II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1056 

To establish a commission to develop legislation designed to reform tax 

policy and entitlement benefit programs and ensure a sound fiscal future 

for the United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 14, 2009 

Mr. VOINOVICH (for himself, Mr. LIEBERMAN, and Mr. ISAKSON) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on the Budget 

A BILL 

To establish a commission to develop legislation designed 

to reform tax policy and entitlement benefit programs 

and ensure a sound fiscal future for the United States, 

and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Securing America’s 

5 Future Economy Commission Act’’ or the ‘‘SAFE Com6 mission Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT. 

2 There is established a commission to be known as the 

3 ‘‘Securing America’s Future Economy Commission’’ (re4 ferred to in this Act as the ‘‘Commission’’). 

5 SEC. 3. DUTIES OF COMMISSION. 

6 (a) MANDATORY LEGISLATION DEVELOPMENT.— 

7 The Commission shall examine the long-term fiscal chal8 lenges facing the United States and develop legislation de9 signed to address the following issues: 

10 (1) The unsustainable imbalance between long11 term Federal spending commitments and projected 

12 revenues. 

13 (2) Increasing net national savings to provide 

14 for domestic investment and economic growth. 

15 (3) The implications of foreign ownership of 

16 debt instruments issued by the United States Gov17 ernment. 

18 (4) Improving the budget process to place 

19 greater emphasis on long-term fiscal issues. 

20 (b) POLICY SOLUTIONS.—Legislation developed to 

21 address the issues described in subsection (a) may include 

22 the following: 

23 (1) Reforms necessary to ensure that the pro24 grams are fiscally sustainable. 


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1 (2) Reforms that strengthen the safety net 

2 functions of entitlement programs to provide assist3 ance to the neediest people. 

4 (3) Reforms that make United States tax laws 

5 more efficient and more conducive to encouraging 

6 economic growth. 

7 (4) Incentives to increase private savings. 

8 (5) Any other reforms designed to address the 

9 issues described in subsection (a). 

10 SEC. 4. INITIAL TOWN HALL STYLE PUBLIC HEARINGS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall hold at 

12 least 1 town hall style public hearing within each Federal 

13 reserve district, and shall, to the extent feasible, ensure 

14 that there is broad public participation in the hearings. 

15 (b) HEARING FORMAT.—During each hearing, the 

16 Commission shall present to the public, and generate com17 ments and suggestions regarding, the issues described in 

18 section 3, policies designed to address the issues, and 

19 tradeoffs between the policies. 

20 SEC. 5. REPORT. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall, not later 

22 than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

23 submit a report to Congress and the President containing 

24 the following: 


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1 (1) A detailed description of the activities of the 

2 Commission. 

3 (2) A summary of comments and suggestions 

4 generated from the town hall style public hearings. 

5 (3) A detailed statement of any findings of the 

6 Commission as to public preferences regarding the 

7 issues, policies, and tradeoffs presented in the town 

8 hall style public hearings. 

9 (4) A detailed description of the long-term fis10 cal problems faced by the United States. 

11 (5) A list of policy options for addressing those 

12 problems. 

13 (6) Criteria for the legislative proposal to be de14 veloped by the Commission. 

15 (b) CBO ESTIMATES.—The report required by this 

16 section and the legislative proposal required by section 6 

17 shall rely on estimates and assumptions provided by CBO. 

18 (c) OPTIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF COST ESTIMATE

19 ALTERNATIVES.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall by an 

21 affirmative vote of 5 members develop not more than 

22 2 methods for estimating the cost of legislation as 

23 a supplement to the estimates and assumptions of 

24 the Congressional Budget Office (referred to in this 


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1 Act as ‘‘CBO’’) developed as required by subsection 

2 (b). 

3 (2) SPECIFICALLY.—Any such alternative meth4 od must— 

5 (A) be designed to supplement the method 

6 currently used with regard to estimating the 

7 positive economic effects of legislation; and 

8 (B) consider the use of automatic stabi9 lizers or triggers to enforce spending and rev10 enue targets, in the event that policies based on 

11 the alternative method fail to achieve targets 

12 for outlays and revenues. 

13 (3) LIMITATION.—Any alternative developed 

14 pursuant to this subsection shall generally comply 

15 with subsections (b), (c), and (d) of section 12. 

16 SEC. 6. LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the 

18 date the report is submitted under section 5 and by a vote 

19 of at least 13 of the members, the Commission shall sub20 mit a legislative proposal to Congress and the President 

21 designed to address the issues described section 3. 

22 (b) PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS.—The proposal must, 

23 to the extent feasible, be designed— 

24 (1) to achieve generational equity and long-term 

25 economic stability; 


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1 (2) to address the comments and suggestions of 

2 the public; and 

3 (3) to meet the criteria set forth in the Com4 mission report. 

5 (c) INCLUSION OF COST ESTIMATE.—The Commis6 sion shall submit with the proposal— 

7 (1) a long-term CBO cost estimate prepared 

8 under section 12 for the proposal; and 

9 (2) in addition to the CBO cost estimate re10 quired by paragraph (1) and if an alternative cost 

11 estimate method is developed by the Commission, a 

12 50-year cost estimate using such method. 

13 SEC. 7. MEMBERSHIP AND MEETINGS. 

14 (a) MEMBERSHIP.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall be 

16 composed of 18 voting members appointed pursuant 

17 to paragraph (2) and 2 nonvoting members de18 scribed in paragraph (3). 

19 (2) VOTING MEMBERS.—The Commission shall 

20 be composed of 18 voting members of whom— 

21 (A) 1 shall be the Director of the Office of 

22 Management and Budget; 

23 (B) 1 shall be the Secretary of the Treas24 ury; 


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1 (C) 3 shall be appointed by the Speaker of 

2 the House of Representatives; 

3 (D) 3 shall be appointed by the minority 

4 leader of the House of Representatives; 

5 (E) 3 shall be appointed by the majority 

6 leader of the Senate; 

7 (F) 3 shall be appointed by the minority 

8 leader of the Senate; 

9 (G) 1 shall be the chair of the Committee 

10 on Finance or a designee from the committee; 

11 (H) 1 shall be the ranking member of the 

12 Committee on Finance or a designee from the 

13 committee; 

14 (I) 1 shall be the chair of the Committee 

15 on Ways and Means or a designee from the 

16 committee; and 

17 (J) 1 shall be the chair of the Committee 

18 on Ways and Means or a designee from the 

19 committee. 

20 (3) NONVOTING MEMBERS.—The Comptroller 

21 General of the United States and the Director of the 

22 Congressional Budget Office shall each be nonvoting 

23 members of the Commission and shall advise and as24 sist at the request of the Commission. 


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1 (4) CHAIR AND CO-CHAIR.—The President shall 

2 designate 2 co-chairpersons of the Commission from 

3 the members appointed under paragraph (2), one of 

4 whom must be a Republican and one of whom must 

5 be a Democrat. 

6 (b) LIMITATIONS AS TO MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.— 

7 (1) MEMBERS OF CONGRESS ON COMMISSION.— 

8 Each appointing authority described in subsection 

9 (a)(2) who is a Member of Congress shall appoint 2 

10 Members of Congress to the Commission but may 

11 not appoint more than 2 Members of Congress to 

12 the Commission. 

13 (2) CONTINUATION OF VOTING MEMBERSHIP.— 

14 In the case of an individual appointed pursuant to 

15 subsection (a)(1) who was appointed as a Member of 

16 Congress under paragraph (1), if such individual 

17 ceases to be a Member of Congress, that individual 

18 shall cease to be a member of the Commission. 

19 (c) DATE FOR ORIGINAL APPOINTMENT.—The ap20 pointing authorities described in subsection (a)(2) shall 

21 appoint the initial members of the Commission not later 

22 than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 

23 (d) TERMS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The term of each member is 

25 for the life of the Commission. 


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1 (2) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Commission 

2 shall be filled not later than 30 days after such va3 cancy occurs and in the manner in which the origi4 nal appointment was made. 

5 (e) PAY AND REIMBURSEMENT.— 

6 (1) NO COMPENSATION FOR MEMBERS OF COM7 MISSION.—Except as provided in paragraph (2), a 

8 member of the Commission may not receive pay, al9 lowances, or benefits by reason of their service on 

10 the Commission. 

11 (2) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each member shall 

12 receive travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of 

13 subsistence under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 

14 5, United States Code. 

15 (f) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet upon 

16 the call of the chairperson or a majority of its voting mem17 bers. 

18 (g) QUORUM.—Six voting members of the Commis19 sion shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number may 

20 hold hearings. 

21 SEC. 8. DIRECTOR AND STAFF OF COMMISSION. 

22 (a) DIRECTOR.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (c) 

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1 tion Acts, the Commission shall appoint and fix the 

2 pay of a director. 

3 (2) DUTIES.—The director of the Commission 

4 shall be responsible for the administration and co5 ordination of the duties of the Commission and shall 

6 perform other such duties as the Commission may 

7 direct. 

8 (b) STAFF.—In accordance with rules agreed upon 

9 by the Commission, subject to subsection (c), and to the 

10 extent provided in advance in appropriation Acts, the di11 rector may appoint and fix the pay of additional personnel. 

12 (c) APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN CIVIL SERVICE

13 LAWS.—The director and staff of the Commission may be 

14 appointed without regard to the provisions of title 5, 

15 United States Code, governing appointments in the com16 petitive service, and may be paid without regard to the 

17 provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 

18 of that title relating to classification and General Schedule 

19 pay rates, except that pay fixed under subsection (a) may 

20 not exceed $150,000 per year and pay fixed under sub21 section (b) may not exceed a rate equal to the daily equiva22 lent of the annual rate of basic pay for level V of the Exec23 utive Schedule under section 5316 of title 5, United States 

24 Code. 


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1 (d) DETAILEES.—Any Federal Government employee 

2 may be detailed to the Commission without reimbursement 

3 from the Commission, and such detailee shall retain the 

4 rights, status, and privileges of their regular employment 

5 without interruption. 

6 (e) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—In accordance 

7 with rules agreed upon by the Commission and to the ex8 tent provided in advance in appropriation Acts, the direc9 tor may procure the services of experts and consultants 

10 under section 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code, but 

11 at rates not to exceed the daily equivalent of the annual 

12 rate of basic pay for level V of the Executive Schedule 

13 under section 5316 of title 5, United States Code. 

14 SEC. 9. POWERS OF COMMISSION. 

15 (a) HEARINGS AND EVIDENCE.—The Commission 

16 may, for the purpose of carrying out this Act, hold such 

17 hearings in addition to the town hall style public hearings, 

18 sit and act at such times and places, take such testimony, 

19 and receive such evidence as the Commission considers ap20 propriate. The Commission may administer oaths or affir21 mations to witnesses appearing before it. 

22 (b) POWERS OF MEMBERS AND AGENTS.—Any mem23 ber or agent of the Commission may, if authorized by the 

24 Commission, take any action which the Commission is au25 thorized to take under this section. 


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1 (c) MAILS.—The Commission may use the United 

2 States mails in the same manner and under the same con3 ditions as other departments and agencies of the United 

4 States. 

5 (d) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.—Upon 

6 the request of the Commission, the Administrator of Gen7 eral Services shall provide to the Commission, on a reim8 bursable basis, the administrative support services nec9 essary for the Commission to carry out its responsibilities 

10 under this Act. 

11 (e) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—To the extent provided 

12 in advance in appropriation Acts, the Commission may 

13 enter into contracts to enable the Commission to discharge 

14 its duties under this Act. 

15 (f) GIFTS.—The Commission may accept, use, and 

16 dispose of gifts or donations of services or property. 

17 SEC. 10. TERMINATION. 

18 The Commission shall terminate the earlier of— 

19 (1) 60 days after submitting its legislative pro20 posal; or 

21 (2) the date on which the Comptroller General 

22 of the United States determines and publishes in the 

23 Federal Register a statement that new legislation 

24 has been enacted that is estimated to reduce the fis25 cal gap by— 


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1 (A) 1 percent of gross domestic product, 

2 measured over the 20-year period beginning 

3 with the first fiscal year after the date of enact4 ment of such legislation; and 

5 (B) 2 percent of gross domestic product, 

6 measured over the 50-year period beginning 

7 with the first fiscal year after the date of enact8 ment of such legislation. 

9 SEC. 11. CONSIDERATION OF LEGISLATION. 

10 (a) INTRODUCTION.—Not later than the fifth legisla11 tive day after the Commission submits its legislative pro12 posal, the majority leader of each House, or his designee, 

13 shall introduce (by request) the legislation submitted by 

14 the Commission. 

15 (b) IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.— 

16 (1) PRIVILEGED CONSIDERATION.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—In the House of Rep18 resentatives, the legislation shall be referred to 

19 the Committee on the Budget, which shall re20 port the bill without substantive revision. 

21 (B) DISCHARGE.—If the House Committee 

22 on the Budget has not reported the legislation 

23 within 60 days after introduction under sub24 section (a)— 


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1 (i) committee shall be discharged from 

2 consideration of the legislation; 

3 (ii) the legislation shall be placed on 

4 the appropriate calendar; and 

5 (iii) a motion to proceed to the consid6 eration of the legislation shall be highly 

7 privileged and shall not be debatable, and 

8 a motion to reconsider the vote by which 

9 the motion is disposed of shall not be in 

10 order. 

11 (2) CONSIDERATION CONSISTENT WITH CON12 GRESSIONAL BUDGET ACT.—Consideration of such 

13 legislation shall be pursuant to the procedures set 

14 forth in paragraphs (2) and (6) of section 305(a) of 

15 the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to the extent 

16 not inconsistent with this Act. 

17 (3) TRANSMITTAL TO THE SENATE.—If the leg18 islation passed in the House of Representatives pur19 suant to this section, the Clerk of the House of Rep20 resentatives shall cause the legislation to be en21 grossed, certified, and transmitted to the Senate not 

22 later than 1 calendar day after the day on which the 

23 legislation is passed. Such legislation shall be re24 ferred to the Senate Committee on the Budget. 

25 (c) IN THE SENATE.— 


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1 (1) AUTOMATIC DISCHARGE OF SENATE BUDG2 ET COMMITTEE.—If the Senate Committee on the 

3 Budget has not reported the legislation within 60 

4 days after introduction under subsection (a)— 

5 (A) the committee shall be discharged from 

6 consideration of the legislation; and 

7 (B) a motion to proceed to the consider8 ation of the legislation is highly privileged and 

9 is not debatable. 

10 (2) CONSIDERATION.—Consideration of such 

11 legislation shall be pursuant to the procedures set 

12 forth in paragraphs (1) and (5) of section 305(b) of 

13 the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to the extent 

14 not inconsistent with this Act. 

15 (d) NO AMENDMENTS.—No amendment to the legis16 lation submitted by the Commission shall be in order in 

17 the Senate and the House of Representatives. 

18 (e) PROHIBITION ON CONCURRENT CONSIDERATION

19 OF OTHER BUDGET-RELATED LEGISLATION.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Until a bill or joint resolu21 tion considered pursuant to the procedures of this 

22 section or a conference report thereon has been en23 rolled and presented to the President of the United 

24 States, it shall not be in order in either the House 

25 of Representatives or the Senate to consider any bill 


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1 or joint resolution, amendment or motion thereto, or 

2 conference report thereon that— 

3 (A) provides new budget authority for any 

4 fiscal year; 

5 (B) provides for an increase in outlays for 

6 any fiscal year; 

7 (C) provides a decrease in revenues during 

8 any fiscal year; or 

9 (D) provides an increase in the public debt 

10 limit to become effective during any fiscal year. 

11 Subparagraphs (A) through (D) shall be applied on 

12 a provision-by-provision basis. 

13 (2) EXCEPTIONS.—Paragraph (1) does not 

14 apply— 

15 (A) to any measure under consideration 

16 prior to the introduction, in either House, of a 

17 bill or joint resolution considered pursuant to 

18 the procedures of this section; 

19 (B) to any measure considered after a bill 

20 or joint resolution considered pursuant to the 

21 procedures of this section has been defeated in 

22 either House; or 

23 (C) to any general appropriation bill or 

24 amendment thereto, but only to the extent of 

25 discretionary new budget authority provided for 


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1 the budget year or for the first or second fiscal 

2 year after the budget year. 

3 (3) WAIVER.— 

4 (A) HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.—In the 

5 House of Representatives, if a special rule is 

6 considered that would waive points of order 

7 pursuant to paragraph (1), a motion to strike 

8 the provision waiving such points of order shall 

9 be in order. 

10 (B) SENATE.—In the Senate, a point of 

11 order properly raised pursuant to paragraph (1) 

12 shall be waived only by an affirmative vote of 

2 13 ⁄3 of the Members senators duly chosen and 

14 sworn. 

15 (f) APPLICATION OF CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET

16 ACT.—To the extent that they are relevant and not incon17 sistent with this Act, the provisions of title III of the Con18 gressional Budget Act of 1974 shall apply in the House 

19 of Representatives and the Senate to any bill or joint reso20 lution, any amendment thereto, and any conference report 

21 thereon that is considered pursuant to this section. 

22 (g) RULES OF SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENT23 ATIVES.—This section is enacted by Congress— 

24 (1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of 

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1 spectively, and is deemed to be part of the rules of 

2 each House, respectively, but applicable only with re3 spect to the procedure to be followed in that House 

4 in the case of a bill introduced pursuant to this sec5 tion, and it supersedes other rules only to the extent 

6 that it is inconsistent with such rules; and 

7 (2) with full recognition of the constitutional 

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

9 they relate to the procedure of that House) at any 

10 time, in the same manner, and to the same extent 

11 as in the case of any other rule of that House. 

12 SEC. 12. LONG-TERM CBO COST ESTIMATE. 

13 (a) PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION.—When the 

14 Commission, the President, or the chairman or ranking 

15 minority member of the Committee on the Budget of ei16 ther House submits a written request to the Director of 

17 the Congressional Budget Office for a long-term CBO cost 

18 estimate of legislation proposed under this Act, the Direc19 tor shall prepare the estimate and have it published in the 

20 Congressional Record as expeditiously as possible. 

21 (b) CONTENT.—A long-term CBO cost estimate shall 

22 include— 

23 (1) an estimate of the cost of each provision (if 

24 practicable) or group of provisions of the legislation 

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1 fect and for each of the 49 fiscal years thereafter; 

2 and 

3 (2) a statement of any estimated future costs 

4 not reflected by the estimate described in paragraph 

5 (1). 

6 (c) FORM.—To the extent that a long-term CBO cost 

7 estimate presented in dollars is impracticable, the Director 

8 of the Congressional Budget Office may instead present 

9 the estimate in terms of percentages of gross domestic 

product, with rounding to the nearest 1 10 ⁄10 of 1 percent 

11 of gross domestic product. 

12 (d) LIMITATIONS ON DISCRETIONARY SPENDING.— 

13 A long-term CBO cost estimate shall only consider the ef14 fects of provisions affecting revenues and direct spending 

15 (as defined by the Balanced Budget and Emergency Def16 icit Control Act of 1985), and shall not assume that any 

17 changes in outlays will result from limitations on, or re18 ductions in, annual appropriations. 

Æ 


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