I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3498 
To require the Secretary of the Treasury to issue reports with respect to 
extraordinary measures, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 27, 2017 
Mr. MESSER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To require the Secretary of the Treasury to issue reports 
with respect to extraordinary measures, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Extraordinary Meas-
ures Transparency Act’’. 
SEC. 2. REPORTS ON EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 31 of 
title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
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‘‘§ 3131. Reports on extraordinary measures 
‘‘(a) REPORT 30 DAYS BEFORE REACHING DEBT 
LIMIT.—If the Secretary of the Treasury determines that 
the public debt will reach the debt limit in 30 days, the 
Secretary shall issue a report to the Congress that con-
tains— 
‘‘(1) a description of the extraordinary meas-
ures that the Secretary intends to use if the debt 
limit is not raised; 
‘‘(2) an estimate of the cost of such extraor-
dinary measures; 
‘‘(3) a projection of how long such extraor-
dinary measures will fund the Federal Government; 
and 
‘‘(4) a projection of the administrative cost of 
taking such extraordinary measures. 
‘‘(b) DAILY REPORT WHILE USING EXTRAORDINARY 
MEASURES.—The Secretary shall, during any period in 
which the Secretary is using extraordinary measures, issue 
a daily report to the Congress that contains a list of which 
extraordinary measures were taken, including a list of how 
much money was transferred and from which accounts the 
money was transferred. 
‘‘(c) REPORT AFTER USING EXTRAORDINARY MEAS-
URES.—At the end of a period in which the Secretary was 
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using extraordinary measures, the Secretary shall issue a 
report to the Congress that contains— 
‘‘(1) a summary of the extraordinary measures 
used; and 
‘‘(2) the administrative cost of taking such ex-
traordinary measures. 
‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 
‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATIVE COST.—With respect to 
extraordinary measures, the term ‘administrative 
cost’ means— 
‘‘(A) the personnel and consultant costs re-
quired to engage in the extraordinary measures; 
‘‘(B) any fees the Government has to pay 
in connection with the extraordinary measures; 
and 
‘‘(C) such other costs as the Secretary de-
termines appropriate. 
‘‘(2) DEBT
LIMIT.—The term ‘debt limit’ 
means the limit specified under section 3101, as 
modified by section 3101A. 
‘‘(3) EXTRAORDINARY
MEASURES.—The term 
‘extraordinary measures’ means— 
‘‘(A) directing or approving the issuance of 
debt by the Federal Financing Bank for the 
purpose of entering into an exchange trans-
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action for debt that is subject to the limit under 
this chapter; 
‘‘(B) suspending investments in the Gov-
ernment Securities Investment Fund of the 
Thrift Savings Fund; 
‘‘(C) suspending investments in the sta-
bilization fund established under section 5302; 
‘‘(D) suspending new investments in the 
Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund or 
the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits 
Fund; 
‘‘(E) selling or redeeming securities, obli-
gations, or other invested assets of the Civil 
Service Retirement and Disability Fund or the 
Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund 
before maturity; 
‘‘(F) suspending sales of State and Local 
Government Series Treasury securities; and 
‘‘(G) such other measures as the Secretary 
determines appropriate. 
‘‘(4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 
the Secretary of the Treasury.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of analysis 
for chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, is amended 
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by inserting after the item relating to section 3130 the 
following: 
‘‘3131. Reports on extraordinary measures.’’. 
Æ 
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