I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2796
To amend chapter 11 of title 31, United States Code, to establish a Debt
Reduction Lockbox, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
AUGUST 5, 1999
Mr. TANNER (for himself, Mr. STENHOLM, Mr. JOHN, Mr. CRAMER, Mr.
MINGE, MR. BOYD, Mr. HILL of Indiana, Mr. SANDLIN, Mr. TURNER,
Ms. SANCHEZ, Mr. PHELPS, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. THOMPSON of Cali-
fornia, and Mr. MOORE) introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on the Budget, and in addition to the Committees on
Ways and Means, and Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined
by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To amend chapter 11 of title 31, United States Code, to
establish a Debt Reduction Lockbox, and for other purposes.
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 ‘‘Debt Reduction
Lockbox Act of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. PROTECTION OF SOCIAL SECURITY SURPLUSES.
(a) POINTS OF ORDER TO PROTECT SOCIAL SECU-
RITY SURPLUSES.—Section 312 of the Congressional
Budget Act of 1974 is amended by adding at the end the
following new subsection:
‘‘(g) POINTS OF ORDER TO PROTECT SOCIAL SECU-
RITY SURPLUSES.—
‘‘(1) CONCURRENT
RESOLUTIONS
ON
THE
BUDGET.—It shall not be in order in the House of
Representatives or the Senate to consider any con-
current resolution on the budget, or conference re-
port thereon or amendment thereto, that would set
forth an on-budget deficit for any fiscal year.
‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT LEGISLATION.—It shall not
be in order in the House of Representatives or the
Senate to consider any bill, joint resolution, amend-
ment, motion, or conference report if—
‘‘(A) the enactment of that bill or resolu-
tion as reported;
‘‘(B) the adoption and enactment of that
amendment; or
‘‘(C) the enactment of that bill or resolu-
tion in the form recommended in that con-
ference report, would cause or increase an on-
budget deficit for any fiscal year.
‘‘(3) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this sec-
tion, the term ‘on-budget deficit’, when applied to a
fiscal year, means the deficit in the budget as set
forth in the most recently agreed to concurrent reso-
lution on the budget pursuant to section 301(a)(3)
for that fiscal year.’’.
(b) CONTENT OF CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE
BUDGET.—Section 301(a) of the Congressional Budget
Act of 1974 is amended by redesignating paragraphs (6)
and (7) as paragraphs (7) and (8), respectively, and by
inserting after paragraph (5) the following new paragraph:
‘‘(6) the receipts, outlays, and surplus or deficit
in the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance
Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance
Trust Fund, combined, established by title II of the
Social Security Act;’’.
(c) SUPER MAJORITY REQUIREMENT.—(1) Section
904(c)(1) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is
amended by inserting ‘‘312(g),’’ after ‘‘310(d)(2),’’.
(2) Section 904(d)(2) of the Congressional Budget
Act of 1974 is amended by inserting ‘‘312(g),’’ after
‘‘310(d)(2),’’.
SEC. 3. REMOVING SOCIAL SECURITY FROM BUDGET PRO-
NOUNCEMENTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Any official statement issued by
the Office of Management and Budget, the Congressional
Budget Office, or any other agency or instrumentality of
the Federal Government of surplus or deficit totals of the
budget of the United States Government as submitted by
the President or of the surplus or deficit totals of the con-
gressional budget, and any description of, or reference to,
such totals in any official publication or material issued
by either of such Offices or any other such agency or in-
strumentality, shall exclude the outlays and receipts of the
old-age, survivors, and disability insurance program under
title II of the Social Security Act (including the Federal
Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the
Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund) and the related
provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
(b) SEPARATE SOCIAL SECURITY BUDGET DOCU-
MENTS.—The excluded outlays and receipts of the old-age,
survivors, and disability insurance program under title II
of the Social Security Act shall be submitted in separate
Social Security budget documents.
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF DEBT REDUCTION LOCKBOX.
(a) 
ESTABLISHMENT
OF
DEBT
REDUCTION
LOCKBOX.—(1) Chapter 11 of title 31, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new
section:
‘‘§ 1120. Debt reduction lockbox
‘‘(a) There is established within the Treasury a sepa-
rate account to be known as the ‘Debt Reduction
Lockbox’, which shall be used to retire publicly held debt
obligations of the United States Government.
‘‘(b) Out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise
appropriated, there are appropriated to the Debt Reduc-
tion Lockbox the following amounts:
‘‘(1) For fiscal year 2000, $7,000,000,000.
‘‘(2) For fiscal year 2001, $19,000,000,000.
‘‘(3) For fiscal year 2002, $41,000,000,000.
‘‘(4) For fiscal year 2003, $37,500,000,000.
‘‘(5) For fiscal year 2004, $42,500,000,000.
‘‘(6) For fiscal year 2005, $46,000,000,000.
‘‘(7) For fiscal year 2006, $64,500,000,000.
‘‘(8) For fiscal year 2007, $73,000,000,000.
‘‘(9) For fiscal year 2008, $78,500,000,000.
‘‘(10) For fiscal year 2009, $89,000,000,000.
‘‘(c) The Secretary of the Treasury shall use all funds
in the Debt Retirement Account to purchase publicly held
debt obligations of the United States or to redeem matur-
ing publicly held debt obligations when they become due.
For such purpose, such obligations may be acquired only
by purchase of outstanding obligations at the market
price.
‘‘(d)(1) Before the submission of the President’s
budget under section 1105(a) for each of the fiscal years
2001 through 2004, the amount in subsection (b) for each
fiscal year through 2004 shall be adjusted by an amount
equal to the change in the budget surplus for that fiscal
year as a result of economic and technical changes deter-
mined by the Office of Management and Budget pursuant
to paragraph (2). In no event shall any such adjustment
be made that would cause the Deficit Reduction Lockbox
to be less than zero.
‘‘(2) At the end of each fiscal year, the Director of
the Office of Management and Budget shall compute the
projected budget surplus for the fiscal year using up-to-
date economic and technical assumptions. Such director
shall calculate the changes in the projected budget surplus
as a result of differences in economic and technical as-
sumptions contained in the report issued by the Director
of the Congressional Budget Office in ‘The Economic and
Budget Outlook: An Update’, published on July 1, 1999.
The Director of the Office of Management and Budget
shall compute the difference (if any) in the budget surplus
projections as a result of economic and technical changes
from the economic and technical assumptions used in such
report.
‘‘(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
amounts in the Debt Reduction Lockbox—
‘‘(1) shall not be available for appropriation, ob-
ligation, expenditure, or transfer, except as specified
in subsection (c); and
‘‘(2) shall be exempt from reduction under any
order issued under part C of the Balanced Budget
and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 and
shall be excluded from and not taken into account
for purposes of any budget enforcement procedures
under that part.’’.
(2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter anal-
ysis for chapter 11 of title 31, United States Code, is
amended by adding after the item relating to section 1119
the following new item:
‘‘1120. Debt Reduction Lockbox.’’.
(b) LISTING OF THE ACCOUNT AMONG GOVERNMENT
TRUST FUNDS.—Section 1321(a) of title 31, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new paragraph:
‘‘(92) Debt Reduction Lockbox.’’.
(c) REQUIREMENT FOR THE PRESIDENT TO REPORT
ANNUALLY ON THE STATUS OF THE LOCKBOX.—Section
1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, is amended by
inserting after paragraph (30) the following new para-
graph:
‘‘(31) information about the Debt Reduction
Lockbox, including a separate statement of amounts
in and Federal debt redeemed by that Lockbox.’’.
SEC. 5. PROTECTION OF DEBT REDUCTION LOCKBOX.
(a) POINTS OF ORDER TO PROTECT DEBT REDUC-
TION LOCKBOX.—Section 312 of the Congressional Budg-
et Act of 1974 (as amended by section 2) is further
amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section:
‘‘(h) POINTS OF ORDER TO PROTECT DEBT REDUC-
TION LOCKBOX.—
‘‘(1) CONCURRENT
RESOLUTIONS
ON
THE
BUDGET.—It shall not be in order in the House of
Representatives or the Senate to consider any con-
current resolution on the budget, or conference re-
port thereon or amendment thereto, that would set
forth an amount in the Debt Reduction Lockbox for
any fiscal year that is less than the amount set forth
in section 1120 of title 31, United States Code.
‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT LEGISLATION.—It shall not
be in order in the House of Representatives or the
Senate to consider any bill, joint resolution, amend-
ment, motion, or conference report if—
‘‘(A) the enactment of that bill or resolu-
tion as reported;
‘‘(B) the adoption and enactment of that
amendment; or
‘‘(C) the enactment of that bill or resolu-
tion in the form recommended in that con-
ference report, would cause an on-budget sur-
plus for any fiscal year that is less than the
amount set forth in the most recent concurrent
resolution on the budget for the Debt Reduction
Lockbox.
‘‘(3) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this sec-
tion, the term ‘on-budget surplus’, when applied to
a fiscal year, means the surplus in the budget as set
forth in the most recently agreed to concurrent reso-
lution on the budget pursuant to section 301(a)(3)
for that fiscal year.’’.
(b) CONTENT OF CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE
BUDGET.—Section 301(a) of the Congressional Budget
Act of 1974 (as amended by section 2) is further amended
by redesignating paragraphs (7) and (8) as paragraphs
(8) and (9), respectively, and by inserting after paragraph
(6) the following new paragraph:
‘‘(7) the amount of the Debt Reduction
Lockbox;’’.
(c) SUPER MAJORITY REQUIREMENT.—(1) Section
904(c)(1) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is
amended by inserting ‘‘312(h),’’ after ‘‘312(g),’’.
(2) Section 904(d)(2) of the Congressional Budget
Act of 1974 is amended by inserting ‘‘312(h),’’ after
‘‘312(g),’’.
SEC. 6. DEBT REDUCTION DIVIDEND FOR SOCIAL SECU-
RITY.
(a) FUNDS TO BE RESERVED FOR SOCIAL SECURITY
AND MEDICARE REFORM.—Section 201 of the Social Se-
curity Act (42 U.S.C. 401) is amended by adding at the
end the following new subsection:
‘‘(n) DEBT REDUCTION DIVIDEND.—(1) The Sec-
retary of the Treasury shall determine on or before Octo-
ber 1 of each fiscal year the debt reduction dividend for
such fiscal year. The debt reduction dividend for a fiscal
year is an amount equal to the excess of—
‘‘(A) $229,000,000,000, over
‘‘(B) total net interest expenditures by the Fed-
eral Government during the preceding fiscal year.
‘‘(2) There is hereby reserved for social security and
medicare reform for each fiscal year beginning on or after
October 1, 1999, amounts equal in the aggregate to 100
percent of the debt reduction dividend for such fiscal year.
Of the amounts so reserved, 75 percent is for social secu-
rity reform and 25 percent for medicare reform.’’.
(b) PAYGO EXEMPTION.—(1) Any transfer of funds
to the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust
Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund
or to the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund equal
to or less than the amount reserved in section 201(n) of
the Social Security Act for each such fund that are in-
cluded in social security reform legislation or medicare re-
form legislation, as applicable, shall not count as an outlay
for purpose of the pay-as-you-go requirement contained in
section 252 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Def-
icit Control Act of 1985 and shall be exempt from any
sequestration under that Act.
(2)(A) For purposes of paragraph (1), the term ‘‘so-
cial security reform legislation’’ refers to legislation that
the chief actuary of the Social Security Administration
certifies legislation extends the solvency of the Federal
Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the
Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund, taken together,
for 75 years.
(B) For purposes of paragraph (1), the term ‘‘medi-
care reform legislation’’ refers to legislation that the chief
actuary of the Health Care Financing Administration cer-