I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 126
To establish procedures to provide for a deficit reduction lock-box and related
downward adjustment of discretionary spending limits.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 7, 1997
Mr. CRAPO (for himself, Ms. HARMAN, Mr. WATTS of Oklahoma, Mr. SCHU-
MER, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. GOSS, Mr. SOLOMON, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr.
HAYWORTH, Mr. COBURN, Mrs. MORELLA, Mr. TALENT, Mr. BEREUTER,
Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. CANADY of Florida, Mr. FROST, Mr. INGLIS
of South Carolina, Ms. MOLINARI, Ms. DUNN, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr.
BURR of North Carolina, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. MCKEON, Mr. SHAYS, Mrs.
MYRICK, Mr. ENSIGN, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. DEAL of Geor-
gia, Mr. PAPPAS, Mr. POSHARD, Mr. KLUG, Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin,
Mr. STENHOLM, Mr. WHITE, and Mr. FOX of Pennsylvania) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Budget,
and in addition to the Committee on Rules, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To establish procedures to provide for a deficit reduction
lock-box and related downward adjustment of discre-
tionary spending limits.
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 ‘‘Deficit Reduction
Lock-box Act of 1997’’.
SEC. 2. DEFICIT REDUCTION LOCK-BOX LEDGER.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF LEDGER.—Title III of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is amended by adding
at the end the following new section:
‘‘DEFICIT REDUCTION LOCK-BOX LEDGER
‘‘SEC. 314. (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF LEDGER.—The
Director of the Congressional Budget Office (hereinafter
in this section referred to as the ‘‘Director’’) shall main-
tain a ledger to be known as the ‘‘Deficit Reduction Lock-
box Ledger’’. The Ledger shall be divided into entries cor-
responding to the subcommittees of the Committees on
Appropriations. Each entry shall consist of three parts:
the ‘House Lock-box Balance’; the ‘Senate Lock-box Bal-
ance’; and the ‘Joint House-Senate Lock-box Balance’.
‘‘(b) COMPONENTS OF LEDGER.—Each component in
an entry shall consist only of amounts credited to it under
subsection (c). No entry of a negative amount shall be
made.
‘‘(c) CREDIT OF AMOUNTS TO LEDGER.—(1) The Di-
rector shall, upon the engrossment of any appropriation
bill by the House of Representatives and upon the engross-
ment of that bill by the Senate, credit to the applicable
entry balance of that House amounts of new budget au-
thority and outlays equal to the net amounts of reductions
in new budget authority and in outlays resulting from
amendments agreed to by that House to that bill.
‘‘(2) The Director shall, upon the engrossment of
Senate amendments to any appropriation bill, credit to the
applicable Joint House-Senate Lock-box Balance the
amounts of new budget authority and outlays equal to—
‘‘(A) an amount equal to one-half of the sum of
(i) the amount of new budget authority in the House
Lock-box Balance plus (ii) the amount of new budg-
et authority in the Senate Lock-box Balance for that
bill; and
‘‘(B) an amount equal to one-half of the sum
of (i) the amount of outlays in the House Lock-box
Balance plus (ii) the amount of outlays in the Sen-
ate Lock-box Balance for that bill.
‘‘(3) CALCULATION OF LOCK-BOX SAVINGS IN SEN-
ATE.—For purposes of calculating under this section the
net amounts of reductions in new budget authority and
in outlays resulting from amendments agreed to by the
Senate on an appropriation bill, the amendments reported
to the Senate by its Committee on Appropriations shall
be considered to be part of the original text of the bill.
‘‘(d) DEFINITION.—As used in this section, the term
‘appropriation bill’ means any general or special appro-
priation bill, and any bill or joint resolution making sup-
plemental, 
deficiency, 
or 
continuing 
appropriations
through the end of a fiscal year.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con-
tents set forth in section 1(b) of the Congressional Budget
and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is amended by in-
serting after the item relating to section 313 the following
new item:
‘‘Sec. 314. Deficit reduction lock-box ledger.’’.
SEC. 3. TALLY DURING HOUSE CONSIDERATION.
There shall be available to Members in the House of
Representatives during consideration of any appropria-
tions bill by the House a running tally of the amendments
adopted reflecting increases and decreases of budget au-
thority in the bill as reported.
SEC. 4. DOWNWARD ADJUSTMENT OF 602(a) ALLOCATIONS
AND SECTION 602(b) SUBALLOCATIONS.
(a) ALLOCATIONS.—Section 602(a) of the Congres-
sional Budget Act of 1974 is amended by adding at the
end the following new paragraph:
‘‘(5) Upon the engrossment of Senate amend-
ments to any appropriation bill (as defined in section
314(d)) for a fiscal year, the amounts allocated
under paragraph (1) or (2) to the Committee on Ap-
propriations of each House upon the adoption of the
most recent concurrent resolution on the budget for
that fiscal year shall be adjusted downward by the
amounts credited to the applicable Joint House-Sen-
ate Lock-box Balance under section 314(c)(2). The
revised levels of budget authority and outlays shall
be submitted to each House by the chairman of the
Committee on the Budget of that House and shall
be printed in the Congressional Record.’’.
(b) SUBALLOCATIONS.—Section 602(b)(1) of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is amended by adding
at the end the following new sentence: ‘‘Whenever an ad-
justment is made under subsection (a)(5) to an allocation
under that subsection, the chairman of the Committee on
Appropriations of each House shall make downward ad-
justments in the most recent suballocations of new budget
authority and outlays under subparagraph (A) to the ap-
propriate subcommittees of that committee in the total
amounts of those adjustments under section 314(c)(2).
The revised suballocations shall be submitted to each
House by the chairman of the Committee on Appropria-
tions of that House and shall be printed in the Congres-
sional Record.’’.
SEC. 5. PERIODIC REPORTING OF LEDGER STATEMENTS.
Section 308(b)(1) of the Congressional Budget Act
of 1974 is amended by adding at the end the following
new sentence: ‘‘Such reports shall also include an up-to-
date tabulation of the amounts contained in the ledger and
each entry established by section 314(a).’’.
SEC. 6. DOWNWARD ADJUSTMENT OF DISCRETIONARY
SPENDING LIMITS.
The discretionary spending limits for new budget au-
thority and outlays for any fiscal year set forth in section
601(a)(2) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as
adjusted in strict conformance with section 251 of the Bal-
anced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985,
shall be reduced by the amounts set forth in the final regu-
lar appropriation bill for that fiscal year or joint resolution
making continuing appropriations through the end of that
fiscal year. Those amounts shall be the sums of the Joint
House-Senate Lock-box Balances for that fiscal year, as
calculated under section 602(a)(5) of the Congressional
Budget Act of 1974. That bill or joint resolution shall con-
tain the following statement of law: ‘‘As required by sec-
tion 6 of the Deficit Reduction Lock-box Act of 1997, for
fiscal year [insert appropriate fiscal year] and each out-
year, the adjusted discretionary spending limit for new
budget authority shall be reduced by $ [insert appropriate
amount of reduction] and the adjusted discretionary limit
for outlays shall be reduced by $ [insert appropriate
amount of reduction] for the budget year and each out-
year.’’ Notwithstanding section 904(c) of the Congres-
sional Budget Act of 1974, section 306 of that Act as it
applies to this statement shall be waived. This adjustment
shall be reflected in reports under sections 254(g) and
254(h) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit
Control Act of 1985.
SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—This Act shall apply to all appro-
priation bills making appropriations for fiscal year 1998
or any subsequent fiscal year.
(b) DEFINITION.—As used in this section, the term
‘‘appropriation bill’’ means any general or special appro-
priation bill, and any bill or joint resolution making sup-
plemental, 
deficiency, 
or 
continuing 
appropriations
through the end of a fiscal year.
Æ