IV 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 512 
Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to reinstate the 
‘‘Gephardt rule’’. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 8, 2017 
Mr. WELCH submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Rules 
RESOLUTION 
Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to 
reinstate the ‘‘Gephardt rule’’. 
Resolved, That the Rules of the House of Representa-
tives is amended by redesignating rule XXIX as rule XXX 
and by inserting after rule XXVIII the following new rule: 
‘‘RULE XXIX 
‘‘STATUTORY LIMIT ON PUBLIC DEBT 
‘‘1. Upon adoption by Congress of a concurrent reso-
lution on the budget under section 301 or 304 of the Con-
gressional Budget Act of 1974 that sets forth, as the ap-
propriate level of the public debt for the period to which 
the concurrent resolution relates, an amount that is dif-
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ferent from the amount of the statutory limit on the public 
debt that otherwise would be in effect for that period, the 
Clerk shall prepare an engrossment of a joint resolution 
increasing or decreasing, as the case may be, the statutory 
limit on the public debt in the form prescribed in clause 
2. Upon engrossment of the joint resolution, the vote by 
which the concurrent resolution on the budget was finally 
agreed to in the House shall also be considered as a vote 
on passage of the joint resolution in the House, and the 
joint resolution shall be considered as passed by the House 
and duly certified and examined. The engrossed copy shall 
be signed by the Clerk and transmitted to the Senate for 
further legislative action. 
‘‘2. The matter after the resolving clause in a joint 
resolution described in clause 1 shall be as follows: ‘That 
subsection (b) of section 3101 of title 31, United States 
Code, is amended by striking out the dollar limitation con-
tained in such subsection and inserting in lieu thereof 
‘‘$lll’’.’, with the blank being filled with a dollar limi-
tation equal to the appropriate level of the public debt set 
forth pursuant to section 301(a)(5) of the Congressional 
Budget Act of 1974 in the relevant concurrent resolution 
described in clause 1. If an adopted concurrent resolution 
under clause 1 sets forth different appropriate levels of 
the public debt for separate periods, only one engrossed 
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joint resolution shall be prepared under clause 1; and the 
blank referred to in the preceding sentence shall be filled 
with the limitation that is to apply for each period. 
‘‘3.(a) The report of the Committee on the Budget 
on a concurrent resolution described in clause 1 and the 
joint explanatory statement of the managers on a con-
ference report to accompany such a concurrent resolution 
each shall contain a clear statement of the effect the even-
tual enactment of a joint resolution engrossed under this 
rule would have on the statutory limit on the public debt. 
‘‘(b) It shall not be in order for the House to consider 
a concurrent resolution described in clause 1, or a con-
ference report thereon, unless the report of the Committee 
on the Budget or the joint explanatory statement of the 
managers complies with paragraph (a). 
‘‘4. Nothing in this rule shall be construed as limiting 
or otherwise affecting— 
‘‘(a) the power of the House or the Senate to 
consider and pass bills or joint resolutions, without 
regard to the procedures under clause 1, that would 
change the statutory limit on the public debt; or 
‘‘(b) the rights of Members, Delegates, the 
Resident Commissioner, or committees with respect 
to the introduction, consideration, and reporting of 
such bills or joint resolutions. 
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‘‘5. In this rule the term ‘statutory limit on the public 
debt’ means the maximum face amount of obligations 
issued under authority of chapter 31 of title 31, United 
States Code, and obligations guaranteed as to principal 
and interest by the United States (except such guaranteed 
obligations as may be held by the Secretary of the Treas-
ury), as determined under section 3101(b) of such title 
after the application of section 3101(a) of such title, that 
may be outstanding at any one time.’’. 
Æ 
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