II
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
FEBRUARY 14, 2001
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
FEBRUARY 15, 2001
Committee discharged; referred jointly pursuant to the order of August 4,
1977, to the Committees on the Budget and Governmental Affairs, with
instructions that if one committee reports, the other committee have thir-
ty days to report or be discharged
AN ACT
To establish a procedure to safeguard the surpluses of the
Social Security and Medicare hospital insurance trust funds.
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 ‘‘Social Security and
Medicare Lock-Box Act of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—
(1) the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 and
strong economic growth have ended decades of def-
icit spending;
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(2) the Government is able to meet its current
obligations without using the social security and
medicare surpluses;
(3) fiscal pressures will mount as an aging pop-
ulation increases the Government’s obligations to
provide retirement income and health services;
(4) social security and medicare hospital insur-
ance surpluses should be used to reduce the debt
held by the public until legislation is enacted that re-
forms social security and medicare;
(5) preserving the social security and medicare
hospital insurance surpluses would restore con-
fidence in the long-term financial integrity of social
security and medicare; and
(6) strengthening the Government’s fiscal posi-
tion through debt reduction would increase national
savings, promote economic growth, and reduce its in-
terest payments.
(b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to—
(1) prevent the surpluses of the social security
and medicare hospital insurance trust funds from
being used for any purpose other than providing re-
tirement and health security; and
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(2) use such surpluses to pay down the national
debt until such time as medicare and social security
reform legislation is enacted.
SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE
SURPLUSES.
(a) PROTECTION OF SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDI-
CARE SURPLUSES.—Title III of the Congressional Budget
Act of 1974 is amended by adding at the end the following
new section:
‘‘LOCK-BOX FOR SOCIAL SECURITY AND HOSPITAL
INSURANCE SURPLUSES
‘‘SEC. 316. (a) LOCK-BOX FOR SOCIAL SECURITY
AND HOSPITAL INSURANCE SURPLUSES.—
‘‘(1) CONCURRENT
RESOLUTIONS
ON
THE
BUDGET.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—It shall not be in
order in the House of Representatives or the
Senate to consider any concurrent resolution on
the budget, or an amendment thereto or con-
ference report thereon, that would set forth a
surplus for any fiscal year that is less than the
surplus of the Federal Hospital Insurance
Trust Fund for that fiscal year.
‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—(i) Subparagraph (A)
shall not apply to the extent that a violation of
such subparagraph would result from an as-
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sumption in the resolution, amendment, or con-
ference report, as applicable, of an increase in
outlays or a decrease in revenue relative to the
baseline underlying that resolution for social se-
curity reform legislation or medicare reform leg-
islation for any such fiscal year.
‘‘(ii) If a concurrent resolution on the
budget, or an amendment thereto or conference
report thereon, would be in violation of sub-
paragraph (A) because of an assumption of an
increase in outlays or a decrease in revenue rel-
ative to the baseline underlying that resolution
for social security reform legislation or medi-
care reform legislation for any such fiscal year,
then that resolution shall include a statement
identifying any such increase in outlays or de-
crease in revenue.
‘‘(2) SPENDING AND TAX LEGISLATION.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—It shall not be in
order in the House of Representatives or the
Senate to consider any bill, joint resolution,
amendment, motion, or conference report if—
‘‘(i) the enactment of that bill or reso-
lution, as reported;