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(4) BASELINE.—Estimates prepared pursuant to
this section shall—
(A) use the baseline used for the most recent
concurrent resolution on the budget, and for
years beyond those covered by that concurrent
resolution; and
(B) abide by the requirements of subsections
(a) through (d) of section 257 of the Balanced
Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of
1985, except that references to ‘‘outyears’’ in that
section shall be deemed to apply to any year
(other than the budget year) covered by any one
of the time periods defined in paragraph (2) of
this subsection.
(c) WAIVER.—This section may be waived or sus-
pended in the Senate only by the affirmative vote of three-
fifths of the Members, duly chosen and sworn.
(d) APPEALS.—Appeals in the Senate from the deci-
sions of the Chair relating to any provision of this section
shall be limited to 1 hour, to be equally divided between,
and controlled by, the appellant and the manager of the
bill or joint resolution, as the case may be. An affirmative
vote of three-fifths of the Members of the Senate, duly chosen
and sworn, shall be required in the Senate to sustain an
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appeal of the ruling of the Chair on a point of order raised
under this section.
(e) DETERMINATION OF BUDGET LEVELS.—For pur-
poses of this section, the levels of new budget authority, out-
lays, and receipts for a fiscal year shall be determined on
the basis of estimates made by the Committee on the Budget
of the Senate.
(f) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 23 of House
Concurrent Resolution 218 (103d Congress) is repealed.
(g) SUNSET.—Subsections (a) through (e) of this sec-
tion shall expire September 30, 2002.
SEC. 203. TAX RESERVE FUND IN THE SENATE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—After passage of a conference report
on legislation complying with the reconciliation require-
ments of section 105, revenue and spending aggregates shall
be reduced and allocations shall be revised for legislation
that reduces revenues within a committee’s jurisdiction if
such a committee or the committee of conference on such
legislation reports such legislation, if, to the extent that the
costs of such legislation are not included in this concurrent
resolution on the budget, the enactment of such legislation
will not increase the deficit in this resolution for—
(1) fiscal year 1996;
(2) the period of fiscal years 1996 through 2000;
or
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(3) the period of fiscal years 2001 through 2005.
(b) REVISED ALLOCATIONS.—Upon the reporting of
legislation pursuant to subsection (a), and again upon the
submission of a conference report on such legislation (if a
conference report is submitted), the Chairman of the Com-
mittee on the Budget of the Senate may file with the Senate
appropriately revised allocations under sections 302(a) and
602(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and revised
functional levels and aggregates to carry out this subsection.
These revised allocations, functional levels, and aggregates
shall be considered for the purposes of the Congressional
Budget Act of 1974 as allocations, functional levels, and
aggregates contained in this concurrent resolution on the
budget.
(c) REPORTING REVISED ALLOCATIONS.—The appro-
priate committee shall report appropriately revised alloca-
tions pursuant to sections 302(b) and 602(b) of the Congres-
sional Budget Act of 1974 to carry out this section.
SEC. 204. BUDGET SURPLUS ALLOWANCE.
(a) ADJUSTMENTS.—For the purposes of points of
order under the Congressional Budget and Impoundment
Control Act of 1974 and this concurrent resolution on the
budget, the revenue aggregates shall be reduced and other
appropriate budgetary aggregates and levels shall be revised
to reflect the additional deficit reduction achieved as cal-
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culated under subsection (c) for legislation that reduces rev-
enues by providing family tax relief and incentives to stim-
ulate savings, investment, job creation, and economic
growth.
(b) REVISED AGGREGATES.—Upon the reporting of
legislation pursuant to subsection (a), and again upon the
submission of a conference report on such legislation (if a
conference report is submitted), the Chairman of the Com-
mittee on the Budget of the Senate shall submit to the Sen-
ate appropriately revised budgetary aggregates and levels
by an amount that does not exceed the additional deficit
reduction calculated under subsection (d).
(c) CBO REVISED DEFICIT ESTIMATE.—After the en-
actment of legislation that complies with the reconciliation
directives of section 105, the Congressional Budget Office
shall provide the Chairman of the Committee on the Budget
of the Senate a revised estimate of the deficit for fiscal years
1996 through 2005.
(d) ADDITIONAL DEFICIT REDUCTION.—For purposes
of this section, the term ‘‘additional deficit reduction’’
means the amount by which the total deficit levels assumed
in this resolution for a fiscal year exceed the revised deficit
estimate provided pursuant to subsection (c) for such fiscal
year for fiscal years 1996 through 2005.
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(e) CBO CERTIFICATION AND CONTINGENCIES.—This
section shall not apply unless—
(1) legislation has been enacted complying with
the reconciliation directives of section 105;
(2) the Director of the Congressional Budget Of-
fice has provided the estimate required by subsection
(c); and
(3) the revisions made pursuant to this sub-
section do not cause a budget deficit for fiscal year
2002, 2003, 2004, or 2005.
SEC. 205. SCORING OF EMERGENCY LEGISLATION.
Notwithstanding section 606(d)(2) of the Congressional
Budget Act of 1974 and beginning with fiscal year 1996,
the determinations under sections 302, 303, and 311 of such
Act shall take into account any new budget authority, new
entitlement authority, outlays, receipts, or deficit effects as
a consequence of the provisions of section 251(b)(2)(D) and
252(e) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Con-
trol Act of 1985.
SEC. 206. SALE OF GOVERNMENT ASSETS.
(a) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the
Congress that—
(1) the prohibition on scoring asset sales has dis-
couraged the sale of assets that can be better managed
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by the private sector and generate receipts to reduce
the Federal budget deficit;
(2) the President’s fiscal year 1996 budget in-
cluded $8,000,000,000 in receipts from asset sales and
proposed a change in the asset sale scoring rule to
allow the proceeds from these sales to be scored;
(3) assets should not be sold if such sale would
increase the budget deficit over the long run; and
(4) the asset sale scoring prohibition should be
repealed and consideration should be given to replac-
ing it with a methodology that takes into account the
long-term budgetary impact of asset sales.
(b) BUDGETARY TREATMENT.—For purposes of any
concurrent resolution on the budget and the Congressional
Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, the amounts
realized from sales of assets shall be scored with respect to
the level of budget authority, outlays, or revenues.
(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the
term ‘‘sale of an asset’’ shall have the same meaning as
under section 250(c)(21) of the Balanced Budget and Emer-
gency Deficit Control Act of 1985.
(d) TREATMENT OF LOAN ASSETS.—For the purposes
of this section, the sale of loan assets or the prepayment
of a loan shall be governed by the terms of the Federal Cred-
it Reform Act of 1990.
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SEC. 207. CREDIT REFORM AND GUARANTEED STUDENT
LOANS.
For the purposes of allocations and points of order
under the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and this resolu-
tion, the cost of a direct loan shall be the net present value,
at the time when the direct loan is disbursed, of the follow-
ing cash flows for the estimated life of the loan:
(1) Loan disbursements.
(2) Repayments of principal.
(3) Payments of interest and other payments by
or to the Government over the life of the loan after ad-
justing for estimated defaults, prepayments, fees, pen-
alties, and other recoveries.
(4) In the case of legislation increasing direct
loan commitments for a program in which loan com-
mitments will equal or exceed $5,000,000,000 for the
coming fiscal year (or for any prior fiscal year), di-
rect expenses, including—
(A) activities related to credit extension,
loan origination, loan servicing, training, pro-
gram promotion, management of contractors,
and payments to contractors, other government
entities, and program participants;
(B) collection of delinquent loans; and
(C) writeoff and closeout of loans.
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SEC. 208. EXTENSION OF BUDGET ACT 60-VOTE ENFORCE-
MENT THROUGH 2002.
Notwithstanding section 275(b) of the Balanced Budg-
et and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (as amended
by sections 13112(b) and 13208(b)(3) of the Budget En-
forcement Act of 1990), the second sentence of section 904(c)
of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (except insofar as
it relates to section 313 of that Act) and the final sentence
of section 904(d) of that Act (except insofar as it relates
to section 313 of that Act) shall continue to have effect as
rules of the Senate through (but no later than) September
30, 2002.
SEC. 209. REPEAL OF IRS ALLOWANCE.
(a) Section 25 of House Concurrent Resolution 218
(103d Congress, 2d Session) is repealed.
(b) It is the sense of the Senate that the revenue levels
contained in the budget resolution should assume passage
of the ‘‘Taxpayers Bill of Rights 2’’ and that the Senate
should pass the Taxpayers Bill of Rights 2 this Congress.
(c) It is the sense of the Senate that funding for tax
compliance efforts should be a top priority and that the as-
sumptions underlying the functional totals in this resolu-
tion include the administration’s full request for the Inter-
nal Revenue Service.
SEC. 210. EXERCISE OF RULEMAKING POWERS.
The Senate adopts the provisions of this title—
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(1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of the
Senate, and as such they shall be considered as part
of the rules of the Senate, and such rules shall super-
sede other rules only to the extent that they are incon-
sistent therewith; and
(2) with full recognition of the constitutional
right of the Senate to change those rules (so far as
they relate to the Senate) at any time, in the same
manner, and to the same extent as in the case of any
other rule of the Senate.
TITLE III—SENSE OF THE
CONGRESS AND THE SENATE
SEC. 301. RESTRUCTURING GOVERNMENT AND PROGRAM
TERMINATIONS.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Senate finds that to balance the
Federal budget in a rational and reasonable manner re-
quires an assessment of national priorities and the appro-
priate role of the Federal Government in meeting the chal-
lenges facing the United States in the 21st century.
(b) SENSE OF THE SENATE.—It is the sense of the Sen-
ate that to balance the budget the Congress should—
(1) restructure Federal programs to meet identi-
fied national priorities in the most effective and effi-
cient manner so that program dollars get to the in-
tended purpose or recipient;
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(2) terminate programs that have largely met
their goals, that have outlived their original purpose,
or that have been superseded by other programs;
(3) seek to end significant duplication among
Federal programs, which results in excessive adminis-
trative costs and ill serve the American people; and
(4) eliminate lower priority programs.
SEC. 302. SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING RETURNING
PROGRAMS TO THE STATES.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Senate finds that—
(1) section 8 of article I of the Constitution
grants the Federal Government limited powers and
the 10th amendment to the Constitution expressly
provides that the powers not delegated to the Federal
Government are reserved to the States and the people;
(2) in fiscal year 1993, the Federal Government
provided funds to States and localities through 593
categorical programs totaling $206,000,000,000;
(3) in attempting to solve every problem of soci-
ety, the Federal Government is overburdening the
States and its citizens with cumbersome and intrusive
laws, programs, regulations, and mandates; and
(4) in administering many Federal programs,
the States are often better equipped to determine and
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respond to the particular needs of the people than the
Federal Government.
(b) SENSE OF THE SENATE.—It is the sense of the Sen-
ate that—
(1) Federal programs should be reviewed to de-
termine whether they are an appropriate function of
the Federal Government and whether they are more
appropriately a responsibility of the States consistent
with the 10th amendment to the Constitution;
(2) Federal resources should be provided in a
manner which rewards work, promotes families, and
provides a helping hand during times of crisis;
(3) the Federal Government should seek a new
partnership with States that recognizes that ‘‘one size
fits all’’ solutions of the past are flawed;
(4) this new partnership should include block
grants that provide maximum flexibility to States
and localities in terms of the design and structure of
programs to ensure the maximum benefit at the least
cost to the American taxpayer;
(5) Federal funds must not be used to supplant
existing expenditures by individuals, localities, and
States;
(6) block grants should not be reduced to revenue
sharing;
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(7) adequate safeguards should be in place to
protect the Federal investment, such as auditing or
maintenance of effort provisions; and
(8) the inclusion of Federal goals and principles
in block grant programs may be appropriate, as well
as essential data collection requirements for evalua-
tion purposes.
SEC. 303. COMMERCIALIZATION OF FEDERAL ACTIVITIES.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Senate finds that—
(1) there are a number of functions being per-
formed by the Federal Government that should not be
performed by the Federal Government because they
could be more conveniently and efficiently provided
by the private sector;
(2) our Founding Fathers wrote a Constitution
that created a Federal Government of limited powers
and limited responsibility;
(3) the current Federal Government owns one-
third of the land of this great Nation, oil fields, hos-
pitals, railroads, Tokyo office buildings, electric com-
panies, 4,900,000 housing units which are owned out-
right by Housing and Urban Development or are eli-
gible for Housing and Urban Development subsidy
payments, and loan portfolios that are larger than
most of the financial institutions in the country; and
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(4)(A) the Federal Government’s encroachment
into the private sector is significant, often duplica-
tive, inconsistent with free market principles, and
costly for taxpayers;
(B) when the Federal Government monopolizes a
service that could be provided by the private sector it
usually costs taxpayers 30 percent more; and
(C) one-fourth of the work done by Federal em-
ployees competes with the private sector.
(b) SENSE OF THE SENATE.—It is the sense of the Sen-
ate that—
(1) Congress should better define privatization
and how it can contribute to ‘‘right sizing’’ the Fed-
eral Government and at the same time achieve better
service, more innovation, and significant deficit re-
duction;
(2) privatization can take at least four forms:
asset sales, contracting out, creating corporate enter-
prises under strict and clearly defined deadlines de-
signed to achieve full privatization, and eliminating
legislative barriers, generically called ‘‘private sector
lockouts’’;
(3) provisions of law that prohibit or ‘‘lockout’’
the private sector from competing for providing cer-
tain services should be examined and eliminated;
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(4) the private sector from Main Street, Wall
Street and Academia should be encouraged by the
President and the Congress to bring forward their
privatization best practices and proposals for privat-
ization;
(5) the Head of each Federal agency and depart-
ment and the Office of Management and Budget
should designate senior level staff persons to develop
and evaluate private sector privatization initiatives
that should be included in the President’s budget;
(6)(A) the Office of Management and Budget
should set appropriate privatization goals for each
agency; and
(B) no expansions of programs under a depart-
ment’s jurisdiction should be approved by the Office
of Management and Budget unless the agency has
achieved those privatization goals;
(7) section 257(e) of the Balanced Budget and
Emergency Deficit Control Act which prohibits credit-
ing savings from asset sales should be repealed or
modified; and
(8) Congress should evaluate privatization proc-
esses taking place in other countries to determine
what lessons could be learned so that United States
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could develop a comprehensive privatization policy by
the end of the next fiscal year.
SEC. 304. NONPARTISAN ADVISORY COMMISSION ON THE
CPI.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—
(1) Congress intended to insulate certain govern-
ment beneficiaries and taxpayers from the effects of
inflation by indexing payments and tax brackets to
the Consumer Price Index (CPI);
(2) approximately 30 percent of total Federal
outlays and 45 percent of Federal revenues are in-
dexed to reflect changes in the CPI; and
(3) the overwhelming consensus among experts is
that the method used to construct the CPI and the
current calculation of the CPI both overstate the esti-
mate of the true cost of living.
(b) SENSE OF THE SENATE.—It is the sense of the Sen-
ate that—
(1) a temporary advisory commission should be
established to make objective and nonpartisan rec-
ommendations concerning the appropriateness and
accuracy of the methodology and calculations that de-
termine the CPI;
(2) the Commission should be appointed on a
nonpartisan basis, and should be composed of experts
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in the fields of economics, statistics, or other related
professions; and
(3) the Commission should report its rec-
ommendations to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and
to Congress at the earliest possible date.
SEC. 305. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS ON A UNIFORM AC-
COUNTING SYSTEM IN THE FEDERAL GOV-
ERNMENT AND NONPARTISAN COMMISSION
ON ACCOUNTING AND BUDGETING.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:
(1) Much effort has been devoted to strengthening
Federal internal accounting controls in the past. Al-
though progress has been made in recent years, there
still exists no uniform Federal accounting system for
Federal Government entities and institutions.
(2) As a result, Federal financial management
continues to be seriously deficient, and Federal finan-
cial management and fiscal practices have failed to
identify costs, failed to reflect the total liabilities of
congressional actions, and failed to accurately report
the financial condition of the Federal Government.
(3) Current Federal accounting practices do not
adequately report financial problems of the Federal
Government or the full cost of programs and activi-
ties. The continued use of these practices undermines
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the Government’s ability to provide credible and reli-
able financial data, contributes to waste and ineffi-
ciency, and will not assist in achieving a balanced
budget.
(4) Waste and inefficiency in Federal Govern-
ment undermine the confidence of the American peo-
ple in the Government and reduces the Federal Gov-
ernment’s ability to address adequately vital public
needs.
(5) To rebuild the accountability and credibility
of the Federal Government and restore public con-
fidence in the Federal Government, a uniform Federal
accounting system, that fully meets the accounting
standards and reporting objectives for the Federal
Government, must be immediately established so that
all assets and liabilities, revenues and expenditures or
expenses, and the full cost of programs and activities
of the Federal Government can be consistently and ac-
curately recorded, monitored, and uniformly reported
throughout all government entities for budgeting and
control and management evaluation purposes.
(b) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the
Congress that the assumptions underlying the functional to-
tals in this resolution include the following assumptions:
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(1) UNIFORM FEDERAL ACCOUNTING SYSTEM.—
(A) A uniform Federal accounting system should be
established to consistently compile financial data
across the Federal Government, and to make full dis-
closure of Federal financial data, including the full
cost of Federal programs and activities, to the citi-
zens, the Congress, the President, and agency manage-
ment.
(B) Beginning with fiscal year 1997, the Presi-
dent should require the heads of agencies to—
(i) implement and maintain a uniform
Federal accounting system; and
(ii) provide financial statements;
in accordance with generally accepted accounting
principles applied on a consistent basis and estab-
lished in accordance with proposed Federal account-
ing standards and interpretations recommended by
the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board
and other applicable law.
(2) NONPARTISAN ADVISORY COMMISSION ON AC-
COUNTING AND BUDGETING.—(A) A temporary advi-
sory commission should be established to make objec-
tive and nonpartisan recommendations for the appro-
priate treatment of capital expenditures under a uni-