II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1768

To amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to protect Social Security

surpluses through strengthened budgetary enforcement mechanisms.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 21, 1999

Mr. ABRAHAM introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

jointly pursuant to the order of August 4, 1977, to the Committee on

the Budget and Governmental Affairs, with instructions that if one Committee reports, the other Committee have thirty days to report or be discharged

A BILL

To amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to protect

Social Security surpluses through strengthened budgetary enforcement mechanisms.

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 title may be cited as the ‘‘Social Security Sur5 plus Preservation and Debt Reduction Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—
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1 (1) The $69,246,000,000 unified budget sur2 plus achieved in fiscal year 1998 was entirely due to

3 surpluses generated by the social security trust

4 funds and the cumulative unified budget surpluses

5 projected for subsequent fiscal years are primarily

6 due to surpluses generated by the social security

7 trust funds;

8 (2) Congress and the President should balance

9 the budget excluding the surpluses generated by the

10 social security trust funds;

11 (3) according to the Congressional Budget Of12 fice, balancing the budget excluding the surpluses

13 generated by the social security trust funds will re14 duce the debt held by the public by a total of

15 $1,859,500,000,000 by the end of fiscal year 2009;

16 (4) social security surpluses should be used for

17 social security reform or to reduce the debt held by

18 the public and should not be spent on other pro19 grams; and

20 (5) if Social Security surpluses are not raided

21 to pay for non-Social Security spending, they will,

22 under current law, be used to reduce the debt held

23 by the public and thereby improve the future viabil24 ity of the Social Security system.
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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 Senate to consider a concurrent

24 resolution on the budget, an amendment thereto, or a con25 ference report thereon that violates section 13301 of the

26 Budget Enforcement Act of 1990.
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1 ‘‘(k) SOCIAL SECURITY SURPLUS PROTECTION

2 POINT OF ORDER.—

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

4 the Senate to consider a concurrent resolution on

5 the budget, an amendment thereto, or a conference

6 report thereon that sets forth a deficit in any fiscal

7 year.

8 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (k) shall not

9 apply if the deficit for a fiscal year results solely

10 from the enactment of—

11 ‘‘(A) social security reform legislation, as

12 defined in section 253A(e)(2) of the Balanced

13 Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of

14 1985; or

15 ‘‘(B) provisions of legislation that are des16 ignated as an emergency requirement pursuant

17 to section 251(b)(2)(A) or 252(e) of the Bal18 anced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control

19 Act of 1985.’’.

20 (c) SUPERMAJORITY WAIVER AND APPEAL.—Sub21 sections (c)(1) and (d)(2) of section 904 of the Congres22 sional Budget Act of 1974 are amended by striking

23 ‘‘305(b)(2),’’ and inserting ‘‘301(k), 305(b)(2),’’.
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1 SEC 4. PRESIDENT’S BUDGET.

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

3 amended by striking ‘‘in a manner consistent’’ and insert4 ing ‘‘in compliance’’.

5 SEC. 5. SENSE OF THE SENATE ON MEDICARE RESERVE

6 FUND.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Senate finds that—

8 (1) the Congressional budget plan has

9 $505,000,000,000 over ten years in unallocated

10 budget surpluses that could be used for long-term

11 medicare reform, other priorities, or debt reduction;

12 (2) the Congressional budget resolution for fis13 cal year 2000 already has set aside $90,000,000,000

14 over ten years through a reserve fund for long-term

15 medicare reform including prescription drug cov16 erage;

17 (3) the President estimates that his medicare

18 proposal will cost $46,000,000,000 over 10 years;

19 and

20 (4) thus the Congressional budget resolution

21 provides more than adequate resources for medicare

22 reform, including prescription drugs.

23 (b) SENSE OF THE SENATE.—It is the sense of the

24 Senate that the Congressional budget resolution for fiscal

25 year 2000 provides a sound framework for allocating re26 sources to medicare to modernize medicare benefits, im-
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1 prove the solvency of the program, and improve coverage

2 of prescription drugs.

Æ