I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1745 
To amend the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 
to eliminate the section 251A sequestrations. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 27, 2017 
Mr. SMITH of Washington (for himself, Mr. CONYERS, Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN 
GRISHAM of New Mexico, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. JAYAPAL, and Ms. 
DELBENE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on the Budget 
A BILL 
To amend the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Con-
trol Act of 1985 to eliminate the section 251A sequestra-
tions. 
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 ‘‘Relief From Sequestra-
tion Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) Sequestration was designed as a forcing 
mechanism for an agreement on a comprehensive, 
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deficit reduction plan. It has failed to produce the 
intended results. 
(2) The Budget Control Act of 2011 was en-
acted to avert a default on Federal debt obligations. 
(3) Because the Joint Select Committee on Def-
icit Reduction failed to recommend legislation pro-
viding an additional $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction, 
Federal law mandates that the additional savings be 
sequestered. 
(4) Congress must enact a comprehensive, def-
icit reduction plan to solve the country’s fiscal chal-
lenges and to promote national security, economic 
stability, and the continued growth and prosperity of 
the United States. 
(5) It no longer makes sense to rely on seques-
tration as a forcing mechanism for a balanced solu-
tion. The costs to our Government and to the econ-
omy are too great. 
(6) Under sequestration, damaging cuts would 
be applied, through fiscal year 2021, to a wide vari-
ety of discretionary spending programs to achieve 
$1.2 trillion in savings, forestalling the sound plan-
ning needed for prudent and meaningful investments 
in national security, the workforce, transportation 
infrastructure, education, health care, public safety, 
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housing, innovation, small business development, and 
many other facets of enduring national strength. 
(7) Even the prospect of sequestration is dis-
ruptive to regular order and to the congressional ap-
propriations process, and it fosters damaging eco-
nomic uncertainty, while short-term solutions only 
suspend the prospect and continue to undermine the 
certainty needed for economic recovery. 
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to— 
(1) eliminate sequestration resulting from the 
failure of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Re-
duction; and 
(2) offer the Federal Government, industry, and 
the American people the predictability that economic 
recovery demands. 
SEC. 3. REPEAL OF SECTION 251A SEQUESTRATIONS. 
(a) REPEALER.—Section 251A of the Balanced 
Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is re-
pealed. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The item relating 
to section 251A in the table of contents set forth in section 
250(a) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit 
Control Act of 1985 is repealed. 
Æ 
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