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(b) POLICY ON MEDICARE REFORM.—It is the policy 
of this resolution to protect those in and near retirement 
from any disruptions to their Medicare benefits and offer 
future beneficiaries the same health care options available 
to Members of Congress. 
(c) ASSUMPTIONS.—This resolution assumes reform 
of the Medicare program such that: 
(1) Current Medicare benefits are preserved for 
those in and near retirement, without changes. 
(2) For future generations, when they reach eli-
gibility, Medicare is reformed to provide a premium 
support payment and a selection of guaranteed 
health coverage options from which recipients can 
choose a plan that best suits their needs. 
(3) Medicare will provide additional assistance 
for lower-income beneficiaries and those with greater 
health risks. 
(4) Medicare spending is put on a sustainable 
path and the Medicare program becomes solvent 
over the long-term. 
SEC. 502. POLICY STATEMENT ON SOCIAL SECURITY. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The House finds the following: 
(1) More than 50 million retirees and individ-
uals with a disability depend on Social Security for 
a key part of their income. Since enactment, Social
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Security has served as a vital leg on the ‘‘three- 
legged stool’’ of retirement security, which includes 
employer provided pensions as well as personal sav-
ings. 
(2) The Social Security Trustees report has re-
peatedly recommended that Social Security’s long- 
term financial challenges be addressed soon. Each 
year without reform, the financial condition of Social 
Security becomes more precarious and the threat to 
seniors and those receiving Social Security disability 
benefits becomes more pronounced: 
(A) In 2018, the Federal Disability Insur-
ance Trust Fund will be exhausted and will be 
unable to pay scheduled benefits. 
(B) In 2037, the combined Federal Old- 
Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and 
Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund will 
be exhausted, and will be unable to pay sched-
uled benefits. 
(C) With the exhaustion of the Trust 
Funds in 2037, benefits will be cut 22 percent 
across the board, devastating those currently in 
or near retirement and those who rely on Social 
Security the most.
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(3) The current recession has exacerbated the 
crisis to Social Security. The most recent CBO pro-
jections find that Social Security has entered into 
permanent cash deficits. 
(4) Lower-income Americans rely on Social Se-
curity for a larger proportion of their retirement in-
come. Therefore, reforms should take into consider-
ation the need to protect lower-income Americans’ 
retirement security. 
(5) Americans deserve action by their elected 
officials on Social Security reform. It is critical that 
the Congress and the administration work together 
in a bipartisan fashion to address the looming insol-
vency of Social Security. In this spirit, this resolu-
tion creates a bipartisan opportunity to find solu-
tions by requiring policymakers to ensure that Social 
Security remains a critical part fo the safety net. 
(b) POLICY ON SOCIAL SECURITY.—It is the policy 
of this resolution that Congress should work on a bipar-
tisan basis to make Social Security permanently solvent. 
This resolution assumes reform of a current law trigger, 
such that— 
(1)(A) if in any year the Board of Trustees of 
the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust 
Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust
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Fund in its annual Trustees’ Report determines that 
the 75-year actuarial balance of the Social Security 
Trust Funds is in deficit, and the annual balance of 
the Social Security Trust Funds in the 75th year is 
in deficit, the Board of Trustees should, not later 
than September 30 of the same calendar year, sub-
mit to the President recommendations for statutory 
reforms necessary to achieve a positive 75-year actu-
arial balance and a positive annual balance in the 
75th year; and 
(B) such recommendations provided to the 
President should be agreed upon by both Public 
Trustees of the Board of Trustees; 
(2)(A) not later than December 1 of the same 
calendar year in which the Board of Trustees sub-
mits its recommendations, the President shall 
promptly submit implementing legislation to both 
Houses of Congress, including recommendations nec-
essary to achieve a positive 75-year actuarial balance 
and a positive annual balance in the 75th year; and 
(B) the Majority Leader of the Senate and the 
Majority Leader of the House should introduce such 
legislation upon receipt; 
(3) within 60 days of the President submitting 
legislation, the committees of jurisdiction to which
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the legislation has been referred should report such 
legislation, which should be considered by the full 
House or Senate under expedited procedures; and 
(4) legislation submitted by the President 
should— 
(A) protect those in and near retirement; 
(B) preserve the safety net for those who 
rely on Social Security, including survivors and 
those with disabilities; 
(C) improve fairness for participants; and 
(D) reduce the burden on, and provide cer-
tainty for, future generations. 
SEC. 503. POLICY STATEMENT ON BUDGET ENFORCEMENT. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The House finds the following: 
(1) The President’s fiscal year 2012 budget re-
quests a $13 trillion increase in the debt subject to 
limit over the period of years covered by the budget. 
(2) Under the President’s fiscal year 2012 
budget, according to the Congressional Budget Of-
fice, debt held by the public will rise to 69 percent 
of gross domestic product in 2011 and will reach 
87.4 percent of gross domestic product by 2021. 
(3) The Congressional Budget Office, the Fed-
eral Reserve, the General Accountability Office, the 
President’s National Commission on Fiscal Respon-
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sibility and Reform, and ten former Chairmen of the 
Council of Economic Advisors all concluded that 
debt is growing at unsustainable rates and must be 
brought under control. 
(4) Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the 
Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated, ‘‘Our national debt is 
our biggest national security threat.’’. 
(5) According to the Congressional Budget Of-
fice, if entitlements are not reformed, entitlement 
spending on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid 
will exceed the historical average of revenue collec-
tions as a share of the economy within forty years. 
(6) According to the Congressional Budget Of-
fice, under current policies, debt would reach levels 
that the economy could no longer sustain in 2037 
and a fiscal crisis is likely to occur well before that 
date. 
(7) To avoid a fiscal crisis, Congress must 
enact legislation that makes structural reforms to 
entitlement programs. 
(8) Instead of automatic debt increases (the 
‘‘Gephardt rule’’ was repealed by the House in 
House Resolution 5) and automatic spending in-
creases, Congress needs to put limits on spending