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(1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of 
the House of Representatives and as such they shall 
be considered as part of the rules of the House, and 
these rules shall supersede other rules only to the 
extent that they are inconsistent with other such 
rules; and 
(2) with full recognition of the constitutional 
right of the House of Representatives to change 
those rules at any time, in the same manner, and to 
the same extent as in the case of any other rule of 
the House of Representatives. 
(b) LIMITATION
ON APPLICATION.—The following 
provisions of H. Res. 5 (112th Congress) shall no longer 
have force or effect: 
(1) Section 3(e) relating to advance appropria-
tions. 
(2) Section 3(f) relating to the treatment of off- 
budget administrative expenses. 
(3) Section 3(g) relating to a long-term spend-
ing point of order. 
TITLE V—POLICY 
SEC. 501. POLICY STATEMENT ON MEDICARE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The House finds the following: 
(1) More than 46 million Americans depend on 
Medicare for their health security. 
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(2) The Medicare Trustees report has repeat-
edly recommended that Medicare’s long-term finan-
cial challenges be addressed soon. Each year without 
reform, the financial condition of Medicare becomes 
more precarious and the threat to those in and near 
retirement becomes more pronounced. According to 
the Congressional Budget Office— 
(A) the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund 
will be exhausted in 2020 and unable to pay 
scheduled benefits; and 
(B) Medicare spending is growing faster 
than the economy. Medicare outlays are cur-
rently rising at a rate of 7.2 percent per year, 
and under CBO’s alternative fiscal scenario, 
mandatory spending on Medicare is projected to 
reach 7 percent of GDP by 2035 and 14 per-
cent of GDP by 2080. 
(3) Failing to address this problem will leave 
millions of American seniors without adequate health 
security and younger generations burdened with 
enormous debt to pay for spending levels that cannot 
be sustained. 
(b) POLICY ON MEDICARE REFORM.—It is the policy 
of this resolution to protect those in and near retirement 
from any disruptions to their Medicare benefits and offer 
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future beneficiaries the same health care options available 
to Members of Congress. 
(c) ASSUMPTIONS.—This resolution assumes reform 
of the Medicare program such that: 
(1) Current Medicare benefits are preserved for 
those in and near retirement, without changes. 
(2) For future generations, when they reach eli-
gibility, Medicare is reformed to provide a premium 
support payment and a selection of guaranteed 
health coverage options from which recipients can 
choose a plan that best suits their needs. 
(3) Medicare will provide additional assistance 
for lower-income beneficiaries and those with greater 
health risks. 
(4) Medicare spending is put on a sustainable 
path and the Medicare program becomes solvent 
over the long-term. 
SEC. 502. POLICY STATEMENT ON SOCIAL SECURITY. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The House finds the following: 
(1) More than 50 million reitrees and individ-
uals with a disability depend on Social Security for 
a key part of their income. Since enactment, Social 
Security has served as a vital leg on the ‘‘three- 
legged stool’’ of retirement security, which includes 
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employer provided pensions as well as personal sav-
ings. 
(2) The Social Security Trustees report has re-
peatedly recommended that Social Security’s long- 
term financial challenges be addressed soon. Each 
year without reform, the financial condition of Social 
Security becomes more precarious and the threat to 
seniors and those receiving Social Security disability 
benefits becomes more pronounced: 
(A) In 2018, the Federal Disability Insur-
ance Trust Fund will be exhausted and will be 
unable to pay scheduled benefits. 
(B) In 2037, the combined Federal Old- 
Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and 
Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund will 
be exhausted, and will be unable to pay sched-
uled benefits. 
(C) With the exhaustion of the Trust 
Funds in 2037, benefits will be cut 22 percent 
across the board, devastating those currently in 
or near retirement and those who rely on Social 
Security the most. 
(3) The current recession has exacerbated the 
crisis to Social Security. The most recent CBO pro-
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jections find that Social Security has entered into 
permanent cash deficits. 
(4) Lower-income Americans rely on Social Se-
curity for a larger proportion of their retirement in-
come. Therefore, reforms should take into consider-
ation the need to protect lower-income Americans’ 
retirement security. 
(5) Americans deserve action by their elected 
officials on Social Security reform. It is critical that 
the Congress and the administration work together 
in a bipartisan fashion to address the looming insol-
vency of Social Security. In this spirit, this resolu-
tion creates a bipartisan opportunity to find solu-
tions by requiring policymakers to ensure that Social 
Security remains a critical part fo the safety net. 
(b) POLICY ON SOCIAL SECURITY.—It is the policy 
of this resolution that Congress should work on a bipar-
tisan basis to make Social Security permanently solvent. 
This resolution assumes reform of a current law trigger, 
such that— 
(1)(A) if in any year the Board of Trustees of 
the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust 
Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust 
Fund in its annual Trustees’ Report determines that 
the 75-year actuarial balance of the Social Security 
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Trust Funds is in deficit, and the annual balance of 
the Social Security Trust Funds in the 75th year is 
in deficit, the Board of Trustees should, not later 
than September 30 of the same calendar year, sub-
mit to the President recommendations for statutory 
reforms necessary to achieve a positive 75-year actu-
arial balance and a positive annual balance in the 
75th year; and 
(B) such recommendations provided to the 
President should be agreed upon by both Public 
Trustees of the Board of Trustees; 
(2)(A) not later than December 1 of the same 
calendar year in which the Board of Trustees sub-
mits its recommendations, the President shall 
promptly submit implementing legislation to both 
Houses of Congress, including recommendations nec-
essary to achieve a positive 75-year actuarial balance 
and a positive annual balance in the 75th year; and 
(B) the Majority Leader of the Senate and the 
Majority Leader of the House should introduce such 
legislation upon receipt; 
(3) within 60 days of the President submitting 
legislation, the committees of jurisdiction to which 
the legislation has been referred should report such 
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legislation, which should be considered by the full 
House or Senate under expedited procedures; and 
(4) legislation submitted by the President 
should— 
(A) protect those in and near retirement; 
(B) preserve the safety net for those who 
rely on Social Security, including survivors and 
those with disabilities; 
(C) improve fairness for participants; and 
(D) reduce the burden on, and provide cer-
tainty for, future generations. 
SEC. 503. POLICY STATEMENT ON BUDGET ENFORCEMENT. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The House finds the following: 
(1) The President’s fiscal year 2012 budget re-
quests a $13 trillion increase in the debt subject to 
limit over the period of years covered by the budget. 
(2) Under the President’s fiscal year 2012 
budget, according to the Congressional Budget Of-
fice, debt held by the public will rise to 69 percent 
of gross domestic product in 2011 and will reach 
87.4 percent of gross domestic product by 2021. 
(3) The Congressional Budget Office, the Fed-
eral Reserve, the General Accountability Office, the 
President’s National Commission on Fiscal Respon-
sibility and Reform, and ten former Chairmen of the 
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Council of Economic Advisors all concluded that 
debt is growing at unsustainable rates and must be 
brought under control. 
(4) Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the 
Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated, ‘‘Our national debt is 
our biggest national security threat.’’. 
(5) According to the Congressional Budget Of-
fice, if entitlements are not reformed, entitlement 
spending on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid 
will exceed the historical average of revenue collec-
tions as a share of the economy within forty years. 
(6) According to the Congressional Budget Of-
fice, under current policies, debt would reach levels 
that the economy could no longer sustain in 2037 
and a fiscal crisis is likely to occur well before that 
date. 
(7) To avoid a fiscal crisis, Congress must 
enact legislation that makes structural reforms to 
entitlement programs. 
(8) Instead of automatic debt increases (the 
‘‘Gephardt rule’’ was repealed by the House in 
House Resolution 5) and automatic spending in-
creases, Congress needs to put limits on spending 
with automatic reductions if spending limits are not 
met. 
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(9) The adoption of a conference report on this 
concurrent resolution will not cause the automatic 
passage of an increase in the debt limit by the 
House of Representatives. 
(10) Changes in debt levels assumed in this res-
olution are contingent upon its proposed spending 
reductions being achieved. 
(11) From 1990 to 2002, there were statutory 
enforceable limits on discretionary spending. 
(12) The budget lacks controls over spending in 
the short-term and the long-term. Greater trans-
parency and controls, particularly for entitlement 
spending in the long-term, are needed to provide 
Congress with tools to tackle this growing threat of 
a fiscal crisis. 
(b) POLICY ON DEBT CONTROLS.—It is the policy of 
this concurrent resolution on the budget that in order to 
begin to bring debt under control the following statutory 
spending and debt controls are needed: 
(1) Enforceable statutory caps on discretionary 
spending at levels set forth in this fiscal year 2012 
concurrent resolution on the budget for the period of 
fiscal years 2012 through 2021. 
(2) Any increase in the statutory debt limit be 
accompanied by the enactment of a budget enforce-
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ment mechanism to ensure that if spending reduc-
tions are not achieved there would be— 
(A) 
an 
across-the-board 
reduction 
in 
spending at the end of the year; 
(B) a fast-track process or failsafe mecha-
nism to give Congress the ability to expedite 
consideration of legislation to reduce spending 
and 
avoid 
the 
automatic 
across-the-board 
spending reductions; and 
(C) an exemption of Social Security from 
these enforcement mechanisms, with Social Se-
curity solvency ensured as provide in section 
501. 
(3) Limits on total spending with long-term 
structural reforms that— 
(A) require— 
(i) the Office of Management and 
Budget and the Congressional Budget Of-
fice to make long-term budget projections 
(similar to the timeframes of projections 
made by the Social Security and Medicare 
trustees); 
(ii) the inclusion of the estimated 
long-term fiscal impact of the President’s 
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budget in the President’s annual budget 
submission; 
(iii) in the Congressional Budget Of-
fice’s reestimate of the President’s budget, 
an estimate of the long-term impact of the 
President’s budget; and 
(iv) in Congressional Budget Office 
estimates on legislation, an estimate of the 
long-term impact of legislation that has a 
significant impact on the long-term budget; 
(B) require enactment of enforceable caps 
on total spending as a share of gross domestic 
product as set forth in this resolution; 
(C) require the review by Congress of Con-
gressional Budget Office projections relative to 
the statutory caps and enactment of legislation 
to reduce spending to meet those caps; 
(D) require enactment of an enforcement 
mechanism to ensure that if these spending re-
ductions are not achieved, there would be an 
across-the-board reduction in spending at the 
end of the year; 
(E) require enactment of a fast-track proc-
ess or failsafe mechanism to provide Congress 
with the ability to expedite consideration of leg-
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