II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1553 

To repeal the debt ceiling. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 21, 2019 

Mr. SCHATZ (for himself, Mr. BENNET, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mrs. MURRAY, 

and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To repeal the debt ceiling. 

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 ‘‘End the Threat of 

5 Default Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REPEAL OF DEBT CEILING. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3101 of title 31, United 

8 States Code, is repealed. 

9 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

10 (1) Section 301(b)(5) of the Congressional 

11 Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 632(b)(5)) is amendVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 May 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1553.IS S1553

pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 1553 IS

1 ed by striking ‘‘debt subject to limit (in section 3101 

2 of title 31 of the United States Code)’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘face value of obligations issued under chapter 31 of 

4 title 31, United States Code, and the face amount 

5 of obligations whose principal and interest are guar6 anteed by the United States Government (except 

7 guaranteed obligations held by the Secretary of the 

8 Treasury)’’. 

9 (2) Section 8348 of title 5, United States Code, 

10 is amended by striking subsections (j), (k), and (l). 

11 (3) Section 8438 of title 5, United States Code, 

12 is amended by striking subsections (g) and (h). 

13 (4) Section 14(d)(2) of the Federal Deposit In14 surance Act (12 U.S.C. 1824(d)(2)) is amended— 

15 (A) by striking subparagraph (A); and 

16 (B) by redesignating subparagraphs (B), 

17 (C), and (D) as subparagraphs (A), (B), and 

18 (C), respectively. 

19 (5) Section 3101A of title 31, United States 

20 Code, is repealed. 

21 (6) Section 3130(e)(2) of title 31, United 

22 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘total amount 

23 of the obligations subject to the public debt limit es24 tablished in section 3101 of this title’’ and inserting 

25 ‘‘face value of obligations issued under this chapter 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 1553 IS

1 and the face amount of obligations whose principal 

2 and interest are guaranteed by the United States 

3 Government (except guaranteed obligations held by 

4 the Secretary of the Treasury)’’. 

5 (7) Section 1145(b) of the Social Security Act 

6 (42 U.S.C. 1320b–15(b)) is amended by striking 

7 ‘‘any obligation subject to the public debt limit es8 tablished under section 3101 of title 31, United 

9 States Code’’ and inserting ‘‘any obligation issued 

10 under chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, 

11 and any obligation whose principal and interest are 

12 guaranteed by the United States Government (ex13 cept guaranteed obligations held by the Secretary of 

14 the Treasury)’’. 

15 (8) The table of sections for chapter 31 of title 

16 31, United States Code, is amended by striking the 

17 items relating to sections 3101 and 3101A. 

18 (c) SAVINGS PROVISIONS.— 

19 (1) CIVIL SERVICE RETIREMENT AND DIS20 ABILITY FUND.—Notwithstanding the amendments 

21 made by subsection (b), paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) 

22 of subsection (j) and subsection (l)(1) of section 

23 8348 of title 5, United States Code, as in effect on 

24 the day before the date of enactment of this Act, 

25 shall apply to any debt issuance suspension period 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 1553 IS

1 (as defined under section 8348(j)(5) of such title) 

2 that is in effect on the date of enactment of this 

3 Act. 

4 (2) THRIFT SAVINGS FUND.—Notwithstanding 

5 the amendments made by subsection (b), paragraphs 

6 (2), (3), and (4) of subsection (g) and subsection 

7 (h)(1) of section 8438 of title 5, United States Code, 

8 as in effect on the day before the date of enactment 

9 of this Act, shall apply to any debt issuance suspen10 sion period (as defined under section 8438(g)(6) of 

11 such title) that is in effect on the date of enactment 

12 of this Act. 

Æ 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS