill or joint resolution transmitted to 

22 the House of Representatives or the Senate pursu23 ant to paragraph (1)(C) shall be referred to the 

24 Committee on Appropriations of that House. The 

25 committee shall report the bill or joint resolution 


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1 without substantive revision and with or without rec2 ommendation. The bill or joint resolution shall be re3 ported not later than the seventh day of continuous 

4 session of that House after it receives the bill or 

5 joint resolution. A committee failing to report the 

6 bill or joint resolution within such period shall be 

7 automatically discharged from consideration of the 

8 bill or joint resolution, and the bill or joint resolu9 tion shall be placed upon the appropriate calendar. 

10 ‘‘(B) A vote on final passage of a bill or joint 

11 resolution transmitted to that House shall be taken 

12 on or before the close of the 10th calendar day of 

13 continuous session of that House after the date on 

14 which the bill or joint resolution is transmitted. If 

15 the bill or joint resolution is agreed to in that 

16 House, the Clerk of the House of Representatives 

17 (in the case of a bill or joint resolution agreed to in 

18 the House of Representatives) or the Secretary of 

19 the Senate (in the case of a bill or joint resolution 

20 agreed to in the Senate) shall cause the engrossed 

21 bill or joint resolution to be returned to the House 

22 in which the bill or joint resolution originated. 

23 ‘‘(3)(A) A motion in the House of Representa24 tives to proceed to the consideration of a bill or joint 

25 resolution under this section shall be highly priviVerDate Nov 24 2008 01:17 Mar 25, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4921.IH H4921

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1 leged and not debatable. An amendment to the mo2 tion shall not be in order, nor shall it be in order 

3 to move to reconsider the vote by which the motion 

4 is agreed to or disagreed to. 

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

6 on a bill or joint resolution under this section shall 

7 not exceed 4 hours, which shall be divided equally 

8 between those favoring and those opposing the bill 

9 or joint resolution. A motion further to limit debate 

10 shall not be debatable. It shall not be in order to 

11 move to recommit a bill or joint resolution under 

12 this section or to move to reconsider the vote by 

13 which the bill or joint resolution is agreed to or dis14 agreed to. 

15 ‘‘(C) Appeals from decisions of the Chair relat16 ing to the application of the Rules of the House of 

17 Representatives to the procedure relating to a bill or 

18 joint resolution under this section shall be decided 

19 without debate. 

20 ‘‘(D) Except to the extent specifically provided 

21 in the preceding provisions of this subsection, con22 sideration of a bill or joint resolution under this sec23 tion shall be governed by the Rules of the House of 

24 Representatives. 


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

2 the consideration of a bill or joint resolution under 

3 this section shall be privileged and not debatable. An 

4 amendment to the motion shall not be in order, nor 

5 shall it be in order to move to reconsider the vote 

6 by which the motion is agreed to or disagreed to. 

7 ‘‘(B) Debate in the Senate on a bill or joint res8 olution under this section, and all debatable motions 

9 and appeals in connection therewith, shall not exceed 

10 10 hours. The time shall be equally divided between, 

11 and controlled by, the majority leader and the mi12 nority leader or their designees. 

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

14 motion or appeal in connection with a bill or joint 

15 resolution under this section shall be limited to not 

16 more than 1 hour, to be equally divided between, 

17 and controlled by, the mover and the manager of the 

18 bill or joint resolution, except that in the event the 

19 manager of the bill or joint resolution is in favor of 

20 any such motion or appeal, the time in opposition 

21 thereto, shall be controlled by the minority leader or 

22 his designee. Such leaders, or either of them, may, 

23 from time under their control on the passage of a 

24 bill or joint resolution, allot additional time to any 


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1 Senator during the consideration of any debatable 

2 motion or appeal. 

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

4 debate on a bill or joint resolution under this section 

5 is not debatable. A motion to recommit a bill or joint 

6 resolution under this section is not in order. 

7 ‘‘(e) AMENDMENTS PROHIBITED.—No amendment to 

8 a bill or joint resolution considered under this section shall 

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

10 Senate. No motion to suspend the application of this sub11 section shall be in order in either House, nor shall it be 

12 in order in either House to suspend the application of this 

13 subsection by unanimous consent. 

14 ‘‘(f) REQUIREMENT TO MAKE AVAILABLE FOR OBLI15 GATION.—Any amount of discretionary budget authority 

16 proposed to be rescinded in a special message transmitted 

17 to Congress under subsection (b) shall be made available 

18 for obligation on the day after the date on which either 

19 House defeats the bill or joint resolution transmitted with 

20 that special message. 

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

22 ‘‘(1) continuity of a session of either House of 

23 Congress shall be considered as broken only by an 

24 adjournment of that House sine die, and the days on 

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1 journment of more than 3 days to a date certain 

2 shall be excluded in the computation of any period; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(2) the term ‘discretionary budget authority’ 

5 means the dollar amount of discretionary budget au6 thority and obligation limitations— 

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

8 the dollar amount of budget authority required 

9 to be allocated by a specific proviso in an ap10 propriation law for which a specific dollar figure 

11 was not included; 

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

13 chart, or explanatory text included in the state14 ment of managers or the governing committee 

15 report accompanying such law; 

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

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

18 than an appropriation law) that mandates obli19 gations from or within accounts, programs, 

20 projects, or activities for which budget authority 

21 or an obligation limitation is provided in an ap22 propriation law; 

23 ‘‘(D) represented by the product of the es24 timated procurement cost and the total quantity 

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1 cluded in the statement of managers or the gov2 erning committee report accompanying such 

3 law; or 

4 ‘‘(E) represented by the product of the es5 timated procurement cost and the total quantity 

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

7 than an appropriation law) that mandates obli8 gations from accounts, programs, projects, or 

9 activities for which dollar amount of discre10 tionary budget authority or an obligation limita11 tion is provided in an appropriation law.’’. 

12 (b) EXERCISE OF RULEMAKING POWERS.—Section 

13 904 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 621 note) is amended— 

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

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

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

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

18 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

19 (1) Section 1011 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 682(5)) 

20 is amended— 

21 (A) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘1013’’ 

22 and inserting ‘‘1014’’; and 

23 (B) in paragraph (5)— 

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

25 ‘‘1017’’; and 


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1 (ii) by striking ‘‘1017(b)(1)’’ and in2 serting ‘‘1018(b)(1)’’. 

3 (2) Section 1015 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 685) 

4 (as redesignated by subsection (a)) is amended— 

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

6 it appears and inserting ‘‘1012, 1013, or 

7 1014’’; 

8 (B) in subsection (b)(1), by striking 

9 ‘‘1012’’ and inserting ‘‘1012 or 1013’’; 

10 (C) in subsection (b)(2), by striking 

11 ‘‘1013’’ and inserting ‘‘1014’’; and 

12 (D) in subsection (e)(2)— 

13 (i) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of 

14 subparagraph (A); 

15 (ii) by redesignating subparagraph 

16 (B) as subparagraph (C); 

17 (iii) by striking ‘‘1013’’ in subpara18 graph (C) (as so redesignated) and insert19 ing ‘‘1014’’; and 

20 (iv) by inserting after subparagraph 

21 (A) the following new subparagraph: 

22 ‘‘(B) he has transmitted a special message 

23 under section 1013 with respect to a proposed 

24 rescission; and’’. 


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1 (3) Section 1016 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 686) 

2 (as redesignated by subsection (a)) is amended by 

3 striking ‘‘1012 or 1013’’ each place it appears and 

4 inserting ‘‘1012, 1013, or 1014’’. 

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

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

7 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec8 tions 1013 through 1017 as items relating to sec9 tions 1014 through 1018; and 

10 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec11 tion 1012 the following new item: 

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

12 (e) APPLICATION.—Section 1013 of the Congres13 sional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (as 

14 added by subsection (a)) shall apply to amounts of discre15 tionary budget authority provided by appropriation Acts 

16 (as defined in subsection (g)(2) of such section) that are 

17 enacted after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

18 SEC. 3. TERMINATION. 

19 The authority provided by section 1013 of the Con20 gressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 

21 (as added by section 2) shall terminate effective on the 

22 date in 2012 on which the Congress adjourns sine die. 

Æ 


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