I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 523 
To provide further means of accountability of the United States debt and 
promote fiscal responsibility. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 13, 2017 
Mr. MARCHANT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To provide further means of accountability of the United 
States debt and promote fiscal responsibility. 
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 Transparency 
and Accountability Act’’. 
SEC. 2. SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY REPORT TO CON-
GRESS BEFORE REACHING DEBT LIMIT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 31 of 
title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
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‘‘§ 3131. Report before reaching debt limit 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not more than sixty days and 
not less than twenty-one days prior to any date on which 
the Secretary of the Treasury anticipates the public debt 
will reach the limit specified under section 3101, as modi-
fied by section 3101A, the Secretary shall appear before 
the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Rep-
resentatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate, 
to submit the information described under subsection (b). 
‘‘(b) 
INFORMATION
REQUIRED
TO
BE
PRE-
SENTED.—In an appearance described under subsection 
(a), the Secretary shall submit the following: 
‘‘(1) DEBT REPORT.—A report on the state of 
the public debt, including— 
‘‘(A) the historical levels of the debt, cur-
rent amount and composition of the debt, and 
future projections of the debt; 
‘‘(B) the drivers and composition of future 
debt; and 
‘‘(C) how, if the debt limit is raised, the 
United States will meet debt obligations, includ-
ing principal and interest. 
‘‘(2) STATEMENT OF INTENT.—A detailed ex-
planation of— 
‘‘(A) proposals of the President to reduce 
the public debt in the short term (the current 
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and following three fiscal years), medium term 
(approximately five to nine fiscal years), and 
long term (approximately ten to twenty-five fis-
cal years), and proposals of the President to ad-
just the debt-to-gross domestic product ratio; 
‘‘(B) the impact an increased debt limit 
will have on future Government spending, debt 
service, and the position of the United States 
dollar as the international reserve currency; 
‘‘(C) projections of fiscal health and sus-
tainability of major direct-spending entitlement 
programs (including Social Security, Medicare, 
and Medicaid); and 
‘‘(D) any extraordinary measures the Sec-
retary intends to take to fund Federal Govern-
ment obligations if the debt limit is not raised, 
a projection of how long such extraordinary 
measures will fund the Federal Government, 
and a projection of the administrative cost of 
taking such extraordinary measures. 
‘‘(3) PROGRESS REPORT.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A detailed report on 
the progress of implementing all proposals of 
the President described under subparagraph 
(A) of paragraph (2). 
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‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—The report described 
under this paragraph shall only be submitted if 
a Secretary has already appeared at least once 
pursuant to this section during any term of of-
fice for a particular President. 
‘‘(c) PUBLIC ACCESS TO INFORMATION.—The Sec-
retary of the Treasury shall place on the homepage of the 
Department of the Treasury a link to a webpage that shall 
serve as a repository of information made available to the 
public for at least 6 months following the date of release 
of the relevant information, including: 
‘‘(1) The debt report submitted under sub-
section (b)(1). 
‘‘(2) The detailed explanation submitted under 
subsection (b)(2). 
‘‘(3) The progress report submitted under sub-
section (b)(3). 
‘‘(d) EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES DEFINED.—For 
purposes of this section, the term ‘extraordinary measures’ 
means each of the following: 
‘‘(1) Directing or approving the issuance of 
debt by the Federal Financing Bank for the purpose 
of entering into an exchange transaction for debt 
that is subject to the limit under this section. 
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‘‘(2) Suspending investments in the Govern-
ment Securities Investment Fund of the Thrift Sav-
ings Fund. 
‘‘(3) Suspending investments in the stabiliza-
tion fund established under section 5302. 
‘‘(4) Suspending new investments in the Civil 
Service Retirement and Disability Fund or the Post-
al Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund. 
‘‘(5) Selling or redeeming securities, obligations, 
or other invested assets of the Civil Service Retire-
ment and Disability Fund or the Postal Service Re-
tiree Health Benefits Fund before maturity. 
‘‘(6) Suspending sales of State and Local Gov-
ernment Series Treasury securities. 
‘‘(7) Such other measures as the Secretary de-
termines appropriate.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of analysis 
for chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, is amended 
by inserting after the item relating to section 3130 the 
following: 
‘‘3131. Report before reaching debt limit.’’. 
SEC. 3. ACCESS TO CERTAIN TREASURY DEPARTMENT 
DATA. 
Not later than thirty days after receipt of a written 
request from the Chairman of the Committee on Finance 
of the Senate or of the Committee on Ways and Means 
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of the House of Representatives, but no more than four 
times per fiscal year for each, the Secretary of the Treas-
ury shall provide to the requesting Chairman financial and 
economic data relevant to determining the amount of the 
public debt of the United States, including— 
(1) cash flow and debt transaction information 
used in preparing the Daily Treasury Statement, in-
cluding current balances, receipts, and payments; 
(2) operating cash balance projections; and 
(3) relevant information regarding any extraor-
dinary measures (as defined under section 3131(d) 
of title 31, United States Code) taken to prevent the 
public debt from exceeding the limitation imposed by 
section 3101 of title 31, United States Code, as 
modified by section 3101A of such title. 
Æ 
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