I
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 215
To reform the House of Representatives, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 4, 1995
Mr. CRAPO (for himself, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. CANADY, Mr. MANZULLO, Mr.
HUTCHINSON, Mr. ISTOOK, Mr. HOEKSTRA, Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylva-
nia, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. HANSEN, Mr. DORNAN, Mr. KNOLLENBERG, Mr.
STUMP, Mr. GOSS, Mr. INGLIS of South Carolina, Mr. BAKER of Califor-
nia, Mr. COLLINS of Georgia, Mr. BAKER of Louisiana, Mr. SAM JOHN-
SON of Texas, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. TALENT, Mr. CHENOWETH, Mr.
HASTERT, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. KIM, and Mr. SCHAEFER), introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Rules and, in addi-
tion, to the Committees on the Budget, and Government Reform and
Oversight, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned
A BILL
To reform the House of Representatives, 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 ‘‘Truth in Voting Act
of 1995’’.
TITLE I—CHANGES IN DISCRE-
TIONARY SPENDING LIMITS
SEC. 101. DEFICIT REDUCTION TRUST FUND.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—A trust fund known as the
‘‘Deficit Reduction Trust Fund’’ (hereinafter in this title
referred to as the ‘‘Fund’’) shall be established in the
Treasury of the United States.
(b) CONTENTS.—The Fund shall consist only of
amounts contained in the deficit reduction lock box provi-
sion of any appropriation Act. Such amounts shall be
transferred to the Fund as specified in subsection (c).
(c) TRANSFERS OF MONEYS TO THE FUND.—Within
10 days of enactment of any appropriation Act which has
a deficit reduction lock box provision, there shall be trans-
ferred from the general fund to the Fund an amount equal
to that amount.
(d) USE OF MONEYS IN THE FUND.—Notwithstand-
ing any other provision of law, the amounts in the Fund
shall not be available, in any fiscal year, for appropriation,
obligation, expenditure, or transfer.
SEC. 102. DOWNWARD ADJUSTMENTS OF DISCRETIONARY
SPENDING LIMITS.
The discretionary spending limit for new budget au-
thority for any fiscal year set forth in section 601(a)(2)
of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as adjusted in
strict conformance with section 251 of the Balanced
Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, shall
be reduced by the amount of budget authority transferred
to the Fund for that fiscal year under section 2(c), as cal-
culated by the Director of the Office of Management and
Budget. The adjusted discretionary spending limit for out-
lays for that fiscal year as set forth in such section
601(a)(2) shall be reduced as a result of the reduction
of such budget authority, as calculated by the Director of
the Office of Management and Budget. All such reductions
shall occur on the same day that the amounts triggering
the reductions are transferred to the Fund.
SEC. 103. DEFICIT REDUCTION LOCK-BOX PROVISIONS OF
APPROPRIATION MEASURES.
(a) DEFICIT REDUCTION LOCK-BOX PROVISIONS.—
Title III of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is
amended by adding at the end the following new section:
‘‘DEFICIT REDUCTION LOCK-BOX PROVISIONS OF
APPROPRIATION BILLS
‘‘SEC. 314. (a) Any general appropriation bill that
is being marked up by the Committee on Appropriations
(or a subcommittee thereof) of either House shall contain
a line item entitled ‘Deficit Reduction Lock-box’. The dol-
lar amount set forth under that heading shall be an
amount equal to the section 602(b)(1) or section
302(b)(1) allocations, as the case may be, to the sub-
committee of jurisdiction over the bill of the Committee
on Appropriations minus the aggregate level of budget au-
thority or outlays contained in the bill being considered.
‘‘(b) Whenever a Member of either House of Congress
offers an amendment (whether in subcommittee, commit-
tee, or on the floor) to an appropriation bill to reduce
spending, that reduction shall be placed in the deficit re-
duction lock-box unless that Member indicates that it is
to be utilized for another program, project, or activity cov-
ered by that bill. If the amendment is agreed to and the
reduction was placed in the deficit reduction lock-box, then
the line item entitled ‘Deficit Reduction Lock-box’ shall
be increased by the amount of that reduction.
‘‘(c) It shall not be in order in the House of Rep-
resentatives or the Senate to consider a conference report
that modifies any Deficit Reduction Lock-box provision
that is beyond the scope of that provision as so committed
to the conference committee.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con-
tents set forth in section 1(b) of the Congressional Budget
and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is amended by in-
serting after the item relating to section 313 the following
new item:
‘‘Sec. 314. Deficit reduction lock-box provisions of appropriation measures.’’.
SEC. 104. CBO TRACKING.
Section 202 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974
is amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section:
‘‘(i) SCOREKEEPING
ASSISTANCE.—To facilitate
compliance by the Committees on Appropriations with sec-
tion 314, the Office shall score all general appropriation
measures as passed the House of Representatives and as
passed the Senate and have such scorecard published in
the Congressional Record.’’.
TITLE 
II—MISCELLANEOUS
AMENDMENTS TO THE RULES
OF 
THE 
HOUSE 
OF 
REP-
RESENTATIVES
SEC. 201. MISCELLANEOUS AMENDMENTS TO THE RULES
OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
(a) 5-DAY WAITING PERIOD.—(1) Clause 2(l)(6) of
rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives is
amended by striking ‘‘third’’ and inserting ‘‘fifth’’.
(2) The first sentence of clause 2(a) of rule XXVIII
of the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended
by striking ‘‘third’’ and inserting ‘‘fifth’’.
(b) TWO-THIRDS REQUIRED TO APPROVE RESTRIC-
TIVE RULES OR TO WAIVE HOUSE RULES.—(1) Clause
4 of rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives
amended by subsection (b)) is amended by adding at the
end the following new paragraph:
‘‘(f) It shall not be in order to consider any order
of business resolution reported from the Committee on
Rules which provides that, upon the adoption of such reso-
lution, the House shall be considered to have automatically
adopted a motion (other than for the previous question),
amendment, or resolution, or to have passed a bill, joint
resolution, or conference report thereon.’’.
(e) REPEAL OF RULE XLIX.—Rule XLIX of the
Rules of the House of Representatives is repealed.
(f) CONFERENCE COMMITTEES.—(1) Clause 3 of rule
XXVIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives is
amended by adding at the end the following new sentence:
‘‘Their report shall not fund any program, project, or ac-
tivity at a level higher than that contained in the bill or
resolution as passed the House or as passed the Senate
and committed to the conference committee or fund any
program, project, or activity not contained in that bill or
resolution as passed the House or as passed the Senate.’’.
(2) Rule XXVIII of the Rules of the House of Rep-
resentatives is amended by adding at the end the following
new clause:
‘‘7. It shall not be in order in the House to consider
a conference report if that report would violate any motion
to instruct conferees that the House agreed to.’’.
TITLE III—ECONOMIC AND EM-
PLOYMENT 
IMPACT 
STATE-
MENTS
SEC. 301. ECONOMIC AND EMPLOYMENT IMPACT STATE-
MENTS.
(a) PREPARATION.—The Comptroller General of the
United States shall prepare an economic and employment
impact statement, as described in subsection (b), to ac-
company each bill, resolution, or conference report re-
ported by any committee of the House of Representatives
or the Senate or considered on the floor of either House.
(b) CONTENTS.—Except as provided in subsection
(c), the economic and employment impact statement re-
quired by subsection (a) shall—
(1) state the extent to which enactment of the
bill, resolution, or conference report would result in
increased costs to the private sector, individuals, or
State and local governments; and
(2) include, at a minimum, a detailed assess-
ment of the annual impact of the bill, resolution, or
conference report (projected annually over a 5-year
period from its effective date, and, to the extent fea-
sible, expressed in each case in monetary terms)
on—
(A) costs to United States consumers;
(B) costs to United States business;
(C) national employment;
(D) the ability of United States industries
to compete internationally;
(E) affected State and local governments,
fiscal and otherwise;
(F) outlays and revenues by the Federal
Government as compared to outlays and reve-
nues for the same activity in the current fiscal
year (as reported by the Congressional Budget
Office); and
(G) impact on Gross Domestic Product.
(c) EXCEPTION.—The economic and employment im-
pact statement required by subsection (a) may consist of
a brief summary assessment in lieu of the detailed assess-
ment set forth in subsection (b) if preliminary analysis in-
dicates that the aggregate effect of the bill, resolution, or
conference report as measured by the criteria set forth in
subparagraphs (A) through (G) of subsection (b) is less
than $100,000 or 1,000 jobs in national employment.
(d) STATEMENT WITH ALL LEGISLATION.—The eco-
nomic and employment impact statement required by this
section shall accompany each bill, resolution, or conference
report before such bill, resolution, or conference report
may be reported or otherwise considered on the floor of
either House.
(e) POINT OF ORDER.—
(1) RULE.—It shall not be in order in either
the House of Representatives or the Senate to con-
sider on the floor any bill, resolution, or conference
report, whether or not reported by any committee of
the House of Representatives or the Senate, unless
that bill, resolution, or conference report includes
the economic and employment impact statement re-
quired by this section.
(2) WAIVER.—A point of order made under this
subsection may be waived in the Senate by a two-
thirds affirmative vote of Senators, duly chosen and
sworn, and in the House of Representatives by a
two-thirds affirmative vote of Members, duly chosen
and sworn.
(f) EXECUTIVE REGULATIONS.—Each regulation and
proposed regulation promulgated by a Federal department
or executive agency shall be accompanied by an economic
and employment impact statement prepared, in accord-
ance with subsection (b), by the department or agency pro-
mulgating the regulation or proposed regulation. The eco-
nomic and employment impact statement shall be pub-
lished in the Federal Register together with such regula-
tion or proposed regulation.
(g) PROVISION
FOR NATIONAL SECURITY EMER-
GENCY WAIVER.—
(1) CONGRESSIONAL ECONOMIC IMPACT STATE-
MENTS.—The Congress may waive the requirements
of subsections (a) through (d) at any time in which
a declaration of war is in effect, or in response to
a national security emergency at the request of the
President.
(2) EXECUTIVE REGULATIONS.—The President
may waive the requirements of subsection (f) at any
time in which a declaration of war is in effect, or in
response to a national security emergency as deter-
mined by the President in consultation with Con-
gress.
(h) REPEAL OF SENATE RULE.—Paragraph 11 of
rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate is repealed.
TITLE 
IV—APPLICABILITY 
OF
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
ACT
SEC. 401. APPLICATION OF FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
ACT TO THE CONGRESS.
The Congress, and the instrumentalities of Congress,
shall be subject to section 552 of title 5, United States
Code (commonly referred to as the ‘‘Freedom of Informa-
tion Act’’) to the same extent that Executive agencies (as
defined by section 105 of title 5, United States Code) are
subject to such section 552.
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