I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3774 
To amend title 31, United States Code, to apply the debt limit only to 
debt held by the public and to adjust the debt limit for increases in 
the gross domestic product. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 20, 2015 
Mr. PETERS (for himself and Mr. COOPER) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To amend title 31, United States Code, to apply the debt 
limit only to debt held by the public and to adjust 
the debt limit for increases in the gross domestic prod-
uct. 
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 ‘‘Protect America’s 
Credit Act of 2015’’. 
SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF DEBT LIMIT. 
(a) APPLICATION OF DEBT LIMIT ONLY TO DEBT 
HELD BY THE PUBLIC.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 3101(b) of title 31, 
United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘The 
face amount of obligations issued under this chapter 
and the face amount of obligations whose principal 
and interest are guaranteed by the United States 
Government (except guaranteed obligations held by 
the Secretary of the Treasury)’’ and inserting ‘‘The 
face amount of obligations issued under this chapter 
to the public and the face amount of obligations 
issued to the public whose principal and interest are 
guaranteed by the United States Government’’. 
(2) DEBT
LIMIT
REDUCED
BY
AMOUNT
OF 
DEBT NO LONGER SUBJECT TO LIMITATION.—Sec-
tion 3101 of title 31, United States Code, is amend-
ed by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(d) Effective on the date of the enactment of this 
subsection, the dollar amount in effect under subsection 
(b) shall be reduced by the excess of— 
‘‘(1) the face amount of obligations issued 
under this chapter and the face amount of obliga-
tions whose principal and interest are guaranteed by 
the United States Government (except guaranteed 
obligations held by the Secretary of the Treasury) 
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determined as of the date of the enactment of this 
subsection, over 
‘‘(2) the face amount of obligations issued 
under this chapter to the public and the face amount 
of obligations issued to the public whose principal 
and interest are guaranteed by the United States 
Government determined as of such date.’’. 
(b) ADJUSTMENT OF DEBT LIMIT FOR INCREASES 
IN THE GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT.—Section 3101 of 
title 31, United States Code, as amended by subsection 
(a), is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection: 
‘‘(e)(1) Effective January 1 of each calender year be-
ginning after 2015, the dollar amount in effect under sub-
section (b) shall be increased by an amount equal to the 
product of such amount as in effect as of the close of the 
preceding calendar year multiplied by the percentage (if 
any) by which— 
‘‘(A) the Current-Dollar GDP for the third 
quarter of the preceding calendar year, exceeds 
‘‘(B) the Current-Dollar GDP for the third 
quarter of the second preceding calendar year. 
‘‘(2) The term ‘Current-Dollar GDP’ means the cur-
rent-dollar gross domestic product as computed and pub-
lished by the Department of Commerce. 
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