IA 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. J. RES. 41 
To establish a National Committee on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 16, 2021 
Mr. KINZINGER (for himself and Mr. PHILLIPS) submitted the following joint 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Rules 
JOINT RESOLUTION 
To establish a National Committee on Fiscal Responsibility 
and Reform. 
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This joint resolution may be cited as the ‘‘National 
Committee on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform Act of 
2021’’. 
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF A JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a joint 
select committee of Congress to be known as the National 
Committee on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (hereafter 
known as the ‘‘Committee’’). 
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(b) GOAL.—The goal of the Committee shall be to 
reduce the deficit by at least $3,250,000,000,000 over the 
period of fiscal years 2021 to 2031. 
SEC. 3. FUNCTIONS OF THE COMMITTEE. 
The functions of the Committee are to— 
(1) investigate policies to improve the fiscal sit-
uation in the medium term; 
(2) achieve fiscal sustainability over the long 
run; 
(3) propose legislation designed to balance the 
budget, excluding interest payments on the debt, by 
2031; and 
(4) issue a final report to the appropriate con-
gressional committees. 
SEC. 4. MEMBERSHIP. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Committee shall be composed 
of 12 members appointed pursuant to subsection (b). 
(b) APPOINTMENT.—Members of the Committee shall 
be appointed as follows: 
(1) The majority leader of the Senate shall ap-
point three members from among Members of the 
Senate. 
(2) The minority leader of the Senate shall ap-
point three members from among Members of the 
Senate. 
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from among Members of the House of Rep-
resentatives. 
(2) STAFF DIRECTOR.—The Co-Chairs, acting 
jointly, shall hire the staff director of the Com-
mittee. 
(d) DATE.—Members of the Committee shall be ap-
pointed not later than 14 calendar days after the date of 
enactment of this joint resolution. 
(e) PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT.—Members shall be 
appointed for the life of the Committee. Any vacancy in 
the Committee shall not affect its powers, but shall be 
filled not later than 14 calendar days after the date on 
which the vacancy occurs, in the same manner as the origi-
nal designation was made. If a member of the Committee 
ceases to be a Member of the House of Representatives 
or the Senate, as the case may be, the member is no longer 
a member of the Committee and a vacancy shall exist. 
SEC. 5. REPORTS. 
(a) VOTE ON FINAL REPORT.—No later than 360 
days after the date of enactment of this joint resolution, 
the Committee shall vote on the approval of a final report 
containing a set of recommendations to achieve the mis-
sion set forth in this resolution. 
(b) SUPER MAJORITY REQUIREMENT.—The issuance 
of a final report of the Committee shall require the ap-
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proval of not less than 8 of the 12 members of the Com-
mittee. 
(c) TRANSMISSION OF REPORT AND LEGISLATIVE 
LANGUAGE.—If the report and legislative language are 
approved by the Committee pursuant to subsection (b), 
the Committee shall submit the Committee report and leg-
islative language described in section 3 to the President, 
the Vice President, the Speaker of the House of Rep-
resentatives, and the majority and minority leaders of each 
House of Congress. 
(d) REPORT AND LEGISLATIVE LANGUAGE TO BE 
MADE PUBLIC.—Upon the approval or disapproval of the 
Committee report and legislative language pursuant to 
subsection (b), the Committee shall promptly make the full 
report and legislative language, and a record of the vote, 
available to the public. 
SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—To enable the Committee to exer-
cise its powers, functions, and duties, there are authorized 
to be disbursed by the Senate the actual and necessary 
expenses of the Committee approved by the co-chairs, sub-
ject to the rules and regulations of the Senate and the 
House. 
(b) EXPENSES.—In carrying out its functions, the 
Committee is authorized to incur expenses in the same 
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manner and under the same conditions as the Joint Eco-
nomic Committee is authorized by section 11 of Public 
Law 79–304 (15 U.S.C. 1024(d)). 
(c) QUORUM.—Eight members of the Committee 
shall constitute a quorum for purposes of voting and 
issuing a final report. Four members of the Committee 
shall constitute a quorum for conducting a hearing or 
markup. 
(d) VOTING.— 
(1) PROXY VOTING.—Proxy voting shall be al-
lowed on behalf of the members of the Committee 
pursuant to House and Senate rules. 
(2) CONGRESSIONAL
BUDGET
OFFICE
ESTI-
MATES.—The Congressional Budget Office shall pro-
vide estimates of the legislation in accordance with 
sections 308(a) and 201(f) of the Congressional 
Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 639(a) and 601(f)) 
(including estimates of the effect of interest payment 
on the debt). In addition, the Congressional Budget 
Office shall provide information on the budgetary ef-
fect of the legislation beyond the year 2031. The 
Committee may not vote on any version of the re-
port, recommendations, or legislative language un-
less such estimates are available for consideration by 
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all members of the Committee at least 48 hours 
prior to the vote as certified by the Co-Chairs. 
(e) MEETINGS.— 
(1) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 21 cal-
endar days after the date of enactment of this joint 
resolution, the Committee shall hold its first meet-
ing. The Committee may adopt its rules of procedure 
at this time, which shall be published in the Con-
gressional Record. 
(2) AGENDA.—The Co-Chairs of the Committee 
shall provide an agenda to its members not less than 
48 hours in advance of any meeting. 
(f) HEARINGS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Committee may, for the 
purpose of carrying out this section, hold such hear-
ings, sit and act at such times and places, require 
attendance of witnesses and production of books, pa-
pers, and documents, take such testimony, receive 
such evidence, and administer such oaths as the 
Committee considers advisable. 
(2) HEARING PROCEDURES AND RESPONSIBIL-
ITIES OF CO-CHAIRS.— 
(A) ANNOUNCEMENT.—The Co-Chairs of 
the Committee shall make a public announce-
ment of the date, place, time, and subject mat-
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ter of any hearing to be conducted, not less 
than 7 days in advance of such hearing, unless 
all four Co-Chairs determine that there is good 
cause to begin such hearing at an earlier date. 
(B) WRITTEN STATEMENT.—A witness ap-
pearing before the Committee shall file a writ-
ten statement of proposed testimony at least 24 
hours before the appearance of the witness, un-
less the requirement is waived by the Co-Chairs, 
following their determination that there is good 
cause for failure to comply with such require-
ment. 
(g) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Upon written request 
of the four Co-Chairs, a Federal agency shall provide tech-
nical assistance to the Committee in order for the Com-
mittee to carry out its duties. 
SEC. 7. STAFF OF THE COMMITTEE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Co-Chairs of the Committee 
may jointly appoint and fix the compensation of staff as 
they deem necessary, within the guidelines for employees 
of the Senate and following all applicable rules and em-
ployment requirements of the Senate. 
(b) ETHICAL STANDARDS.—Members on the Com-
mittee who serve in the House of Representatives shall be 
governed by the ethics rules and requirements of the 
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House. Members of the Senate who serve on the Com-
mittee and staff of the Committee shall comply with the 
ethics rules of the Senate. 
SEC. 8. EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION OF COMMITTEE REC-
OMMENDATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—If approved by the majority re-
quired by section 5(b), the proposed legislative language 
submitted pursuant to section 3 shall be introduced in the 
Senate (by request) on the next day on which the Senate 
is in session by the majority leader of the Senate or by 
a Member of the Senate designated by the majority leader 
of the Senate and shall be introduced in the House of Rep-
resentatives (by request) on the next legislative day by the 
majority leader of the House or by a Member of the House 
designated by the majority leader of the House. 
(b) CONSIDERATION IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENT-
ATIVES.— 
(1) REFERRAL
AND
REPORTING.—Any com-
mittee of the House of Representatives to which the 
joint committee bill is referred shall report it to the 
House without amendment not later than 7 session 
days. If a committee fails to report the joint com-
mittee bill within that period, it shall be in order to 
move that the House discharge the committee from 
further consideration of the bill. Such a motion shall 
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(3) CONSIDERATION.—The joint committee bill 
shall be considered as read. All points of order 
against the joint committee bill and against its con-
sideration are waived. The previous question shall be 
considered as ordered on the joint committee bill to 
its passage without intervening motion except 2 
hours of debate equally divided and controlled by the 
proponent and an opponent and one motion to limit 
debate on the joint committee bill. A motion to re-
consider the vote on passage of the joint committee 
bill shall not be in order. 
(4) VOTE ON PASSAGE.—The vote on passage 
of the joint committee bill shall occur not later than 
7 session days after being reported. 
(c) EXPEDITED PROCEDURE IN THE SENATE.— 
(1) COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION.—A joint com-
mittee bill introduced in the Senate under subsection 
(a) shall be referred to the committee or committees 
of jurisdiction, which committees shall report the bill 
without any revision and with a favorable rec-
ommendation, an unfavorable recommendation, or 
without recommendation, not later than 7 session 
days. If any committee fails to report the bill within 
that period, that committee shall be automatically 
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discharged from consideration of the bill, and the 
bill shall be placed on the appropriate calendar. 
(2) MOTION
TO
PROCEED.—Notwithstanding 
Rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, it 
is in order, not later than 2 days of session after the 
date on which a joint committee bill is reported or 
on which Committee(s) are discharged from their 
consideration of the bill, for the majority leader of 
the Senate or the majority leader’s designee to move 
to proceed to the consideration of the joint com-
mittee bill. It shall also be in order for any Member 
of the Senate to move to proceed to the consider-
ation of the joint committee bill at any time after 
the conclusion of such 2-day period. All points of 
order against the motion to proceed to the joint 
committee bill are waived. The motion to proceed is 
not debatable. The motion is not subject to a motion 
to postpone. A motion to reconsider the vote by 
which the motion is agreed to or disagreed to shall 
not be in order. If a motion to proceed to the consid-
eration of the joint committee bill is agreed to, the 
joint committee bill shall remain the unfinished busi-
ness until disposed of. 
(3) CONSIDERATION.—All points of order 
against the joint committee bill and against consid-
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eration of the joint committee bill are waived. Con-
sideration of the joint committee bill and of all de-
batable motions and appeals in connection therewith 
shall not exceed a total of 30 hours which shall be 
divided equally between the majority and minority 
leaders or their designees. A motion further to limit 
debate on the joint committee bill is in order, shall 
require an affirmative vote of three-fifths of the 
Members duly chosen and sworn, and is not debat-
able. Any debatable motion or appeal is debatable 
for not to exceed 1 hour, to be divided equally be-
tween those favoring and those opposing the motion 
or appeal. All time used for consideration of the 
joint committee bill, including time used for quorum 
calls and voting, shall be counted against the total 
30 hours of consideration. 
(4) NO AMENDMENTS.—An amendment to the 
joint committee bill, or a motion to postpone, or a 
motion to proceed to the consideration of other busi-
ness, or a motion to recommit the joint committee 
bill, is not in order. 
(5) VOTE
ON
PASSAGE.—If the Senate has 
voted to proceed to the joint committee bill, the vote 
on passage of the joint committee bill shall occur im-
mediately following the conclusion of the debate on 
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a joint committee bill, and a single quorum call at 
the conclusion of the debate if requested. The vote 
on passage of the committee bill shall occur not later 
than 7 session days. 
(6) RULINGS OF THE CHAIR ON PROCEDURE.— 
Appeals from the decisions of the Chair relating to 
the application of the rules of the Senate, as the 
case may be, to the procedure relating to a joint 
committee bill shall be decided without debate. 
(d) AMENDMENT.—The joint committee bill shall not 
be subject to amendment in either the House of Rep-
resentatives or the Senate. 
(e) CONSIDERATION BY THE OTHER HOUSE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—If, before passing the Com-
mittee, one House receives from the other a joint 
committee bill— 
(A) the joint committee bill of the other 
House not be referred to a committee; and 
(B) the procedure in the receiving House 
shall be the same as if no joint committee bill 
had been received from the other House until 
the vote on passage, when the joint committee 
bill received from the other House shall sup-
plant the joint committee bill of the receiving 
House. 
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(2) REVENUE MEASURE.—This subsection shall 
not apply to the House of Representatives if the 
joint committee bill received from the Senate is a 
revenue measure. 
(f) RULES TO COORDINATE ACTION WITH OTHER 
HOUSE.— 
(1) TREATMENT OF JOINT COMMITTEE BILL OF 
OTHER HOUSE.—If the Senate fails to introduce or 
consider a joint committee bill under this section, 
the joint committee bill of the House shall be enti-
tled to expedited floor procedures under this section. 
(2) TREATMENT OF COMPANION MEASURES IN 
THE SENATE.—If following passage of the joint com-
mittee bill in the Senate, the Senate then receives 
the joint committee bill from the House of Rep-
resentatives, the House-passed joint committee bill 
shall not be debatable. The vote on passage of the 
joint committee bill in the Senate shall be considered 
to be the vote on passage of the joint committee bill 
received from the House of Representatives. 
(3) VETOES.—If the President vetoes the joint 
committee bill, debate on a veto message in the Sen-
ate under this section shall be 1 hour equally divided 
between the majority and minority leaders or their 
designees. 
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(g) LOSS OF PRIVILEGE.—The provisions of this sec-
tion shall cease to apply to the joint committee bill if— 
(1) the Committee fails to vote on the report or 
proposed legislative language required under section 
3 not later than 390 days after the date of enact-
ment of this joint resolution; or 
(2) the joint committee bill does not pass both 
Houses not later than 180 days. 
SEC. 9. TERMINATION. 
The Committee shall terminate 30 days after submit-
ting its final report. 
SEC. 10. DEFINITION. 
In this Act, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means— 
(1) the Committees on Appropriations, Ways 
and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Budget of 
the House of Representatives; and 
(2) the Committees on Appropriations, Finance, 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and Budget 
of the Senate. 
Æ 
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