II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3654 

To amend chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, to provide procedures 

for congressional disapproval of the issuance of additional debt. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 15, 2022 

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

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, to 

provide procedures for congressional disapproval of the 

issuance of additional debt. 

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 ‘‘Debt Ceiling Reform 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PROCEDURES FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL 

7 OF ISSUANCE OF ADDITIONAL DEBT. 

8 Section 3101 of title 31, United States Code, is 

9 amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘§ 3101. Public debt limit 

2 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF JOINT RESOLUTION.—In this 

3 section, the term ‘joint resolution’ means a joint resolu4 tion— 

5 ‘‘(1) that is introduced during the period— 

6 ‘‘(A) beginning on the date on which a cer7 tification under subsection (b)(1) is received; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(B) ending on the date that is 3 calendar 

10 days after the date described in subparagraph 

11 (A) (or, if a House was not in session, the next 

12 calendar day on which that House is in ses13 sion); 

14 ‘‘(2) which does not have a preamble; 

15 ‘‘(3) the title of which is only as follows: ‘Joint 

16 resolution relating to the disapproval of the Presi17 dent’s exercise of authority to issue additional debt, 

18 as submitted under section 3101 of title 31, United 

19 States Code, on llllll’ (with the blank 

20 space being filled in with the date on which the ap21 plicable certification under subsection (b)(1) was re22 ceived); and 

23 ‘‘(4) the matter after the resolving clause of 

24 which is only as follows: ‘That Congress disapproves 

25 of the President’s exercise of the authority to issue 

26 additional debt, as exercised pursuant to the certifiVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:07 Feb 17, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3654.IS S3654

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1 cation under section 3101(b) of title 31, United 

2 States Code.’. 

3 ‘‘(b) CERTIFICATION.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall submit 

5 to Congress a written certification whenever the 

6 President determines that the debt is within 

7 $100,000,000,000 of a $1,000,000,000,000 incre8 ment and that further borrowing is required to meet 

9 existing commitments. 

10 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY TO ISSUE DEBT AFTER CER11 TIFICATION.—Subject to the requirements of this 

12 section, the United States may issue additional debt 

13 as necessary to meet existing commitments on and 

14 after the date on which the President submits a 

15 written certification to Congress under paragraph 

16 (1). 

17 ‘‘(3) RESOLUTION OF DISAPPROVAL.—Congress 

18 may consider a joint resolution relating to each cer19 tification submitted by the President under para20 graph (1). 

21 ‘‘(c) ENACTMENT OF JOINT RESOLUTION.—The 

22 United States may not issue additional debt if, not later 

23 than 50 calendar days after the date on which Congress 

24 receives a certification submitted under subsection (b)(1) 

25 (regardless of whether Congress is in session), there is enVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:07 Feb 17, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3654.IS S3654

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1 acted into law a joint resolution disapproving the Presi2 dent’s exercise of authority to issue additional debt. 

3 ‘‘(d) EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION IN THE HOUSE OF

4 REPRESENTATIVES.— 

5 ‘‘(1) RECONVENING.—Upon receipt of a certifi6 cation submitted under subsection (b)(1), the Speak7 er, if the House of Representatives would otherwise 

8 be adjourned, shall notify the Members of the House 

9 of Representatives that, pursuant to this section, the 

10 House of Representatives shall convene not later 

11 than the second calendar day after receipt of such 

12 certification. 

13 ‘‘(2) REPORTING AND DISCHARGE.—Any com14 mittee of the House of Representatives to which a 

15 joint resolution is referred shall report it to the 

16 House of Representatives without amendment not 

17 later than 5 calendar days after the date of intro18 duction of the joint resolution. If a committee fails 

19 to report the joint resolution within that period, the 

20 committee shall be discharged from further consider21 ation of the joint resolution and the joint resolution 

22 shall be referred to the appropriate calendar. 

23 ‘‘(3) PROCEEDING TO CONSIDERATION.—After 

24 each committee authorized to consider a joint resolu25 tion reports it to the House of Representatives or 


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1 has been discharged from its consideration, it shall 

2 be in order, not later than the sixth day after intro3 duction of the joint resolution, to move to proceed 

4 to consider the joint resolution in the House of Rep5 resentatives. All points of order against the motion 

6 are waived. Such a motion shall not be in order with 

7 respect to a joint resolution relating to a certifi8 cation after the House of Representatives has dis9 posed of a motion to proceed that joint resolution. 

10 The previous question shall be considered as ordered 

11 on the motion to its adoption without intervening 

12 motion. The motion shall not be debatable. A motion 

13 to reconsider the vote by which the motion is dis14 posed of shall not be in order. 

15 ‘‘(4) CONSIDERATION.—A joint resolution shall 

16 be considered as read. All points of order against a 

17 joint resolution and against its consideration are 

18 waived. An amendment to a joint resolution is not 

19 in order. The previous question shall be considered 

20 as ordered on a joint resolution to its passage with21 out intervening motion except 2 hours of debate 

22 equally divided and controlled by the proponent and 

23 an opponent. A motion to reconsider the vote on 

24 passage of a joint resolution shall not be in order. 

25 ‘‘(e) EXPEDITED PROCEDURE IN THE SENATE.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) RECONVENING.—Upon receipt of a certifi2 cation under subsection (b)(1), if the Senate has ad3 journed or recessed for more than 2 days, the major4 ity leader of the Senate, after consultation with the 

5 minority leader of the Senate, shall notify the Mem6 bers of the Senate that, pursuant to this section, the 

7 Senate shall convene not later than the second cal8 endar day after receipt of such message. 

9 ‘‘(2) PLACEMENT ON CALENDAR.—Upon intro10 duction in the Senate, a joint resolution shall be im11 mediately placed on the calendar. 

12 ‘‘(3) FLOOR CONSIDERATION.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding rule 

14 XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, it is 

15 in order at any time during the period begin16 ning on the day after the date on which Con17 gress receives a certification under subsection 

18 (b)(1) and ending on the 6th day after the date 

19 on which Congress receives the certification 

20 (even though a previous motion to the same ef21 fect has been disagreed to) to move to proceed 

22 to the consideration of a joint resolution relat23 ing to the certification, and all points of order 

24 against the joint resolution (and against consid25 eration of the joint resolution) are waived. The 


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1 motion to proceed is not debatable. The motion 

2 is not subject to a motion to postpone. A mo3 tion to reconsider the vote by which the motion 

4 is agreed to or disagreed to shall not be in 

5 order. If a motion to proceed to the consider6 ation of a joint resolution is agreed to, the joint 

7 resolution shall remain the unfinished business 

8 until disposed of. 

9 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATION.—Consideration of a 

10 joint resolution, and on all debatable motions 

11 and appeals in connection therewith, shall be 

12 limited to not more than 10 hours, which shall 

13 be divided equally between the majority and mi14 nority leaders or their designees. A motion fur15 ther to limit debate is in order and not debat16 able. An amendment to a joint resolution, a mo17 tion to postpone, or a motion to proceed to the 

18 consideration of other business, or a motion to 

19 recommit a joint resolution is not in order. 

20 ‘‘(C) VOTE ON PASSAGE.—If the Senate 

21 has voted to proceed to a joint resolution, the 

22 vote on passage of the joint resolution shall 

23 occur immediately following the conclusion of 

24 consideration of the joint resolution, and a sin25 gle quorum call at the conclusion of the debate 


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1 if requested in accordance with the rules of the 

2 Senate. 

3 ‘‘(D) RULINGS OF THE CHAIR ON PROCE4 DURE.—Appeals from the decisions of the Chair 

5 relating to the application of the rules of the 

6 Senate, as the case may be, to the procedure re7 lating to a joint resolution shall be decided 

8 without debate. 

9 ‘‘(f) COORDINATION WITH ACTION BY OTHER

10 HOUSE.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If, before passing a joint 

12 resolution relating to a certification under subsection 

13 (b)(1), one House receives from the other a joint 

14 resolution relating to the same certification— 

15 ‘‘(A) the joint resolution of the other 

16 House shall not be referred to a committee; and 

17 ‘‘(B) the procedure in the receiving House 

18 shall be the same as if no joint resolution had 

19 been received from the other House until the 

20 vote on passage, when the joint resolution re21 ceived from the other House shall supplant the 

22 joint resolution of the receiving House. 

23 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF JOINT RESOLUTION OF

24 OTHER HOUSE.—If the Senate fails to introduce or 

25 consider a joint resolution under this section relating 


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1 to a certification under subsection (b)(1), the joint 

2 resolution of the House relating to the same certifi3 cation shall be entitled to expedited floor procedures 

4 under this section. 

5 ‘‘(3) TREATMENT OF COMPANION MEASURES.— 

6 If, following passage of a joint resolution in the Sen7 ate, the Senate receives the companion measure 

8 from the House of Representatives, the companion 

9 measure shall not be debatable. 

10 ‘‘(4) CONSIDERATION AFTER PASSAGE.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If Congress passes a 

12 joint resolution, the period beginning on the 

13 date the President is presented with the joint 

14 resolution and ending on the date the President 

15 signs, allows to become law without his signa16 ture, or vetoes and returns the joint resolution 

17 (but excluding days when either House is not in 

18 session) shall be disregarded in computing the 

19 calendar day period described in subsection (c). 

20 ‘‘(B) VETO MESSAGE.—Debate on a veto 

21 message in the Senate under this section shall 

22 be 1 hour equally divided between the majority 

23 and minority leaders or their designees. 

24 ‘‘(5) VETO OVERRIDE.—If, within the calendar 

25 day period described in subsection (c), Congress 


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1 overrides a veto of a joint resolution relating to a 

2 certification submitted under subsection (b)(1), the 

3 United States may not issue any additional debt this 

4 chapter. 

5 ‘‘(g) RULES OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND

6 SENATE.—This subsection and subsections (a), (d), (e), 

7 and (f) are enacted by Congress— 

8 ‘‘(1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of 

9 the Senate and House of Representatives, respec10 tively, and as such are deemed a part of the rules 

11 of each House, respectively, but applicable only with 

12 respect to the procedure to be followed in that 

13 House in the case of a joint resolution, and they su14 persede other rules only to the extent that they are 

15 inconsistent with such rules; and 

16 ‘‘(2) with full recognition of the constitutional 

17 right of either House to change the rules (so far as 

18 relating to the procedure of that House) at any time, 

19 in the same manner, and to the same extent as in 

20 the case of any other rule of that House. 

21 ‘‘(h) DEBT DEFINED.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec23 tion, the term ‘debt’ means the face amount of obli24 gations issued under this chapter and the face 

25 amount of obligations whose principal and interest 


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1 are guaranteed by the United States Government 

2 (except guaranteed obligations held by the Secretary 

3 of the Treasury). 

4 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF FACE AMOUNT.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this 

6 section, the current redemption value of an obli7 gation issued on a discount basis and redeem8 able before maturity at the option of its holder 

9 is deemed to be the face amount of the obliga10 tion. 

11 ‘‘(B) CERTAIN OBLIGATIONS NOT REDEEM12 ABLE BEFORE MATURITY.—For purposes of 

13 this section, the face amount, for any month, of 

14 any obligation issued on a discount basis that 

15 is not redeemable before maturity at the option 

16 of the holder of the obligation is an amount 

17 equal to the sum of— 

18 ‘‘(i) the original issue price of the ob19 ligation, plus 

20 ‘‘(ii) the portion of the discount on 

21 the obligation attributable to periods be22 fore the beginning of such month (as de23 termined under the principles of section 

24 1272(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 


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1 1986 without regard to any exceptions con2 tained in paragraph (2) of such section).’’. 

3 SEC. 3. REPEAL OF EXPIRED PROVISION. 

4 (a) REPEAL.—Section 3101A of title 31, United 

5 States Code, is repealed. 

6 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

7 for subchapter I of chapter 31 of title 31, United States 

8 Code, is amended by striking the item relating to section 

9 3101A. 

10 SEC. 4. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

12 (1) Section 8348 of title 5, United States Code, 

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

14 (2) Section 8438 of title 5, United States Code, 

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

16 (3) Section 14(d)(2)(A) of the Federal Deposit 

17 Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1824(d)(2)(A)) is amend18 ed— 

19 (A) by striking ‘‘in section 3101(b)’’ and 

20 inserting ‘‘under section 3101’’; and 

21 (B) by striking ‘‘an obligation to which 

22 such limit applies’’ and inserting ‘‘debt, as de23 fined in subsection (h) of such section’’. 


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1 (b) SAVINGS PROVISIONS.—Notwithstanding the 

2 amendments made by paragraphs (1) and (2) of sub3 section (a)— 

4 (1) paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) of subsection 

5 (j) and subsection (l)(1) of section 8348 of title 5, 

6 United States Code, as in effect on the day before 

7 the date of enactment of this Act, shall apply to any 

8 debt issuance suspension period (as defined under 

9 section 8348(j)(5) of such title) that is in effect on 

10 the date of enactment of this Act; and 

11 (2) paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) of subsection 

12 (g) and subsection (h)(1) of section 8438 of title 5, 

13 United States Code, as in effect on the day before 

14 the date of enactment of this Act, shall apply to any 

15 debt issuance suspension period (as defined under 

16 section 8438(g)(6) of such title) that is in effect on 

17 the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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