I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5008 

To amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require annual progress 

toward meeting fiscally responsible 5- and 10-year deficit and debt targets. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 13, 2010 

Ms. MARKEY of Colorado (for herself, Mr. BACA, Mr. BERRY, Mr. BOREN, 

Mr. BOYD, Mr. BRIGHT, Mr. CHILDERS, Mr. COOPER, Mr. DAVIS of Tennessee, Ms. GIFFORDS, Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN, Mr. HILL, Mr. 

KRATOVIL, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. MATHESON, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. 

MELANCON, Mr. MINNICK, Mr. MURPHY of New York, Mr. NYE, Mr. 

ROSS, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SCHRADER, Mr. SHULER, Mr. SPACE, Mr. TANNER, and Mr. WILSON of Ohio) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Rules, and in addition to the Committee 

on the Budget, 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 Budget Act of 1974 to require 

annual progress toward meeting fiscally responsible 5- 

and 10-year deficit and debt targets. 

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 ‘‘Targeted Deficit Re5 duction Act of 2010’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds that— 

3 (1) the Federal deficit in 2009 was more than 

4 $1.4 trillion, or 9.9 percent of the United States 

5 gross domestic product (GDP); 

6 (2) our current deficits are unsustainable: 

7 under realistic assumptions, the level of public debt 

8 will double over the next ten years; 

9 (3) the Federal debt held by the public at the 

10 end of 2009, as estimated by the Congressional 

11 Budget Office (CBO), was approximately $7.5 tril12 lion or 53 percent of GDP; 

13 (4) in a conservative CBO estimate assuming 

14 tax cuts will expire by 2012, the debt will climb to 

15 $15 trillion by the end of 2020, or 67 percent of 

16 GDP; 

17 (5) other analysts, which take account many 

18 factors that the CBO does not utilize, estimate that 

19 by 2020 publicly held debt will be closer to 80 per20 cent of GDP; 

21 (6) in 2009, payment of interest on the national 

22 debt was the fourth largest item in the Federal 

23 budget, reducing funds available to vital programs 

24 such as education, homeland security, and veterans 

25 affairs; 


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1 (7) United States debt held by foreign individ2 uals and nations whose interests are not always com3 patible with United States interests has grown dra4 matically: at the close of 2009 overseas ownership of 

5 United States securities totaled nearly $3.6 trillion 

6 and nearly $800 billion was held by China; 

7 (8) creditors’ willingness to lend to the United 

8 States is decreasing, which greatly restricts the abil9 ity of the Nation to respond to crises, both foreign 

10 and domestic; 

11 (9) a growing debt directly increases inflation, 

12 further eroding the power of the United States dol13 lar abroad and weakening the economy; 

14 (10) succeeding generations will face greatly 

15 lower standards of living because of the fiscal future 

16 created by prolonged deficit spending; 

17 (11) international trade has made the United 

18 States economy the largest in the world, but tight19 ened credit and weakened international standing will 

20 reduce the Nation’s ability to compete in a global 

21 marketplace and will restrict the growth of the econ22 omy; 

23 (12) the United States supplies the Inter24 national Monetary Fund (IMF) with a great deal of 

25 its funding and is a leader in formulating IMF ecoVerDate Nov 24 2008 22:28 Apr 14, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5008.IH H5008

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1 nomic policies that are promoted through the world, 

2 yet the United States is dangerously close to exceed3 ing the IMF guideline limit of 60 percent debt-to4 GDP; 

5 (13) without a significant commitment to rein 

6 in our deficits and debt, our economic and national 

7 security will be threatened; 

8 (14) the Federal budget should be developed 

9 each year toward a target of attaining a maximum 

10 ratio of 60 percent debt-to-GDP and achieving com11 plete budget balance within ten years (by fiscal year 

12 2020); 

13 (15) an interim goal, the Federal budget should 

14 achieve primary balance, in which spending equals 

15 revenue excluding the debt service, within five years 

16 (by fiscal year 2015); 

17 (16) the reconciliation process is currently an 

18 optional procedure under the Congressional Budget 

19 and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (Public Law 

20 93–344), as amended) designed to enhance the abil21 ity of Congress to reduce the deficit; and 

22 (17) this Act creates achievable, long-term goals 

23 and imbeds a process for annual progress toward 

24 that goal in the Congressional budgetary process. 


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1 SEC. 3. TARGETED DEFICIT AND DEBT REDUCTION. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Congressional 

3 Budget Act of 1974 is amended by adding at the end the 

4 following new section: 

5 ‘‘TARGETED DEFICIT AND DEBT REDUCTION

6 ‘‘SEC. 316. (a) CONTENT OF CONCURRENT RESOLU7 TION ON THE BUDGET.—In addition to the items required 

8 to be included in a concurrent resolution on the budget 

9 under section 301(a), the concurrent resolutions on the 

10 budget for fiscal years 2011 through 2020 shall each in11 clude, as applicable, reconciliation directives described in 

12 section 310 to reduce the deficit to achieve the goals set 

13 forth in subsection (b). 

14 ‘‘(b) GOALS TO BE ACHIEVED THROUGH REC15 ONCILIATION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) Primary budget balance by fiscal year 

17 2015. 

18 ‘‘(2) Full budget balance by fiscal year 2020. 

19 ‘‘(3) A debt-to-GDP ratio of 60 percent by fis20 cal year 2020. 

21 Any committee that receives reconciliation directives to 

22 achieve any of these goals shall be ordered to report a rec23 onciliation bill not later than 45 calendar days after the 

24 concurrent resolution on the budget containing such direc25 tives is agreed to. 


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1 ‘‘(c) CBO REPORT.—On or before February 15 of 

2 each year through 2019, the Director of the Congressional 

3 Budget Office shall submit to the Committees on the 

4 Budget of the House of Representatives and the Senate 

5 a report for the fiscal year commencing on October 1 of 

6 that year containing the target deficit reduction for that 

7 fiscal year necessary to achieve the applicable goals set 

8 forth in subsection (b) and the anticipated glide path for 

9 each such fiscal year until fiscal year 2020. In determining 

10 the necessary deficit reduction required for each fiscal 

11 year through fiscal year 2020, the Director shall endeavor 

12 to have such deficit reduction as uniform as possible for 

13 each such fiscal year. Each such report shall also include 

14 the estimated deficit, debt, and GDP for each fiscal year 

15 though fiscal year 2020. 

16 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 

17 ‘‘(1) the term ‘primary budget balance’ means 

18 outlays equal receipts during a fiscal year, not 

19 counting outlays for debt service payments; 

20 ‘‘(2) the term ‘full budget balance’ means out21 lays equal receipts during a fiscal year; 

22 ‘‘(3) the term ‘GDP’ means the gross domestic 

23 product of the United States; and 

24 ‘‘(4) the term ‘debt-to-GDP ratio’ means, for a 

25 fiscal year, the quantitative relationship between the 


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1 face amount of obligations described in section 

2 3101(b) of title 31, United States Code, estimated 

3 to be outstanding at the end of that year and the 

4 estimated GDP for that year.’’. 

5 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con6 tents set forth in section l(b) of the Congressional Budget 

7 and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is amended by in8 serting after the item relating to section 315 the following 

9 new item: 

‘‘Sec. 316. Targeted deficit and debt reduction.’’. 

Æ 


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