IIB 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 3442 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
FEBRUARY 22, 2016 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 
AN ACT 
To provide further means of accountability of the United 
States debt and promote fiscal responsibility. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Debt Management and 
Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2015’’. 
SEC. 2. SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY REPORT TO CON-
GRESS BEFORE REACHING DEBT LIMIT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 31 of 
title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘§ 3131. Report before reaching debt limit 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not more than sixty days and 
not less than twenty-one days prior to any date on which 
the Secretary of the Treasury anticipates the public debt 
will reach the limit specified under section 3101, as modi-
fied by section 3101A, the Secretary shall appear before 
the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Rep-
resentatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate, 
to submit the information described under subsection (b). 
‘‘(b) 
INFORMATION
REQUIRED
TO
BE
PRE-
SENTED.—In an appearance described under subsection 
(a), the Secretary shall submit the following: 
‘‘(1) DEBT REPORT.—A report on the state of 
the public debt, including— 
‘‘(A) the historical levels of the debt, cur-
rent amount and composition of the debt, and 
future projections of the debt; 
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‘‘(B) the historical levels of Federal rev-
enue, including corporate and individual Fed-
eral income taxes as a percent of the gross do-
mestic product; 
‘‘(C) the drivers and composition of future 
debt; 
‘‘(D) how, if the debt limit is raised, the 
United States will meet debt obligations, includ-
ing principal and interest; 
‘‘(E) any reduction measures the Secretary 
intends to take to fund Federal Government ob-
ligations if the debt limit is not raised, includ-
ing— 
‘‘(i) notifying the Congress when the 
limit has been reached; and 
‘‘(ii) notifying the Congress when the 
Secretary has begun taking such measures 
and specifying which measures are cur-
rently being used; and 
‘‘(F) if the President recommends that 
Congress adopt, in general, a balanced budget 
amendment to the Constitution of the United 
States to help control the accumulation of fu-
ture debt. 
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‘‘(2) STATEMENT OF INTENT.—A detailed ex-
planation of— 
‘‘(A) proposals of the President to reduce 
the public debt in the short term (the current 
and following fiscal year), medium term (ap-
proximately three to five fiscal years), and long 
term (approximately ten fiscal years), and pro-
posals of the President to adjust the debt-to- 
gross domestic product ratio; 
‘‘(B) the impact an increased debt limit 
will have on future Government spending, debt 
service, and the position of the United States 
dollar as the international reserve currency; 
‘‘(C) projections of fiscal health and sus-
tainability of major direct-spending entitlement 
programs (including Social Security, Medicare, 
and Medicaid); 
‘‘(D) the plan of the President for each 
week that the debt of the United States Gov-
ernment is at the statutory limit, to publicly 
disclose, on the website of the Department of 
the Treasury, the following: 
‘‘(i) All reduction measures currently 
being used by the Secretary to avoid de-
faulting on obligations of the Government. 
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‘‘(ii) With respect to each reduction 
measure, whether or not such measure is 
currently being used— 
‘‘(I) the total dollar amount of 
such measure that has been used; and 
‘‘(II) the total dollar amount of 
such measure that the Secretary esti-
mates is still available for use. 
‘‘(iii) The date on which the Secretary 
estimates that all reduction measures will 
be exhausted, and the Government will 
begin defaulting on its obligations; 
‘‘(E) any extraordinary measures the Sec-
retary intends to take to fund Federal govern-
ment obligations if the debt limit is not raised, 
a projection of how long such extraordinary 
measures will fund the Federal government, 
and a projection of the administrative cost of 
taking such extraordinary measures; and 
‘‘(F) whether the Administration acknowl-
edges that it is technologically capable of pay-
ing only principal and interest on the national 
debt, as opposed to other obligations, in the 
event that the debt limit, as specified under sec-
tion 3101, is reached. 
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‘‘(3) PROGRESS REPORT.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A detailed report on 
the progress of implementing all proposals of 
the President described under subparagraph 
(A) of paragraph (2). 
‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—The report described 
under this paragraph shall only be submitted if 
a Secretary has already appeared at least once 
pursuant to this section during any term of of-
fice for a particular President. 
‘‘(c) PUBLIC ACCESS TO INFORMATION.—The Sec-
retary of the Treasury shall place on the homepage of the 
Department of the Treasury a link to a webpage that shall 
serve as a repository of information made available to the 
public for at least 6 months following the date of release 
of the relevant information, including: 
‘‘(1) The debt report submitted under sub-
section (b)(1). 
‘‘(2) The detailed explanation submitted under 
subsection (b)(2). 
‘‘(3) The progress report submitted under sub-
section (b)(3). 
‘‘(4) Such other information as the Secretary 
reasonably believes is necessary or helpful to the 
public in understanding the statutory debt limit, 
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Government debt, and the reports and explanations 
described under paragraphs (1), (2), and (3). 
‘‘(d) REDUCTION MEASURES DEFINED.—For pur-
poses of this section, the term ‘reduction measures’ means 
each of the following: 
‘‘(1) Directing or approving the issuance of 
debt by the Federal Financing Bank for the purpose 
of entering into an exchange transaction for debt 
that is subject to the limit under this section. 
‘‘(2) Suspending investments in the Govern-
ment Securities Investment Fund of the Thrift Sav-
ings Fund. 
‘‘(3) Suspending investments in the stabiliza-
tion fund established under section 5302 of title 31, 
United States Code. 
‘‘(4) Suspending new investments in the Civil 
Service Retirement and Disability Fund or the Post-
al Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund. 
‘‘(5) Selling or redeeming securities, obligations, 
or other invested assets of the Civil Service Retire-
ment and Disability Fund or the Postal Service Re-
tiree Health Benefits Fund before maturity. 
‘‘(6) Such other measures as the Secretary de-
termines appropriate.’’. 
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(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of analysis 
for chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, is amended 
by inserting after the item relating to section 3130 the 
following: 
‘‘3131. Report before reaching debt limit.’’. 
Passed the House of Representatives February 11, 
2016. 
Attest: 
KAREN L. HAAS, 
Clerk. 
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