I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 823

To provide a fair, nonpolitical process that will achieve $45,000,000,000

in budget outlay reductions each fiscal year until a balanced budget

is reached.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 3, 1995

Mr. MILLER of Florida (for himself and Mr. MINGE) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform and

Oversight and, in addition, to the Committees on Rules and 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 provide a fair, nonpolitical process that will achieve

$45,000,000,000 in budget outlay reductions each fiscal

year until a balanced budget is reached.

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 AND PURPOSE.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Spending Reduction Act of 1995’’.

6 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide

7 a fair, nonpolitical process that will achieve at least
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1 $45,000,000,000 in budget outlay reductions each fiscal

2 year until a balanced budget is reached (but in the year

3 in which the balanced budget is reached, only the amount

4 necessary to achieve a balance).

5 SEC. 2. THE COMMISSION.

6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established an inde7 pendent commission to be known as the ‘‘Spending Reduc8 tion Commission’’ (referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’).

9 (b) DUTIES.—The Commission shall propose cost

10 savings and changes in law to achieve at least

11 $45,000,000,000 of budget outlay reductions for the

12 budget year and each outyear until a balanced budget is

13 reached subject to the following guidelines. It should at14 tempt to:

15 (1) Eliminate redundant and outdated pro16 grams, as well as those whose missions can be effec17 tively accomplished by the private sector.

18 (2) Reduce those programs with excessive ad19 ministrative costs or can be consolidated with other

20 programs.

21 (3) Eliminate programs that provide subsidies

22 that benefit narrow special interest groups at the ex23 pense of the national interest.
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1 (4) Reduce or eliminate those programs that

2 have low priority in meeting a national interest

3 criterion.

4 (c) APPOINTMENT.—(1)(A) The Commission shall be

5 composed of 7 members appointed by the President, by

6 and with the advice and consent of the Senate.

7 (B) The President shall transmit to the Senate the

8 nominations for appointment to the Commission by no

9 later than January 15th for each fiscal year.

10 (2) In selecting individuals for nominations for ap11 pointments to the Commission, the President shall se12 lect—

13 (A) 4 of the members from a list of 10 individ14 uals submitted by the Speaker of the House of Rep15 resentatives and the majority leader of the Senate;

16 and

17 (B) 3 of the members from a list of 10 individ18 uals submitted by the minority leader of the House

19 of Representatives and the minority leader of the

20 Senate.

21 (3) At the time the President nominates individuals

22 for appointment to the Commission, the President shall

23 designate one such individual who shall serve as Chairman

24 of the Commission.
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1 (4) No current Member of Congress, employee of the

2 Executive branch, or current or former registered lobbyist

3 may serve on the Commission.

4 (d) TERMS.—(1) Except as provided in paragraph

5 (2), each member of the Commission shall serve until No6 vember 1st of the calendar year in which the member is

7 appointed.

8 (2) The Chairman of the Commission shall serve until

9 the confirmation of a successor.

10 (e) MEETINGS.—(1) Each meeting of the Commis11 sion, other than meetings in which classified information

12 is to be discussed, shall be open to the public.

13 (2) All the proceedings, information, and delibera14 tions of the Commission shall be open, upon request, to

15 the Chairman and the ranking minority member of the

16 Budget and Appropriations Committees of each House.

17 (f) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Commission shall

18 be filled in the same manner as the original appointment.

19 (g) PAY AND TRAVEL EXPENSES.—(1)(A) Each

20 member, other than the Chairman, shall be paid at a rate

21 not to exceed to the daily equivalent of the minimum an22 nual rate of basic pay payable for level IV of the Executive

23 Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United States

24 Code, for each day (including travel time) during vested

25 in the Commission.
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1 (B) The Chairman shall be paid for each day referred

2 to in subparagraph (A) at a rate not to exceed to the daily

3 equivalent of the minimum annual rate of basic pay pay4 able for level III of the Executive Schedule under section

5 5314 of title 5, United States Code.

6 (2) Members shall receive travel expenses, including

7 per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with sections

8 5702 and 5703 of title 5, United States Code.

9 (h) DIRECTOR OF STAFF.—(1) The Commission

10 shall, without regard to section 5311(b) of title 5, United

11 States Code, appoint a Director who has not been em12 ployed by the Federal Government during the 1-year pe13 riod preceding the date of such appointment and who is

14 not a former Member of Congress or registered lobbyist.

15 (2) The Director shall be paid at a rate not to exceed

16 the rate of basic pay payable for level IV of the Executive

17 Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United States

18 Code.

19 (i) STAFF.—(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3),

20 the Director, with the approval of the Commission, may

21 appoint and fix pay of additional personnel.

22 (2) The Director may take such appointments with23 out regard to the provisions of title 5, United States Code,

24 governing appointment in the competitive service, and any

25 personnel so appointed may be paid without regard to the
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1 provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53

2 of that title relating to classification and General Schedule

3 pay rates, except that an individual so appointed may not

4 receive pay in excess of the annual rate of basic pay pay5 able for GS–18 of the General Schedule.

6 (3) Not more than one-third of the personnel em7 ployed by or detailed to the Commission may be on detail

8 from any Government agency.

9 (4) Upon request of the Director, the head of any

10 Federal department or agency may detail any of the per11 sonnel of that department or agency to the Commission

12 to assist the Commission in carrying out its duties under

13 this Act.

14 (5) The Comptroller General of the United States

15 shall provide assistance, including the detailing of employ16 ees, to the Commission in accordance with an agreement

17 entered into with the Commission.

18 (j) OTHER AUTHORITY.—(1) The Commission may

19 procure by contract, to the extent funds are available, the

20 temporary or intermittent services of experts or consult21 ants pursuant to section 3109 of title 5, United States

22 Code.

23 (2) The Commission may lease space and acquire per24 sonal property to the extent funds are available.
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1 (k) FUNDING.—Each department and agency shall

2 transfer necessary funding to the Commission on a pro

3 rata basis based on that agency’s or departments funding

4 percentage of the total Executive budget.

5 (l) TERMINATION.—Each Commission shall termi6 nate on November 1st of the year in which the Commis7 sion is appointed.

8 SEC. 3. PROCEDURE FOR MAKING RECOMMENDATION FOR

9 PROPOSED CUTS.

10 (a) SELECTION CRITERIA.—(1) OMB shall, by no

11 later than January 1st of each year, publish in the Federal

12 Register and transmit to the Budget and Appropriations

13 committees of each House the criteria proposed to be used

14 by OMB in making budget outlay reduction recommenda15 tions required by section 2(b). OMB shall provide an op16 portunity for public comment on the proposed criteria for

17 a period of at least 10 days and shall include notice of

18 that opportunity in the publication required under the pre19 ceding sentence.

20 (2)(A) OMB shall, by no later than January 15th,

21 publish in the Federal Register and transmit to the con22 gressional budget and appropriations committees the final

23 criteria to be used in making recommendations for pro24 gram cuts. Except as provided in subparagraph (B), such

25 criteria shall be the final criteria to be used in making
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1 such recommendations unless disapproved by a joint reso2 lution of Congress enacted on or before February 1st.

3 (B) OMB shall amend such criteria, but such amend4 ments may not become effective until they have been pub5 lished in the Federal Register, opened to public comment

6 for at least 10 days, and then transmitted to the Budget

7 and Appropriations committees of each House in final

8 form by no later than February 1st. Such amended cri9 teria shall be the final criteria to be used in making such

10 recommendations unless disapproved by a joint resolution

11 of Congress enacted on or before February 15th.

12 (b) OMB RECOMMENDATIONS.—(1) OMB may, by

13 no later than April 1st, publish in the Federal Register

14 and transmit to the congressional budget and appropria15 tions committees and to the Commission OMB’s rec16 ommendations for budget outlay reductions.

17 (2) OMB shall include, with the list of recommenda18 tions published and transmitted pursuant to paragraph

19 (1), a summary of the selection process that resulted in

20 the recommendation.

21 (3) In considering such outlay reductions, OMB shall

22 consider all programs without regard to whether such pro23 grams have previously been considered or proposed for

24 elimination.
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1 (4) OMB shall make available to the Commission and

2 the Comptroller General of the United States all informa3 tion used by OMB in making its recommendations.

4 (c) REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS BY THE COM5 MISSION.—(1) After receiving the recommendations from

6 OMB pursuant to subsection (b), the Commission shall

7 conduct public hearings on the recommendations.

8 (2) The Director of the Office of Management and

9 Budget shall notify the Commission on August 1st of any

10 savings that have been enacted into law for the upcoming

11 fiscal year. The year’s target for such fiscal year shall be

12 reduced by the amount of such savings.

13 (3)(A) The Commission shall, by no later than Au14 gust 15th, transmit to the President a report containing

15 the Commission’s findings and conclusions based on a re16 view and analysis of the recommendations.

17 (B) In making its recommendations, the Commission

18 may make changes in any of the recommendations made

19 by OMB.

20 (4) The Commission shall explain and justify in its

21 report submitted to the President pursuant to paragraph

22 (2) any recommendation made by the Commission that is

23 different from the recommendations made by OMB pursu24 ant to subsection (b). The Commission shall transmit a

25 copy of such report to the Budget and Appropriations
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1 committees of each House on the same date on which it

2 transmits its recommendations to the President under

3 paragraph (2).

4 (5) After August 15th, the Commission shall prompt5 ly provide, upon request, to any Member of Congress in6 formation used by the Commission in making its rec7 ommendations.

8 (6) The Congressional Budget Office shall—

9 (A) assist the Commission, to the extent re10 quested, in the Commission’s review and analysis of

11 the recommendations made by OMB pursuant to

12 subsection (b); and

13 (B) by no later than June 1st, transmit to the

14 Congress and to the Commission a report containing

15 a detailed analysis of OMB’s recommendations and

16 selection process.

17 (d) REVIEW BY THE PRESIDENT.—(1) The President

18 shall, by no later than September 1st, transmit to the

19 Commission and to the Congress, a report containing the

20 President’s approval or disapproval of the Commission’s

21 recommendations.

22 (2) If the President approves all the recommenda23 tions of the Commission, the President shall transmit a

24 copy of such recommendations to the Congress, together
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1 with a certification of such approval and legislative lan2 guage implementing such recommendations.

3 (3) If the President disapproves the recommendations

4 of the Commission, in whole or in part, the President shall

5 transmit to the Commission and the Congress the reasons

6 for that disapproval. The Commission shall then transmit

7 to the President, by no later than September 5th, a revised

8 list of recommendations.

9 (4) If the President approves all of the revised rec10 ommendations of the Commission transmitted to the

11 President under paragraph (3), the President shall trans12 mit a copy of such revised recommendation to the Con13 gress, together with a certification of such approval.

14 (5) If the President does not transmit to the Con15 gress an approval and certification described in paragraph

16 (2) or (4) by September 10th, the process by which budget

17 outlay reductions may occur under this Act with respect

18 to that year shall be terminated.

19 SEC. 4. BUDGET OUTLAY REDUCTIONS.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall submit rec21 ommendations to Congress together with a joint resolution

22 containing legislative language implementing such rec23 ommendations not later than September 10th, as provided

24 in section 3.
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1 (b) CONGRESSIONAL CONSIDERATION OF PRESI2 DENT’S RECOMMENDATIONS.—

3 (1) TERMS OF THE RESOLUTION.—For the pur4 poses of subsection (a), the term ‘‘joint resolution’’

5 means a joint resolution that—

6 (A) is introduced within the 2-day period

7 beginning on the date on which the President

8 transmits a report to the Congress under sec9 tion 3(d);

10 (B) does not have a preamble;

11 (C) states after the resolving clause ‘‘That

12 Congress approves the recommendations of the

13 Spending Reduction Commission submitted by

14 the President on lll’’, the blank space

15 being filled in with the appropriate date and

16 contains the President’s legislative language de17 scribed in subsection (a); and

18 (D) is entitled a ‘‘Joint resolution approv19 ing the recommendations of the Spending Re20 duction Commission.’’.

21 (2) REFERRAL.—(A) A resolution described in

22 paragraph (1) that is introduced in the House of

23 Representatives shall be referred to the Committee

24 on Government Operations of the House of Rep25 resentatives.
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1 (B) A resolution described in paragraph (1)

2 that is introduced in the Senate shall be referred to

3 the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the

4 Senate.

5 (3) DISCHARGE.—If the committee to which a

6 resolution described in paragraph (1) is referred has

7 not reported the resolution (or an identical resolu8 tion) by the end of the 5-day period beginning on

9 the date on which the President transmits the report

10 to the Congress, such committee shall, at the end of

11 that period, be discharged from further consider12 ation of the resolution, and the resolution shall be

13 placed on the appropriate calendar of the House of

14 Representatives or the Senate, as the case may be.

15 (4) CONSIDERATION.—(A)(i) On or after the

16 first day after the date on which the committee to

17 which a joint resolution described in paragraph (1)

18 is referred has reported, or has been discharged

19 (under paragraph (3)) from further consideration of,

20 such a resolution, it is in order (even though a pre21 vious motion to the same effect has been disagreed

22 to) for any member of the House of Representatives

23 or the Senate, respectively, to move to proceed to the

24 consideration of the resolution (but only on the date

25 after the calendar day on which the member an-
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1 nounces to the House concerned the member’s inten2 tion to do so).

3 (ii) All points of order against a resolution de4 scribed in paragraph (1) (and against consideration

5 of the resolution) are waived.

6 (iii)(I) A motion to proceed to the consideration

7 of a joint resolution described in paragraph (1) is

8 highly privileged in the House of Representatives

9 and is privileged in the Senate and is not debatable.

10 (II) A motion described in subclause (I) is not

11 subject to amendment, to a motion to postpone con12 sideration of the resolution, or to a motion to pro13 ceed to the consideration of other business.

14 (III) A motion to reconsider the vote by which

15 a motion described in subclause (I) is agreed to or

16 not agreed to shall not be in order.

17 (IV) If a motion described in subclause (I) is

18 agreed to, the House of Representatives or the Sen19 ate, as the case may be, shall immediately proceed

20 to consideration of the joint resolution without inter21 vening motion, order, or other business, and the res22 olution shall remain the unfinished business of the

23 House of Representatives or the Senate, as the case

24 may be, until disposed of.
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1 (B)(i) Debate on a joint resolution described in

2 paragraph (1) and on all debatable motions and ap3 peals in connection therewith shall be limited to not

4 more than 5 hours, which shall be divided equally

5 between those favoring and those opposing the

6 resolution.

7 (ii) An amendment to a joint resolution de8 scribed in paragraph (1) is not in order.

9 (iii) A motion further to limit debate on a joint

10 resolution described in paragraph (1) is in order and

11 not debatable.

12 (iv) A motion to postpone consideration of a

13 joint resolution described in paragraph (1), a motion

14 to proceed to the consideration of other business, or

15 a motion to recommit the resolution is not in order.

16 (v) A motion to reconsider the vote by which a

17 resolution described in paragraph (1) is agreed to or

18 not agreed to is not in order.

19 (C) Immediately following the conclusion of the

20 debate on a joint resolution described in paragraph

21 (1) and a single quorum call at the conclusion of the

22 debate if requested in accordance with the rules of

23 the House of Representatives or the Senate, as the

24 case may be, the vote on final passage of the resolu25 tion shall occur.
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1 (D) Appeals from the decisions of the Chair re2 lating to the application of the rules of the House

3 of Representatives or of the Senate, as the case may

4 be, to the procedure relating to a joint resolution de5 scribed in paragraph (1) shall be decided without

6 debate.

7 (5) CONSIDERATION BY OTHER HOUSE.—(A) If,

8 before the passage by one House of a joint resolu9 tion described in paragraph (1) that was introduced

10 in that House, that House receives from the other

11 House a joint resolution described in paragraph

12 (1)—

13 (i) the resolution of the other House shall

14 not be referred to a committee and may not be

15 considered in the House that receives it other16 wise than on final passage under clause (ii)(II);

17 and

18 (ii)(I) the procedure in the House that re19 ceives such a resolution with respect to such a

20 resolution that was introduced in that House

21 shall be the same as if no resolution had been

22 received from the other House; but

23 (II) the vote on final passage shall be on

24 the resolution of the other House.
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1 (B) Upon disposition of a joint resolution de2 scribed in paragraph (1) that is received by one

3 House from the other House, it shall no longer be

4 in order to consider such a resolution that was intro5 duced in the receiving House.

6 (6) DATE CERTAIN.—If the Senate and the

7 House of Representatives have not acted upon the

8 joint resolution by September 30th, then on that day

9 or the next day of session thereafter the joint resolu10 tion shall be called up by the Presiding Officer of

11 each House upon convening and a roll call vote shall

12 be conducted on passage. If the joint resolution

13 passes one House a vote on final passage shall be

14 immediately conducted in the other House.

15 (7) RULES OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF

16 REPRESENTATIVES.—This subsection is enacted by

17 Congress—

18 (A) as an exercise of the rulemaking power

19 of the Senate and House of Representatives, re20 spectively, and is deemed to be part of the rules

21 of each House, respectively, but applicable only

22 with respect to the procedure to be followed in

23 that House in the case of a joint resolution de24 scribed in paragraph (1), and it supersedes
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1 other rules only to the extent that it is incon2 sistent with such rules; and

3 (B) with full recognition of the constitu4 tional right of either House to change the rules

5 (so far as they relate to the procedure of that

6 House) at any time, in the same manner, and

7 to the same extent as in the case of any other

8 rule of that House.

9 SEC. 5. BUDGET OUTLAY REDUCTIONS PERMANENT.

10 All obligational authority reduced pursuant to this

11 Act shall be done in a manner that shall make such reduc12 tions permanent.

13 SEC. 6. ADDITIONAL ENFORCEMENT PROVISIONS.

14 (a) PAYGO SCORECARD.—No reductions in direct

15 spending pursuant to this Act shall be treated as a net

16 deficit decrease for purposes of section 252 of the Bal17 anced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.

18 (b) DISCRETIONARY SPENDING LIMITS.—When

19 OMB submits a sequestration report under section 254(g)

20 or (h) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit

21 Control Act of 1985, OMB shall include downward adjust22 ments to discretionary spending limits (in new budget au23 thority and outlays) for the budget year and each outyear

24 to take full account of all reductions in discretionary

25 spending pursuant to this Act for that fiscal year.
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1 SEC. 7. COMPLIANCE REPORT BY COMPTROLLER GEN2 ERAL.

3 Within 15 days after the end of a session of Congress,

4 the Comptroller General shall submit to the Congress and

5 the President a report stating whether the requirements

6 of this Act have been complied with and indicating the

7 respects (if any) in which they have not.

8 SEC. 8 DEFINITIONS.

9 As used in this Act, the terms ‘‘budget outlay’’, ‘‘out10 lay’’, ‘‘new budget authority’’, ‘‘direct spending’’, and

11 ‘‘OMB’’ have the meanings given to such terms by section

12 250(c) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit

13 Control Act of 1985.

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