I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 222

To amend the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974

to require expeditious consideration by the Congress of a proposal by

the President to rescind all or part of any item of budget authority

if the proposal is transmitted to the Congress on the same day

on which the President approves the bill or joint resolution providing

such budget authority.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 5, 1993

Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota introduced the following bill; which was

referred to the Committee on Rules

A BILL

To amend the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to require expeditious consideration

by the Congress of a proposal by the President to rescind

all or part of any item of budget authority if the proposal is transmitted to the Congress on the same

day on which the President approves the bill or joint

resolution providing such budget authority.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 That this Act may be cited as the ‘‘Line-Item Rescission

4 Act of 1993’’.
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1 SEC. 2. EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION OF CERTAIN PRO2 POSED RESCISSIONS.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part B of title X of the Congres4 sional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is

5 amended by redesignating sections 1013 through 1017 as

6 sections 1014 through 1018, respectively, and inserting

7 after section 1012 the following new section:

8 ‘‘EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION OF CERTAIN PROPOSED

9 RESCISSIONS

10 ‘‘SEC. 1013. (a) TRANSMITTAL OF SPECIAL MES11 SAGE.—The President may, on the same calendar day the

12 President approves any appropriation bill, transmit to

13 both Houses of the Congress, for consideration in accord14 ance with this section, one or more special messages pro15 posing to rescind all or part of any item of budget author16 ity provided in the appropriation bill.

17 ‘‘(b) CONTENTS OF SPECIAL MESSAGE.—

18 ‘‘(1) No special message may be considered in

19 accordance with this section if the special message

20 proposes to rescind more than one item of budget

21 authority.

22 ‘‘(2) Each special message transmitted under

23 subsection (a) shall specify, with respect to the item

24 of budget authority (or part thereof) proposed by the

25 message to be rescinded, the matters referred to in

26 paragraphs (1) through (5) of section 1012(a).
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1 ‘‘(3) Each special message transmitted under

2 subsection (a) shall be accompanied by a draft bill

3 or joint resolution that would, if enacted, rescind the

4 budget authority proposed to be rescinded.

5 ‘‘(c) PROCEDURES.—

6 ‘‘(1)(A) On the day on which a special message

7 proposing to rescind an item of budget authority is

8 transmitted to the House of Representatives and the

9 Senate under subsection (a), the draft bill or joint

10 resolution accompanying such special message shall

11 be introduced (by request) by the majority leader of

12 the House of the Congress in which the appropria13 tion Act providing the budget authority originated.

14 If such House is not in session on the day on which

15 a special message is transmitted, the draft bill or

16 joint resolution shall be introduced in such House,

17 as provided in the preceding sentence, on the first

18 day thereafter on which such House is in session.

19 ‘‘(B) A draft bill or joint resolution introduced

20 in the House of Representatives or the Senate pur21 suant to subparagraph (A) shall be referred to the

22 Committee on Appropriations of such House. The

23 committee shall report the bill or joint resolution

24 without substantive revision (and with or without

25 recommendation) not later than 20 calendar days of
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1 continuous session of the Congress after the date on

2 which the bill or joint resolution is introduced. A

3 committee failing to report a bill or joint resolution

4 within the 20-day period referred to in the preceding

5 sentence shall be automatically discharged from con6 sideration of the bill or joint resolution, and the bill

7 or joint resolution shall be placed on the appropriate

8 calendar.

9 ‘‘(C) A vote on final passage of a bill or joint

10 resolution introduced in a House of the Congress

11 pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be taken on or

12 before the close of the 30th calendar day of continu13 ous session of the Congress after the date of the in14 troduction of the bill or joint resolution in such

15 House. If the bill or joint resolution is agreed to, the

16 Clerk of the House of Representatives (in the case

17 of a bill or joint resolution agreed to in the House

18 of Representatives) or the Secretary of the Senate

19 (in the case of a bill or joint resolution agreed to in

20 the Senate) shall cause the bill or joint resolution to

21 be engrossed, certified, and transmitted to the other

22 House of the Congress on the same calendar day on

23 which the bill or joint resolution is agreed to.

24 ‘‘(2)(A) A bill or joint resolution transmitted to

25 the House of Representatives or the Senate pursu-
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1 ant to subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1) shall be

2 referred to the Committee on Appropriations of such

3 House. The committee shall report the bill or joint

4 resolution without substantive revision (and with or

5 without recommendation) not later than 20 calendar

6 days of continuous session of the Congress after the

7 bill or joint resolution is transmitted to such House.

8 A committee failing to report the bill or joint resolu9 tion within the 20-day period referred to in the pre10 ceding sentence shall be automatically discharged

11 from consideration of the bill or joint resolution, and

12 the bill or joint resolution shall be placed upon the

13 appropriate calendar.

14 ‘‘(B) A vote on final passage of a bill or joint

15 resolution transmitted to a House of the Congress

16 pursuant to subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1) shall

17 be taken on or before the close of the 30th calendar

18 day of continuous session of the Congress after the

19 date on which the bill or joint resolution is transmit20 ted to such House. If the bill or joint resolution is

21 agreed to in such House, the Clerk of the House of

22 Representatives (in the case of a bill or joint resolu23 tion agreed to in the House of Representatives) or

24 the Secretary of the Senate (in the case of a bill or

25 joint resolution agreed to in the Senate) shall cause
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1 the engrossed bill or joint resolution to be returned

2 to the House in which the bill or joint resolution

3 originated, together with a statement of the action

4 taken by the House acting under this paragraph.

5 ‘‘(3)(A) A motion in the House of Representa6 tives to proceed to the consideration of a bill or joint

7 resolution under this section shall be highly privi8 leged and not debatable. An amendment to the mo9 tion shall not be in order, nor shall it be in order

10 to move to reconsider the vote by which the motion

11 is agreed to or disagreed to.

12 ‘‘(B) Debate in the House of Representatives

13 on a bill or joint resolution under this section shall

14 be limited to not more than 10 hours, which shall

15 be divided equally between those favoring and those

16 opposing the bill or joint resolution. A motion fur17 ther to limit debate shall not be debatable. It shall

18 not be in order to move to recommit a bill or joint

19 resolution under this section or to move to recon20 sider the vote by which the bill or joint resolution is

21 agreed to or disagreed to.

22 ‘‘(C) Motions to postpone, made in the House

23 of Representatives with respect to the consideration

24 of a bill or joint resolution under this section, and
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1 motions to proceed to the consideration of other

2 business, shall be decided without debate.

3 ‘‘(D) All appeals from the decisions of the

4 Chair relating to the application of the Rules of the

5 House of Representatives to the procedure relating

6 to a bill or joint resolution under this section shall

7 be decided without debate.

8 ‘‘(E) Except to the extent specifically provided

9 in the preceding provisions of this subsection, con10 sideration of a bill or joint resolution under this sec11 tion shall be governed by the Rules of the House of

12 Representatives applicable to other bills and joint

13 resolutions in similar circumstances.

14 ‘‘(4)(A) A motion in the Senate to proceed to

15 the consideration of a bill or joint resolution under

16 this section shall be privileged and not debatable. An

17 amendment to the motion shall not be in order, nor

18 shall it be in order to move to reconsider the vote

19 by which the motion is agreed to or disagreed to.

20 ‘‘(B) Debate in the Senate on a bill or joint res21 olution under this section, and all debatable motions

22 and appeals in connection therewith, shall be limited

23 to not more than 10 hours. The time shall be equally

24 divided between, and controlled by, the majority

25 leader and the minority leader or their designees.
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1 ‘‘(C) Debate in the Senate on any debatable

2 motion or appeal in connection with a bill or joint

3 resolution under this section shall be limited to not

4 more than 1 hour, to be equally divided between,

5 and controlled by, the mover and the manager of the

6 bill or joint resolution, except that in the event the

7 manager of the bill or joint resolution is in favor of

8 any such motion or appeal, the time in opposition

9 thereto, shall be controlled by the minority leader or

10 his designee. Such leaders, or either of them, may,

11 from time under their control on the passage of a

12 bill or joint resolution, allot additional time to any

13 Senator during the consideration of any debatable

14 motion or appeal.

15 ‘‘(D) A motion in the Senate to further limit

16 debate on a bill or joint resolution under this section

17 is not debatable. A motion to recommit a bill or joint

18 resolution under this section is not in order.

19 ‘‘(d) AMENDMENTS PROHIBITED.—No amendment

20 to a bill or joint resolution considered under this section

21 shall be in order in either the House of Representatives

22 or the Senate. No motion to suspend the application of

23 this subsection shall be in order in either House, nor shall

24 it be in order in either House for the Presiding Officer
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1 to entertain a request to suspend the application of this

2 subsection by unanimous consent.

3 ‘‘(e) REQUIREMENT TO MAKE AVAILABLE FOR OBLI4 GATION.—Any item of budget authority proposed to be re5 scinded in a special message transmitted to the Congress

6 in accordance with subsection (a) shall be made available

7 for obligation unless, not more than 60 days after the

8 transmittal of the special message, both Houses of the

9 Congress have agreed to the bill or joint resolution accom10 panying such special message.

11 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the

12 term—

13 ‘‘(1) ‘item’ means any numerically expressed

14 amount of budget authority set forth in an appro15 priation bill;

16 ‘‘(2) ‘appropriation bill’ means any general or

17 special appropriation bill, and any bill or joint reso18 lution making supplemental, deficiency, or continu19 ing appropriations; and

20 ‘‘(3) ‘appropriation Act’ means any appropria21 tion bill that has been approved by the President

22 and become law.’’.

23 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
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1 (1) Section 1011(5) of the Congressional Budg2 et and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is amend3 ed—

4 (A) by striking out ‘‘1012, and’’ and in5 serting in lieu thereof ‘‘1012, the 20-day peri6 ods referred to in paragraphs (1)(B) and (2)(A)

7 of section 1013(c), the 60-day period referred

8 to in section 1013(e) and’’;

9 (B) by striking out ‘‘1012 during’’ and in10 serting in lieu thereof ‘‘1012 or 1013 during’’;

11 (C) by striking out ‘‘of 45’’ and inserting

12 in lieu thereof ‘‘of the applicable number of’’;

13 and

14 (D) by striking out ‘‘45-day period re15 ferred to in paragraph (3) of this section and

16 in section 1012’’ and inserting in lieu thereof

17 ‘‘period or periods of time applicable under

18 such section’’.

19 (2)(A) Section 1011 of such Act is further

20 amended—

21 (i) in paragraph (4) by striking out

22 ‘‘1013’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘1014’’;

23 and

24 (ii) in paragraph (5)—
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1 (I) by striking out ‘‘1016’’ and insert2 ing in lieu thereof ‘‘1017’’; and

3 (II) by striking out ‘‘1017(b)(1)’’ and

4 inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘1018(b)(1)’’.

5 (B) Section 1012 of such Act is amended—

6 (i) by striking out ‘‘1012 or 1013’’ each

7 place it appears and inserting in lieu thereof

8 ‘‘1012, 1013, or 1014’’;

9 (ii) in subsection (b)(1) by striking out

10 ‘‘1012’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘1012 or

11 1013’’;

12 (iii) in subsection (b)(2) by striking out

13 ‘‘1013’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘1014’’;

14 and

15 (iv) in subsection (e)(2)—

16 (I) by striking out ‘‘and’’ at the end

17 of subparagraph (A),

18 (II) by redesignating subparagraph

19 (B) as subparagraph (C),

20 (III) by striking out ‘‘1013’’ in sub21 paragraph (C) (as so redesignated), and

22 (IV) by inserting after subparagraph

23 (A) the following new subparagraph:
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1 ‘‘(B) he has transmitted a special message

2 under section 1013 with respect to a proposed

3 rescission; and’’.

4 (C) Section 1015 of such Act is amended by

5 striking out ‘‘1012 or 1013’’ each place it appears

6 and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘1012, 1013, or 1014’’.

7 (D) Section 1016 of such Act is amended by

8 striking out ‘‘or 1013(b)’’ and inserting in lieu

9 thereof ‘‘, 1013(e), or 1014(b)’’.

10 (E) Section 1012(b) of such Act is amended by

11 adding at the end thereof the following new sen12 tence: ‘‘The preceding sentence shall not apply to

13 any item of budget authority proposed by the Presi14 dent to be rescinded under this section that the

15 President has also proposed to rescind under section

16 1013 and with respect to which the 60-day period

17 referred to in subsection (e) of such section has not

18 expired.’’.

19 (3) The table of sections for subpart B of title

20 X of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment

21 Control Act of 1974 is amended—

22 (A) by redesignating the items relating to

23 sections 1013 through 1017 as items relating to

24 sections 1014 through 1018; and
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1 (B) by inserting after the item relating to

2 section 1012 the following new item:

‘‘Sec. 1013. Expedited consideration of certain proposed rescissions.’’.

3 SEC. 3. APPLICATION.

4 The amendments made by this section shall apply to

5 items of budget authority (as defined in subsection (f)(1)

6 of section 1013 of the Congressional Budget and Im7 poundment Control Act of 1974, as added by section 2

8 of this Act) provided by appropriation Acts (as defined

9 in subsection (f)(3) of such section) that become law after

10 the date of the enactment of this Act.

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