I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 371 
To increase the statutory limit on the public debt by $1,000,000,000 upon 
the adoption by Congress of a Balanced Budget Constitutional Amend-
ment and by an additional $1,000,000,000 upon ratification by the 
States of that Amendment. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 23, 2013 
Mr. BROOKS of Alabama (for himself, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. WILSON of South 
Carolina, Mr. SOUTHERLAND, Mr. STUTZMAN, Mr. MCKINLEY, and Mr. 
JONES) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To increase the statutory limit on the public debt by 
$1,000,000,000 upon the adoption by Congress of a Bal-
anced Budget Constitutional Amendment and by an addi-
tional $1,000,000,000 upon ratification by the States 
of that Amendment. 
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 ‘‘Protecting America’s 
Solvency Act of 2013’’. 
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SEC. 2. INCREASE IN THE STATUTORY LIMIT ON THE PUB-
LIC DEBT. 
(a) ADOPTION.—Effective upon the adoption by the 
Congress of a Balanced Budget Constitutional Amend-
ment with the provisions described in section 3, below, the 
statutory limit on the public debt set forth in section 
3101(b) of title 31, United States Code, is increased by 
$1,000,000,000. 
(b) RATIFICATION.—Effective upon the ratification 
by the States of the Balanced Budget Constitutional 
Amendment with the provisions described in section 3, 
below, the statutory limit on the public debt set forth in 
section 3101(b) of title 31, United States Code, is in-
creased by an additional $1,000,000,000. 
SEC. 3. REQUIRED PROVISIONS OF A BALANCED BUDGET 
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. 
A Balanced Budget Constitutional Amendment, to 
comply with the requirements of section 2, above, must 
include the following provisions: 
(1) Total outlays of the United States for any 
fiscal year shall not exceed total receipts for that fis-
cal year. Total receipts shall include all receipts of 
the United States except those derived from bor-
rowing. Total outlays shall include all outlays of the 
United States except those for repayment of debt 
principal. The United States shall have no fiscal 
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year deficits except pursuant to the terms of the 
Amendment. 
(2) The fiscal year deficit prohibition described 
herein may be suspended by a majority of the mem-
bership of both houses of Congress, by rollcall vote, 
for any fiscal year in which the United States is ac-
tively engaged in military conflict pursuant to a war 
declared by Congress pursuant to article I, section 
8, or may be suspended by four-fifths of the mem-
bership of Congress, by rollcall vote, for any other 
fiscal year. 
(3) In any fiscal year in which Congress does 
not suspend the Amendment pursuant to its terms 
and in which total outlays will or may exceed total 
receipts, the President shall take such steps as are 
necessary to ensure total outlays for that fiscal year 
do not exceed total receipts. The President may not 
order any increase in taxes or other revenue meas-
ures to enforce the Amendment. A President’s fail-
ure to prevent a prohibited fiscal year deficit is an 
impeachable offense. 
(4) Any Member of Congress and any Governor 
or Attorney General of any State shall have standing 
and a cause of action to seek judicial enforcement of 
the Amendment. No court of the United States or 
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of any State may order any increase in taxes or 
other revenue measures to prevent or reduce fiscal 
year deficits. 
(5)(A) The Amendment shall be phased in be-
ginning with the first fiscal year commencing six or 
more months after ratification of the Amendment by 
the States. 
(B) Within three months after ratification, the 
President shall calculate the total outlays, the total 
receipts, and the resulting deficit of the United 
States for the fiscal year in which the Amendment 
was ratified. This deficit is the ‘‘Base Deficit’’. 
(C) Fiscal year deficits shall be phased-out as 
follows: 
(i) The deficit for the first fiscal year com-
mencing six or more months after ratification 
by the States of the Amendment shall not ex-
ceed eighty percent of the Base Deficit. 
(ii) The deficit for the first fiscal year 
commencing eighteen or more months after 
ratification by the States of the Amendment 
shall not exceed sixty percent of the Base Def-
icit. 
(iii) The deficit for the first fiscal year 
commencing thirty or more months after ratifi-
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cation by the States of the Amendment shall 
not exceed forty percent of the Base Deficit. 
(iv) The deficit for the first fiscal year 
commencing forty-two or more months after 
ratification by the States of the Amendment 
shall not exceed twenty percent of the Base 
Deficit. 
(v) There shall be no deficit for any fiscal 
year commencing fifty-four or more months 
after ratification by the States of the Amend-
ment. 
Æ 
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