I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2685 
To amend the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 
and the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to extend the discretionary 
spending caps and the pay-as-you-go requirement, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 12, 2007 
Mr. HILL (for himself, Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN, Ms. HARMAN, Mr. BOSWELL, 
Mr. MOORE of Kansas, Mr. CARDOZA, Mr. ROSS, Mr. BARROW, Mr. COO-
PER, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. TAYLOR, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. TAN-
NER, Mr. MELANCON, Mr. CHANDLER, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. SALAZAR, Mr. 
WILSON of Ohio, Mr. BERRY, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. 
THOMPSON of California, Mr. SHULER, Mr. PATRICK J. MURPHY of 
Pennsylvania, Mr. MATHESON, and Mr. BOYD of Florida) 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 subsequently 
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Con-
trol Act of 1985 and the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974 to extend the discretionary spending caps and the 
pay-as-you-go requirement, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Fiscal Honesty and 
Accountability Act of 2007’’. 
SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF PAY-AS-YOU-GO REQUIREMENT. 
(a) PURPOSE.—Section 252(a) of the Balanced 
Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is 
amended by striking ‘‘2002’’ and inserting ‘‘2012’’. 
(b) SEQUESTRATION.—Section 252(b)(1) of the Bal-
anced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 
is amended by striking ‘‘2002’’ and inserting ‘‘2012’’. 
(c) EXPIRATION.—Section 275(b) of the Balanced 
Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is 
amended by striking ‘‘2006’’ and inserting ‘‘2016’’. 
(d) BROADENING OF SEQUESTRATION BASE.—The 
Directors of the Congressional Budget Office and of the 
Office of Management and Budget shall each submit, not 
later than six months following the enactment of this Act, 
a report to the Committee on the Budget of the House 
of Representatives that addresses the issue of how to 
broaden the pay-as-you-go sequestration base and make 
it more fair and equitable. 
SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF THE DISCRETIONARY SPENDING 
CAPS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraphs (1) through (13) of 
section 251(c) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency
Deficit Control Act of 1985 are amended to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(1) with respect to fiscal year 2009 for the 
discretionary category: $1,047,357,000,000 in new 
budget authority and $1,160,782,000,000 in outlays; 
‘‘(2) with respect to fiscal year 2010 for the 
discretionary category: $1,018,929,000,000 in new 
budget authority and $1,112,630,000,000 in outlays; 
‘‘(3) with respect to fiscal year 2011 for the 
discretionary category: $1,030,052,000,000 in new 
budget authority and $1,100,382,000,000 in out-
lays;’’. 
(b) EXPIRATION.—Section 275 of the Balanced 
Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 
U.S.C. 900 note) is amended by striking subsection (b). 
SEC. 4. ACCOUNTABILITY IN EMERGENCY SPENDING. 
(a) OMB EMERGENCY CRITERIA.—Section 3 of the 
Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 
1974 is amended by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(11)(A) The term ‘emergency’ means a situa-
tion that— 
‘‘(i) requires new budget authority and 
outlays (or new budget authority and the out-
lays flowing therefrom) for the prevention or
mitigation of, or response to, loss of life or 
property, or a threat to national security; and 
‘‘(ii) is unanticipated. 
‘‘(B) As used in subparagraph (A), the term 
‘unanticipated’ means that the situation is— 
‘‘(i) sudden, which means quickly coming 
into being or not building up over time; 
‘‘(ii) urgent, which means a pressing and 
compelling need requiring immediate action; 
‘‘(iii) unforeseen, which means not pre-
dicted or anticipated as an emerging need; and 
‘‘(iv) temporary, which means not of a per-
manent duration.’’. 
(b) DEVELOPMENT OF GUIDELINES FOR APPLICA-
TION OF EMERGENCY DEFINITION.—Not later than five 
months after the date of enactment of this Act, the chair-
men of the Committees on the Budget (in consultation 
with the President) shall, after consulting with the chair-
men of the Committees on Appropriations and applicable 
authorizing committees of their respective Houses and the 
Directors of the Congressional Budget Office and the Of-
fice of Management and Budget, jointly publish in the 
Congressional Record guidelines for application of the def-
inition of emergency set forth in section 3(11) of the Con-
gressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974.
(c) SEPARATE HOUSE VOTE ON EMERGENCY DES-
IGNATION.—(1) Rule XXII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new clause: 
‘‘13. In the consideration of any measure for amend-
ment in the Committee of the Whole containing any emer-
gency spending designation, it shall always be in order un-
less specifically waived by terms of a rule governing con-
sideration of that measure, to move to strike such emer-
gency spending designation from the portion of the bill 
then open to amendment.’’. 
(2) The Committee on Rules shall include in the re-
port required by clause 1(d) of rule XI (relating to its 
activities during the Congress) of the Rules of the House 
of Representatives a separate item identifying all waivers 
of points of order relating to emergency spending designa-
tions, listed by bill or joint resolution number and the sub-
ject matter of that measure. 
(d) COMMITTEE
NOTIFICATION
OF
EMERGENCY 
LEGISLATION.—Whenever the Committee on Appropria-
tions or any other committee of either House (including 
a committee of conference) reports any bill or joint resolu-
tion that provides budget authority for any emergency, the 
report accompanying that bill or joint resolution (or the 
joint explanatory statement of managers in the case of a
conference report on any such bill or joint resolution) shall 
identify all provisions that provide budget authority and 
the outlays flowing therefrom for such emergency and in-
clude a statement of the reasons why such budget author-
ity meets the definition of an emergency pursuant to the 
guidelines described in subsection (b). 
(e) RESERVE FUND FOR EMERGENCIES IN PRESI-
DENT’S BUDGET.—Section 1105(f) of title 31, United 
States Code is amended by adding at the end the following 
new sentences: ‘‘Such budget submission shall also comply 
with the requirements of section 316(b) of the Congres-
sional Budget Act of 1974 and, in the case of any budget 
authority requested for an emergency, such submission 
shall include a detailed justification of why such emer-
gency is an emergency within the meaning of section 3(11) 
of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.’’. 
(f) ADJUSTMENTS AND RESERVE FUND FOR EMER-
GENCIES IN JOINT BUDGET RESOLUTIONS.—Title III of 
the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is amended by add-
ing at the end the following new section: 
‘‘EMERGENCIES 
‘‘SEC. 316. (a) ADJUSTMENTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—After the reporting of a bill 
or joint resolution or the submission of a conference 
report thereon that provides budget authority for
any emergency as identified pursuant to subsection 
(d) that is not covered by subsection (c)— 
‘‘(A) the chairman of the Committee on 
the Budget of the House of Representatives or 
the Senate shall determine and certify, pursu-
ant to the guidelines referred to in subsection 
(b), the portion (if any) of the amount so speci-
fied that is for an emergency within the mean-
ing of section 3(11); and 
‘‘(B) such chairman shall make the adjust-
ment set forth in paragraph (2) for the amount 
of new budget authority (or outlays) in that 
measure and the outlays flowing from that 
budget authority. 
‘‘(2) MATTERS TO BE ADJUSTED.—The adjust-
ments referred to in paragraph (1) are to be made 
to the allocations made pursuant to the appropriate 
joint resolution on the budget pursuant to section 
302(a) and shall be in an amount not to exceed the 
amount reserved for emergencies pursuant to the re-
quirements of subsection (b). 
‘‘(b) RESERVE FUND FOR EMERGENCIES.— 
‘‘(1) AMOUNTS.—The amount set forth in the 
reserve fund for emergencies (other than those cov-
ered by subsection (c)) for budget authority and out-
lays for a fiscal year pursuant to section 301(a)(6) 
shall equal— 
‘‘(A) the average of the enacted levels of 
budget authority for emergencies (other than 
those covered by subsection (c)) in the 5 fiscal 
years preceding the current year; and 
‘‘(B) the average of the levels of outlays 
for emergencies in the 5 fiscal years preceding 
the current year flowing from the budget au-
thority referred to in subparagraph (A), but 
only in the fiscal year for which such budget 
authority first becomes available for obligation. 
‘‘(2) AVERAGE LEVELS.—For purposes of para-
graph (1), the amount used for a fiscal year to cal-
culate the average of the enacted levels when one or 
more of such 5 preceding fiscal years is any of fiscal 
years 2001 through 2005 is as follows: the amount 
of enacted levels of budget authority and the amount 
of new outlays flowing therefrom for emergencies, 
but only in the fiscal year for which such budget au-
thority first becomes available for obligation for each 
of such 5 fiscal years, which shall be determined by 
the Committees on the Budget of the House of Rep-
resentatives and the Senate after receipt of a report 
on such matter transmitted to such committees by
the Director of the Congressional Budget Office 6 
months after the date of enactment of this section 
and thereafter in February of each calendar year. 
‘‘(c) TREATMENT OF EMERGENCIES TO FUND CER-
TAIN MILITARY OPERATIONS.—Whenever the Committee 
on Appropriations reports any bill or joint resolution that 
provides budget authority for any emergency that is a 
threat to national security and the funding of which car-
ries out a military operation authorized by a declaration 
of war or a joint resolution authorizing the use of military 
force and the report accompanying that bill or joint resolu-
tion, pursuant to subsection (d), identifies any provision 
that increases outlays or provides budget authority (and 
the outlays flowing therefrom) for such emergency, the en-
actment of which would cause the total amount of budget 
authority or outlays provided for emergencies for the 
budget year in the joint resolution on the budget (pursu-
ant to section 301(a)(6)) to be exceeded: 
‘‘(1) Such bill or joint resolution shall be re-
ferred to the Committee on the Budget of the House 
or the Senate, as the case may be, with instructions 
to report it without amendment, other than that 
specified in subparagraph (B), within 5 legislative 
days of the day in which it is reported from the orig-
inating committee. If the Committee on the Budget
of either House fails to report a bill or joint resolu-
tion referred to it under this subparagraph within 
such 5-day period, the committee shall be automati-
cally discharged from further consideration of such 
bill or joint resolution and such bill or joint resolu-
tion shall be placed on the appropriate calendar. 
‘‘(2) An amendment to such a bill or joint reso-
lution referred to in this subsection shall only consist 
of an exemption from section 251 of the Balanced 
Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 
of all or any part of the provisions that provide 
budget authority (and the outlays flowing therefrom) 
for such emergency if the committee determines, 
pursuant to the guidelines referred to in subsection 
(b), that such budget authority is for an emergency 
within the meaning of section 3(11). 
‘‘(3) If such a bill or joint resolution is reported 
with an amendment specified in subparagraph (B) 
by the Committee on the Budget of the House of 
Representatives or the Senate, then the budget au-
thority and resulting outlays that are the subject of 
such amendment shall not be included in any deter-
minations under section 302(f) or 311(a) for any 
bill, joint resolution, amendment, motion, or con-
ference report.’’.
(g) CONTENT OF BUDGET RESOLUTIONS.—Section 
301(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is amend-
ed by redesignating paragraphs (6) and (7) as paragraphs 
(7) and (8), respectively, and by inserting after paragraph 
(5) the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(6) totals of new budget authority and outlays 
for emergencies;’’. 
(h) WAIVER AND APPEAL IN THE SENATE.—Section 
904 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is amend-
ed— 
(1) in subsection (c)(1), by inserting ‘‘316,’’ 
after ‘‘313,’’; and 
(2) in subsection (d)(2), by inserting ‘‘316,’’ 
after ‘‘313,’’. 
(i) 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 315 the following 
new item: 
‘‘Sec. 316. Emergencies.’’. 
(j) APPLICATION OF SECTION 306 TO EMERGENCIES 
IN EXCESS OF AMOUNTS IN RESERVE FUND.—Section 
306 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is amended 
by inserting at the end the following new sentence: ‘‘No 
amendment reported by the Committee on the Budget (or
from the consideration of which such committee has been 
discharged) pursuant to section 316(c) may be amended.’’. 
(k) UP-TO-DATE TABULATIONS.—Section 308(b)(2) 
of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is amended by 
striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subparagraph (B), by striking 
the period at the end of subparagraph (C) and inserting 
‘‘; and’’, and by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraph: 
‘‘(D) shall include an up-to-date tabulation 
of amounts remaining in the reserve fund for 
emergencies.’’. 
(l) POINT OF ORDER.—Section 305 of the Congres-
sional Budget Act of 1974 is amended by adding at the 
end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(e) POINT OF ORDER REGARDING EMERGENCY RE-
SERVE FUND.—It shall not be in order in the House of 
Representatives or in the Senate to consider an amend-
ment to a joint resolution on the budget which changes 
the amount of budget authority and outlays set forth in 
section 301(a)(4) for emergency reserve fund.’’. 
(m) 
TECHNICAL
AMENDMENT.—(1) 
Section 
904(c)(1) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is 
amended by inserting ‘‘305(e),’’ after ‘‘305(c)(4),’’.
(2) Section 904(d)(2) of the Congressional Budget 
Act of 1974 is amended by inserting ‘‘305(e),’’ after 
‘‘305(c)(4),’’. 
SEC. 5. DISCLOSURE OF INTEREST COSTS. 
Section 308(a)(1) of the Congressional Budget Act 
of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 639(a)(1)) is amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘and’’ 
after the semicolon; 
(2) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period 
and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraph: 
‘‘(D) containing a projection by the Con-
gressional Budget Office of the cost of the debt 
servicing that would be caused by such measure 
for such fiscal year (or fiscal years) and each 
of the four ensuing fiscal years.’’. 
SEC. 6. CBO SCORING OF CONFERENCE REPORTS. 
(a) The first sentence of section 402 of the Congres-
sional Budget Act of 1974 is amended as follows: 
(1) Insert ‘‘or conference report thereon,’’ be-
fore ‘‘and submit’’. 
(2) In paragraph (1), strike ‘‘bill or resolution’’ 
and insert ‘‘bill, joint resolution, or conference re-
port’’.
(3) At the end of paragraph (2) strike ‘‘and’’, 
at the end of paragraph (3) strike the period and in-
sert ‘‘; and’’, and after such paragraph (3) add the 
following new paragraph: 
‘‘(4) A determination of whether such bill, joint 
resolution, or conference report provides direct 
spending.’’. 
(4) At the end, add the following new sentence: 
‘‘The Director shall also prepare such estimates for 
any bill or resolution of a public character that has 
not been reported by a committee before it may be 
considered in the House or Representatives or Sen-
ate.’’ 
(b) The second sentence of section 402 of the Con-
gressional Budget Act of 1974 is amended by inserting 
before the period the following: ‘‘, or in the case of a con-
ference report, shall be included in the joint explanatory 
statement of managers accompanying such conference re-
port if timely submitted before such report is filed’’. 
SEC. 7. BUDGET COMPLIANCE STATEMENTS. 
Clause 3(d) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House 
of Representatives is amended by adding at the end the 
following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(4) A budget compliance statement prepared 
by the chairman of the Committee on the Budget,