I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 915 
To amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to provide for procedures 
to meet a target ratio of public debt to gross domestic product, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 8, 2021 
Mr. BURCHETT (for himself and Mr. CASE) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Rules, and in addition to the 
Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by 
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with-
in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to provide 
for procedures to meet a target ratio of public debt 
to gross domestic product, 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 ‘‘Reforming America’s 
Fiscal Toolkit Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘RAFT Act of 2021’’. 
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SEC. 2. RATIO OF PUBLIC DEBT TO GDP INCLUDED IN CON-
CURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 301(a) of the Congres-
sional Budget Act of 1974 is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ 
at the end of paragraph (6), by striking the period and 
inserting ‘‘; and’’ at the end of paragraph (7), and by add-
ing after paragraph (7) the following: 
‘‘(8) the recommended ratio of the public debt 
to the estimated gross domestic product.’’. 
(b) DEFINITION OF GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT.— 
Section 3 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment 
Control Act of 1974 is amended by adding at the end the 
following new paragraph: 
‘‘(12) The term ‘gross domestic product’ means 
the gross domestic product of the United States, as 
determined by the Bureau of Economic Analysis of 
the Department of Commerce.’’. 
SEC. 3. INSTRUCTIONS TO COMMITTEES ON MEETING TAR-
GET RATIO OF PUBLIC DEBT TO GDP IN-
CLUDED IN CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON 
THE BUDGET. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Congressional 
Budget Act of 1974 is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
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‘‘INSTRUCTIONS FOR RATIO OF THE PUBLIC DEBT TO 
THE ESTIMATED GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT 
‘‘SEC. 316. (a) IN GENERAL.—A concurrent resolu-
tion on the budget for an even-numbered fiscal year shall 
either— 
‘‘(1) include instructions to one or more committees 
to determine and recommend changes in existing law nec-
essary to achieve the ratio of the public debt to the esti-
mated gross domestic product as set forth in that resolu-
tion; or 
‘‘(2) request that the Speaker and the minority leader 
of the House of Representatives and majority and minor-
ity leaders of the Senate publish a statement in the Con-
gressional Record establishing the Joint Select Committee 
on Fiscal Responsibility under section 317. 
‘‘(b) COMPLIANCE.—The committee or committees 
(as the case may be) receiving instructions as described 
in subsection (a) shall be deemed to have complied with 
the required net reduction in the public debt set forth in 
such instructions, as required by subsection (a), if— 
‘‘(1) the amount of changes are not less than 
80 percent of the total amount of changes assigned 
to the committee or committees (as the case may be) 
in such instructions necessary to achieve the reduc-
tion in the debt; and 
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‘‘(2) the chair of the Committees on the Budget 
of the House of Representatives or the Senate, as 
applicable, submits a statement to the Congressional 
Record certifying that paragraph (1) has been com-
plied with. 
‘‘(c) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—The Committee on the 
Budget of the House of Representatives or the Senate 
shall recommend changes in existing law necessary to 
achieve changes specified by directives described in sub-
section (a) contained in a concurrent resolution on the 
budget if a minority of the committees so instructed fail 
to submit recommended changes to its Committee on the 
Budget pursuant to its instruction. 
‘‘(d) CBO ESTIMATES.—The Congressional Budget 
Office shall provide estimates of the legislative text consid-
ered under this section in accordance with sections 308(a) 
and 201(f). 
‘‘(e) LEGISLATIVE PROCEDURE.—If a concurrent 
resolution containing directives to one or more committees 
to determine and recommend changes in laws, bills, or res-
olutions is agreed to in accordance with subsection (a), 
and— 
‘‘(1) only one committee of the House or the 
Senate is directed to determine and recommend 
changes, that committee shall promptly make such 
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determination and recommendations and report to 
its House legislation containing such recommenda-
tions; or 
‘‘(2) more than one committee of the House or 
the Senate is directed to determine and recommend 
changes, each such committee so directed shall 
promptly make such determination and recommen-
dations and submit such recommendations to the 
Committee on the Budget of its House, which upon 
receiving all such recommendations, shall report to 
its House legislation carrying out all such rec-
ommendations. 
‘‘(f) EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION IN THE SENATE.— 
‘‘(1) MOTION TO PROCEED.—Notwithstanding 
Rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, it 
is in order, not later than 3 days of session after the 
date on which a bill is reported pursuant to sub-
section (e) from all committees to which it was re-
ferred, for the majority leader of the Senate or the 
majority leader’s designee to move to proceed to the 
consideration of the bill. It shall also be in order for 
any Member of the Senate to move to proceed to the 
consideration of the bill at any time after the conclu-
sion of such 2-day period. A motion to proceed is in 
order even though a previous motion to the same ef-
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fect has been disagreed to. All points of order 
against the motion to proceed to the bill are waived. 
The motion to proceed is not debatable. The motion 
is not subject to a motion to postpone. A motion to 
reconsider the vote by which the motion is agreed to 
or disagreed to shall not be in order. If a motion to 
proceed to the consideration of the bill is agreed to, 
the bill shall remain the unfinished business until 
disposed of. 
‘‘(2) CONSIDERATION.—All points of order 
against the bill and against consideration of the bill 
are waived. Consideration of the bill and of all de-
batable motions and appeals in connection therewith 
shall not exceed a total of 20 hours which shall be 
divided equally between the majority and minority 
leaders or their designees. A motion further to limit 
debate on the bill is in order, shall require an af-
firmative vote of three-fifths of the Members duly 
chosen and sworn, and is not debatable. Any debat-
able motion or appeal is debatable for not to exceed 
1 hour, to be divided equally between those favoring 
and those opposing the motion or appeal. All time 
used for consideration of the bill, including time 
used for quorum calls and voting, shall be counted 
against the total 20 hours of consideration. 
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‘‘(3) AMENDMENTS.—It shall not be in order in 
the Senate to offer any amendments. 
‘‘(4) VOTE ON PASSAGE.—Passage of the bill 
shall require an affirmative vote of a simple majority 
of the Members, duly chosen and sworn. 
‘‘(5) RULINGS
OF
THE
CHAIR
ON
PROCE-
DURE.—Appeals from the decisions of the Chair re-
lating to the application of the rules of the Senate, 
as the case may be, to the procedure relating to a 
bill shall be decided without debate. 
‘‘(g) CONSIDERATION BY THE SENATE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If, before passing the bill 
under this section, the Senate receives from the 
House of Representatives a bill— 
‘‘(A) the bill of the House shall not be re-
ferred to a committee of jurisdiction; and 
‘‘(B) the procedure in the Senate shall be 
the same as if no bill had been received from 
the House until the vote on passage, when the 
bill received from the House shall supplant the 
bill of the Senate. 
‘‘(2) RULES TO COORDINATE ACTION.— 
‘‘(A) TREATMENT OF BILL.—If the Senate 
fails to introduce or consider a bill under this 
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section, the bill of the House of Representatives 
shall be entitled to expedited floor procedures. 
‘‘(B) VETOES.—If the President vetoes the 
bill, debate on a veto message in the Senate 
under this section shall be 1 hour equally di-
vided between the majority and minority leaders 
or their designees. 
‘‘JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE ON FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY 
‘‘SEC. 317. (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—If by the earlier 
of the date that a statement is published under section 
316(a)(2) or the date that is the last day of the first ses-
sion of any Congress (beginning with the One Hundred 
Seventeenth Congress) a bill is not enacted into law pursu-
ant to section 316, there is established a joint committee 
of Congress to be known as the ‘Joint Select Committee 
on Fiscal Responsibility’. 
‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) JOINT COMMITTEE.—The term ‘joint com-
mittee’ means the Joint Select Committee on Fiscal 
Responsibility established under subsection (a). 
‘‘(2) JOINT COMMITTEE BILL.—The term ‘joint 
committee bill’ means a bill consisting of the legisla-
tive text of the joint committee recommended under 
subsection (d)(1)(B). 
‘‘(c) DUTIES; COMPLIANCE; RECOMMENDATIONS.— 
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‘‘(1) DUTIES.—The duty of the joint committee 
shall be to recommend changes in existing law to 
achieve the ratio of the public debt to the estimated 
gross domestic product in the most recently adopted 
concurrent resolution on the budget. 
‘‘(2) COMPLIANCE.—The joint committee shall 
be deemed to have complied with the required net 
reduction in the public debt set forth in the instruc-
tions in the most recently adopted concurrent resolu-
tion on the budget, as required by section 316 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (as added by sec-
tion 301(b)(1))— 
‘‘(A) if the amount of changes are not less 
than 80 percent of the total amount of changes 
necessary to achieve the reduction in the debt; 
and 
‘‘(B) the chairs of the Committees on the 
Budget of the House of Representatives and the 
Senate jointly submit a statement to the Con-
gressional Record certifying that subparagraph 
(A) has been complied with. 
‘‘(d) REPORT, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND LEGISLA-
TIVE TEXT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—By April 30 of an odd- 
numbered year, the joint committee shall vote on— 
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‘‘(A) a report that contains a detailed 
statement of the findings, conclusions, and rec-
ommendations of the joint committee and an 
estimate of the Congressional Budget Office 
pursuant to paragraph (6); and 
‘‘(B) legislative text to carry out such rec-
ommendations as described in the duties set 
forth in subsection (c)(1). 
‘‘(2) APPROVAL.—The report of the joint com-
mittee and the legislative text described in para-
graph (1) shall only be approved upon receiving the 
votes of— 
‘‘(A) a majority of joint committee mem-
bers appointed by the Speaker of the House of 
Representatives and the leader of the Senate of 
the same political party as the Speaker; and 
‘‘(B) a majority of joint committee mem-
bers appointed by the minority leader of the 
House of Representatives and the leader of the 
Senate of the same political party as the minor-
ity leader of the House of Representatives. 
‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL
VIEWS.—A member of the 
joint committee who gives notice of an intention to 
file supplemental, minority, or additional views at 
the time of the final joint committee vote on the ap-
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proval of the report and legislative language under 
paragraph (2) shall be entitled to 2 calendar days 
after the day of such notice in which to file such 
views in writing with the co-chairs. Such views shall 
then be included in the joint committee report and 
printed in the same volume, or part thereof, and 
their inclusion shall be noted on the cover of the re-
port. In the absence of timely notice, the joint com-
mittee report may be printed and transmitted imme-
diately without such views. 
‘‘(4) TRANSMISSION OF REPORT AND LEGISLA-
TIVE TEXT.—If the report and legislative text are 
approved by the joint committee pursuant to para-
graph (2), then not later than 10 days after the date 
of such approval, the joint committee shall submit 
its report and legislative text described in paragraph 
(1) to the Speaker of the House of Representatives 
and the majority and minority leaders of each House 
of Congress. 
‘‘(5) REPORT AND LEGISLATIVE LANGUAGE TO 
BE
MADE
PUBLIC.—Upon the approval or dis-
approval of the joint committee report and legislative 
text pursuant to paragraph (2), the joint committee 
shall promptly make the full report and legislative 
text, and a record of the vote, available to the public. 
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‘‘(6) CBO 
ESTIMATES.—The Congressional 
Budget Office shall provide estimates of the legisla-
tive text considered under paragraph (1) in accord-
ance with sections 308(a) and 201(f). 
‘‘(7) LEGISLATIVE
PROCEDURE.—The proce-
dures under section 316 shall apply to any legislative 
text submitted under paragraph (1), except that 
subsection (f)(4) of such section shall be applied by 
substituting ‘three-fifths’ for ‘a simple majority’. 
‘‘(e) MEMBERSHIP.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The joint committee shall 
be composed of 16 members appointed pursuant to 
paragraph (2). 
‘‘(2) APPOINTMENT.—Members of the joint 
committee shall be as follows: 
‘‘(A) Four members from among Members 
of the Senate, of which one shall be a member 
of the Committee on Finance and one shall be 
a member of the Committee on the Budget, ap-
pointed by the majority leader of the Senate. 
‘‘(B) Four members from among Members 
of the Senate, of which one shall be a member 
of the Committee on Finance and one shall be 
a member of the Committee on the Budget, ap-
pointed by the minority leader of the Senate. 
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‘‘(C) Four members from among Members 
of the House of Representatives, of which one 
shall be a member of the Committee on Ways 
and Means and one shall be a member of the 
Committee on the Budget, appointed by the 
Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
‘‘(D) Four members from among Members 
of the House of Representatives, of which one 
shall be a member of the Committee on Ways 
and Means and one shall be a member of the 
Committee on the Budget, appointed by the 
Speaker of the House of Representatives after 
consultation with the minority leader of the 
House of Representatives. 
‘‘(3) DEADLINE.—Members of the joint com-
mittee shall be appointed not later than 15 calendar 
days after the date of the establishment of the joint 
committee under this section. Any vacancy occurring 
in the membership of the joint committee shall be 
filled in the same manner in which the original ap-
pointment was made. 
‘‘(4) CO-CHAIRS.—Two of the appointed mem-
bers of the joint committee will serve as co-chairs, 
one of which shall be a member of the House of 
Representatives and one of which shall be a member 
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of the Senate. One co-chair shall be appointed by the 
Speaker of the House of Representatives and the 
leader in the Senate of the same political party as 
the Speaker. The other co-chair shall be appointed 
by the minority leader of the House of Representa-
tives and the leader in the Senate of the same polit-
ical party as the minority leader of the House. The 
co-chairs shall be appointed not later than 14 cal-
endar days after the members of the joint committee 
are appointed under this subsection. 
‘‘(5) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the joint 
committee shall not affect its powers, but shall be 
filled not later than 14 calendar days after the date 
on which the vacancy occurs, in the same manner as 
the original appointment was made. If a member of 
the joint committee ceases to be a Member of the 
House of Representatives or the Senate, as the case 
may be, the member is no longer a member of the 
joint committee and a vacancy shall exist. 
‘‘(f) HEARINGS AND MEETINGS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The joint committee may, 
for the purpose of carrying out this section, hold 
such hearings and meetings, sit and act at such 
times and places, require attendance of witnesses 
and production of books, papers, and documents, 
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take such testimony, receive such evidence, and ad-
minister such oaths as the joint committee considers 
advisable. 
‘‘(2) HEARING AND MEETING PROCEDURES AND 
RESPONSIBILITIES OF CO-CHAIRS.— 
‘‘(A) HEARINGS.—The co-chairs of the 
joint committee shall make a public announce-
ment of the date, place, time, and subject mat-
ter of any hearing to be conducted, not less 
than 7 days in advance of such hearing, unless 
the co-chairs determine that there is good cause 
to begin such hearing at an earlier date. 
‘‘(i) EQUAL
REPRESENTATION
OF 
WITNESSES.—Each co-chair shall be enti-
tled to select an equal number of witnesses 
for each hearing held by the joint com-
mittee. 
‘‘(ii) WRITTEN STATEMENT.—A wit-
ness appearing before the joint committee 
shall file a written statement of proposed 
testimony at least 2 calendar days before 
the appearance of the witness, unless the 
requirement is waived by the co-chairs, fol-
lowing their determination that there is 
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good cause for failure to comply with such 
requirement. 
‘‘(B) MEETINGS.—The co-chairs of the 
joint committee shall make a public announce-
ment of the date, place, and time of any public 
meeting to be held, not less than 48 hours in 
advance of that meeting. 
‘‘(3) MEMBER INVOLVEMENT.—If the co-chairs 
are unable to agree on a date, place, time, or subject 
matter with respect to a hearing or meeting, a ma-
jority of the members of the joint committee may de-
cide (in writing) such issue and notify all such mem-
bers of the decision. 
‘‘(g) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Upon written re-
quest of the co-chairs, a Federal agency, including legisla-
tive branch agencies, shall provide technical assistance to 
the joint committee in order for the joint committee to 
carry out its duties. 
‘‘(h) STAFFING.—To enable the joint committee to 
carry out the purposes of this section, the joint committee 
shall use the services of existing staff of the House of Rep-
resentatives and the Senate. 
‘‘(i) EXPENSES.—Expenses of the joint committee 
shall be paid from— 
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‘‘(1) the applicable accounts of the House of 
Representatives upon vouchers signed by the co- 
chair of the joint committee who is appointed by the 
Speaker; and 
‘‘(2) the contingent fund of the Senate from the 
appropriations account ‘Miscellaneous Items’, sub-
ject to the rules and regulations of the Senate. 
‘‘(j) TERMINATION.—The joint committee shall cease 
to exist 30 days after legislative text is submitted under 
subsection (d)(1).’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
set forth in section 1(b) of the Congressional Budget and 
Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 621 note) 
is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 
315 the following new items: 
‘‘316. Instructions for ratio of the public debt to the estimated gross domestic 
product. 
‘‘317. Joint Select Committee on Fiscal Responsibility.’’. 
Æ 
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