I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 402 
To amend title 31, United States Code, to require the Secretary of the 
Treasury to appear before Congress before the debt limit is reached 
or extraordinary measures are taken to prevent default. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 14, 2025 
Mr. SCHWEIKERT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To amend title 31, United States Code, to require the Sec-
retary of the Treasury to appear before Congress before 
the debt limit is reached or extraordinary measures are 
taken to prevent default. 
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 Explanation Be-
fore Taxwriters Act’’ or the ‘‘DEBT Act’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:12 Feb 06, 2025
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H402.IH
H402
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
SEC. 2. SECRETARY OF TREASURY APPEARANCE BEFORE 
CONGRESS BEFORE REACHING DEBT LIMIT 
OR EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES TAKEN. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 31 of 
title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘§ 3131. Secretary of Treasury appearance before 
Congress before reaching debt limit or 
extraordinary measures taken 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not more than sixty days and 
not less than twenty-one days prior to any date on which 
the Secretary of the Treasury anticipates either that the 
public debt will reach the limit specified under section 
3101, as modified by section 3101A, or that extraordinary 
measures will be taken to prevent the United States from 
defaulting on its obligations, the Secretary shall appear 
before the Committee on Ways and Means of the House 
of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the 
Senate, to submit a detailed explanation of— 
‘‘(1) any extraordinary measures the Secretary 
will take to fund Federal government obligations 
prior to such increase and an estimate of the admin-
istrative cost of taking such extraordinary measures; 
and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:12 Feb 06, 2025
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H402.IH
H402
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
‘‘(2) any reversal of such measures, and any 
other changes taken in the funding of Federal gov-
ernment obligations, as a result of such increase. 
‘‘(b) EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES DEFINED.—For 
purposes of this section, the term ‘extraordinary measures’ 
means each of the following: 
‘‘(1) Suspending sales of State and Local Gov-
ernment Series Treasury securities. 
‘‘(2) Redeeming existing, and suspending new, 
investments of the Civil Service Retirement and Dis-
ability Fund and the Postal Service Retiree Health 
Benefits Fund. 
‘‘(3) Suspending reinvestment of the Govern-
ment Securities Investment Fund. 
‘‘(4) Suspending reinvestment of the Exchange 
Stabilization Fund. 
‘‘(5) 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. 
‘‘(6) Suspending investments in the Govern-
ment Securities Investment Fund of the Thrift Sav-
ings Fund. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:12 Feb 06, 2025
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H402.IH
H402
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
‘‘(7) Suspending investments in the stabiliza-
tion fund established under section 5302 of title 31, 
United States Code. 
‘‘(8) Suspending new investments in the Civil 
Service Retirement and Disability Fund or the Post-
al Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund. 
‘‘(9) Selling or redeeming securities, obligations, 
or other invested assets of the Civil Service Retire-
ment and Disability Fund or the Postal Service Re-
tiree Health Benefits Fund before maturity.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of analysis 
for chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, is amended 
by inserting after the item relating to section 3130 the 
following: 
‘‘3131. Secretary of Treasury appearance before Congress before reaching debt 
limit or extraordinary measures taken.’’. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:12 Feb 06, 2025
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H402.IH
H402
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB