I 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 3973
To amend part C of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control 
Act of 1985 to extend the discretionary spending limits and pay-as-
you-go through fiscal year 2009. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 16, 2004
Mr. NUSSLE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Budget 
A BILL 
To amend part C of the Balanced Budget and Emergency 
Deficit Control Act of 1985 to extend the discretionary 
spending limits and pay-as-you-go through fiscal year 
2009.
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 ‘‘Spending Control Act 
of 2004’’. 
SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF DISCRETIONARY SPENDING LIMITS. 
(a) DISCRETIONARY SPENDING LIMITS.—(1) Section 
251(c)(2) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit
Control Act of 1985 is amended by inserting a dash after 
‘‘2005’’, by redesignating the remaining portion of such 
paragraph as subparagraph (B) and by moving it two ems 
to the right, and by inserting after the dash the following 
new subparagraph: 
‘‘(A) for the general purpose discretionary 
category: $llll in new budget authority 
and $llll in outlays; and’’. 
(2) Section 251(c)(3) of the Balanced Budget and 
Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended by in-
serting a dash after ‘‘2006’’, by redesignating the remain-
ing portion of such paragraph as subparagraph (B) and 
by moving it two ems to the right, and by inserting after 
the dash the following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(A) for the general purpose discretionary 
category: $llll in new budget authority 
and $llll in outlays; and’’. 
(3) Section 251(c) of the Balanced Budget and 
Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended by re-
designating paragraphs (4) through (9) as paragraphs (7) 
through (12) and inserting after paragraph (3) the fol-
lowing new paragraphs: 
‘‘(4) with respect to fiscal year 2007 for the 
general purpose discretionary category: $llll 
in new budget authority and $llll in outlays;
‘‘(5) with respect to fiscal year 2008 for the 
general purpose discretionary category: $llll 
in new budget authority and $llll in outlays; 
and 
‘‘(6) with respect to fiscal year 2009 for the 
general purpose discretionary category: $llll 
in new budget authority and $llll in outlays;’’. 
(b) ADVANCE APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 251 of the 
Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 
1985 is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection: 
‘‘(d) ADVANCE APPROPRIATIONS.—In any of fiscal 
years 2005 through 2009, discretionary advance appro-
priations provided in appropriation Acts in excess of 
$llll shall be counted against the discretionary 
spending limits for the fiscal year for which the appropria-
tion Act containing the advance appropriation is en-
acted.’’. 
SEC. 3. 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 to read as follows: 
‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to as-
sure that any legislation that is enacted before October
1, 2009, that causes a net increase in direct spending will 
trigger an offsetting sequestration.’’. 
(b) TIMING.—Section 252(b)(1) of the Balanced 
Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is 
amended by striking ‘‘any net deficit increase’’ and all 
that follows through ‘‘2002,’’ and by inserting ‘‘any net 
increase in direct spending enacted before October 1, 
2009,’’. 
(c) CALCULATION
OF
DIRECT
SPENDING
IN-
CREASE.—Section 252(b)(2) of the Balanced Budget and 
Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘deficit’’ the first place it ap-
pears and inserting ‘‘direct spending’’; 
(2) in subparagraph (A) by striking ‘‘and re-
ceipts’’; 
(3) in subparagraph (C) by striking ‘‘and re-
ceipts’’; and 
(4) by amending its side heading to read as fol-
lows: ‘‘CALCULATION
OF
DIRECT
SPENDING
IN-
CREASE’’. 
(d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—(1) The side head-
ing of section 252(c) of the Balanced Budget and Emer-
gency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended to read as 
follows: ‘‘ELIMINATING A DIRECT SPENDING INCREASE’’.
(2) Paragraphs (1), (2), and (4) of section 252(d) 
of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control 
Act of 1985 are amended by striking ‘‘or receipts’’ each 
place it appears. 
(3) Section 252(e) of the Balanced Budget and 
Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended by 
striking ‘‘or receipts’’ and by striking ‘‘, outlays, and re-
ceipts’’ and inserting ‘‘and outlays’’. 
(4) Section 254(c)(3) of the Balanced Budget and 
Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended—
(A) in subparagraph (A) by striking ‘‘net deficit 
increase or decrease’’ and by inserting ‘‘net increase 
or decrease in direct spending’’; 
(B) in subparagraph (B) by striking ‘‘amount 
of deficit increase or decrease’’ and by inserting ‘‘in-
crease or decrease in direct spending’’; and 
(C) in subparagraph (C) by striking ‘‘a deficit 
increase’’ and by inserting ‘‘an increase in direct 
spending’’. 
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 250(c) of the Balanced 
Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is
amended by adding at the end the following new para-
graphs:
‘‘(20) The term ‘advance appropriation’ means 
appropriations that first become available one fiscal 
year or more beyond the fiscal year for which an ap-
propriation Act making such funds available is en-
acted. 
‘‘(21)(A) Except as provided by subparagraph 
(B), the term ‘emergency requirement’ means any 
provision that provides new budget authority and re-
sulting outlays for a situation that poses a threat to 
life, property, or national security and is—
‘‘(i) sudden, quickly coming into being, and 
not building up over time; 
‘‘(ii) an urgent, pressing, and compelling 
need requiring immediate action; 
‘‘(iii) subject to subparagraph (B), unfore-
seen, unpredictable, and unanticipated; and 
‘‘(iv) not permanent, temporary in nature. 
‘‘(B) An emergency that is part of an aggregate 
level of anticipated emergencies, particularly when 
normally estimated in advance, is not unforeseen.’’. 
(b) CONTINGENCY OPERATIONS RELATED TO GLOB-
AL WAR ON TERRORISM.—Section 251(b)(2) of the Bal-
anced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 
is amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraph:
‘‘(I) CONTINGENCY OPERATIONS RELATED 
TO GLOBAL WAR ON TERRORISM.—If, for fiscal 
year 2005, supplemental appropriations for dis-
cretionary accounts are enacted for contingency 
operations related to the global war on ter-
rorism that, pursuant to this subparagraph, the 
President designates as a contingency operation 
related to the global war on terrorism and the 
Congress so designates in statute, the adjust-
ment shall be the total of such appropriations 
in discretionary accounts so designated and the 
outlays flowing in all fiscal years from such ap-
propriations.’’. 
(c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The second sen-
tence of section 250(c)(4)(A) of the Balanced Budget and 
Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended to 
read as follows: ‘‘The general purpose discretionary cat-
egory shall consist of accounts designated in the joint ex-
planatory statement of managers accompanying the con-
ference report on the Spending Control Act of 2004.’’. 
SEC. 5. PROJECTIONS UNDER SECTION 257. 
Section 257(c) of the Balanced Budget and Emer-
gency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended by inserting 
after paragraph (6) the following new paragraph:
‘‘(7) EMERGENCIES.—New budgetary resources 
designated 
under 
section 
251(b)(2)(A) 
or 
251(b)(2)(I) shall not be assumed beyond the fiscal 
year for which they have been enacted.’’. 
SEC. 6. EXCEPTION FOR OUTLAY COMPONENTS OF EXPIR-
ING RECEIPTS LEGISLATION. 
Section 252(d)(4) of the Balanced Budget and Emer-
gency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended by striking 
‘‘and’’ at the end of subparagraph (A), by striking the 
period and inserting ‘‘; and’’ at the end of subparagraph 
(B), and by adding at the end the following new subpara-
graph: 
‘‘(C) extending provisions in the Economic 
Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 
2001 or provisions in sections 101 through 104, 
section 202, or sections 301 and 302 of the 
Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act 
of 2003.’’. 
SEC. 7. REPORTS. 
Subsections (c)(2) and (f)(2)(A) of section 254 of the 
Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 
1985 are amended by striking ‘‘2002’’ and inserting 
‘‘2009’’.
SEC. 8. EXPIRATION. 
Section 275(b) of the Balanced Budget and Emer-
gency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended by striking 
‘‘2002’’ and inserting ‘‘2009’’ and by striking ‘‘2006’’ and 
inserting ‘‘2013’’. 
SEC. 9. TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS TO THE BALANCED 
BUDGET AND EMERGENCY DEFICIT CONTROL 
ACT OF 1985. 
Part C of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Def-
icit Control Act of 1985 is amended as follows: 
(1) In section 250(a), strike ‘‘SEC. 256. GEN-
ERAL 
AND 
SPECIAL 
SEQUESTRATION 
RULES’’ and insert ‘‘Sec. 256. General and special 
sequestration rules’’ in the item relating to section 
256. 
(2) In subparagraphs (F), (G), (H), (I), (J), 
and (K) of section 250(c)(4), insert ‘‘subparagraph’’ 
after ‘‘described in’’ each place it appears. 
(3) In section 250(c)(18), insert ‘‘of’’ after ‘‘ex-
penses’’. 
(4) In section 251(b)(1)(A), strike ‘‘commit-
tees’’ the first place it appears and insert ‘‘Commit-
tees’’. 
(5) In section 251(b)(1)(C)(i), strike ‘‘fiscal 
years’’ and insert ‘‘fiscal year’’.
(6) In section 251(b)(1)(D)(ii), strike ‘‘fiscal 
years’’ and insert ‘‘fiscal year’’. 
(7) In section 252(b)(2)(B), insert ‘‘the’’ before 
‘‘budget year’’. 
(8) In section 251(c)(5), move subparagraph 
(A) 2 ems to the right. 
(9) In section 252(c)(1)(C)(i), strike ‘‘para-
graph (1)’’ and insert ‘‘subsection (b)’’. 
(10) In section 254(c)(3), amend subparagraph 
(A) to read as follows: 
‘‘(A) The amount of the sequestration, if 
any, calculated under section 252(b).’’. 
(11) In section 254(f)(4), strike ‘‘subsection’’ 
and insert ‘‘section’’ and strike ‘‘sequesterable’’ and 
insert ‘‘sequestrable’’. 
(12) In section 255(g)(1)(B), move the four-
teenth undesignated clause 2 ems to the right. 
(13) In section 255(g)(2), insert ‘‘and’’ after 
the semicolon at the end of the next-to-last undesig-
nated paragraph. 
(14) In section 255(h)—
(A) strike ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon in the 
ninth undesignated clause; 
(B) insert ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon at the 
end of the tenth undesignated clause; and
(C) strike the semicolon at the end and in-
sert a period. 
(15) In section 256(k)(1), strike ‘‘paragraph 
(5)’’ and insert ‘‘paragraph (6)’’. 
(16) 
In 
section 
257(b)(2)(A)(i), 
strike 
‘‘differenes’’ and insert ‘‘differences’’.
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