I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3947 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to authorize the Federal 
Government to guarantee tax exempt bonds for the purpose of rebuilding 
the Gulf Coast from the impacts of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 29, 2005 
Mrs. BLACKBURN (for herself, Mr. TANNER, Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey, 
Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. GARY G. MILLER of California, and 
Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to authorize 
the Federal Government to guarantee tax exempt bonds 
for the purpose of rebuilding the Gulf Coast from the 
impacts of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. 
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 ‘‘Gulf Coast Recovery 
Bond Act of 2005’’.
SEC. 2. TAX EXEMPT BONDS FOR QUALIFIED GULF COAST 
RECOVERY PROJECTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 149(h) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to bonds must be reg-
istered to be tax exempt; other requirements) is amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(h) TREATMENT
OF
GULF
COAST
RECOVERY 
BONDS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 103(a) shall apply 
to any qualified Gulf Coast recovery bond. 
‘‘(2) 
QUALIFIED
GULF
COAST
RECOVERY 
BOND.—For purposes of this subsection, the term 
‘qualified Gulf Coast recovery bond’ means any bond 
if— 
‘‘(A) the issuer reasonably expects that at 
least 95 percent of the net proceeds of the issue 
will be used for facilities in a qualified hurri-
cane disaster area, 
‘‘(B) the issue of which such bond is a part 
would, without regard to the application of sub-
section (b) and section 146, otherwise meet the 
requirements for excluding the interest on such 
bond from gross income under section 103 and 
applicable requirements of this part, and 
‘‘(C) if the aggregate face amount of bonds 
of which such bond is a part issued pursuant to
such issue, when added to the aggregate face 
amount of qualified Gulf Coast recovery bonds 
previously issued by the issuing authority dur-
ing the calendar year, does not exceed such 
authority’s volume cap specified in paragraph 
(4). 
‘‘(3) FEDERAL GUARANTEE.—For purposes of 
this subsection— 
‘‘(A) FEDERAL
GUARANTEE.—The Sec-
retary may guarantee the payment of principal 
or interest with respect to any qualified Gulf 
Coast recovery bond under such terms and con-
ditions as the Secretary may require, except 
that in the case of a default of such bond, the 
Secretary shall condition the granting of such 
guarantee on the agreement by the State to a 
repayment schedule (including interest) for 
such bonds. 
‘‘(B) TREATMENT OF BOND AS TAX EX-
EMPT.—Subparagraph (b) shall not apply to a 
qualified Gulf Coast recovery bond. 
‘‘(4) VOLUME CAP.—For purposes of this sub-
section, the volume cap for a State shall be— 
‘‘(A) in the case of the State of Alabama, 
$10,000,000,000,
‘‘(B) in the case of the State of Louisiana, 
$20,000,000,000, 
‘‘(C) in the case of the State of Mis-
sissippi, $20,000,000,000, 
‘‘(D) in the case of the State of Texas, 
$10,000,000,000, and 
‘‘(E) zero in any other case. 
‘‘(5) QUALIFIED HURRICANE DISASTER AREA.— 
The term ‘qualified hurricane disaster area’ means 
the portion of an area determined by the President 
to warrant individual or individual and public assist-
ance from the Federal Government under the Robert 
T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist-
ance Act with respect to which a major disaster as 
been declared under section 401 of such Act by rea-
son of Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Rita. 
‘‘(6) SECTION 146 NOT APPLICABLE.—Section 
146 shall not apply with respect to any bond issued 
under this subsection. 
‘‘(7) TERMINATION.—This subsection shall not 
apply to bonds issued after December 31, 2010.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
this section shall apply to obligations issued after the date 
of the enactment of this Act. 
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