I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1278
To amend the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 
and the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to extend the discretionary 
spending caps and the pay-as-you-go requirement, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 13, 2003
Mr. HILL (for himself, Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi, Mr. BERRY, Mr. MOORE, 
Mr. SANDLIN, Mr. STENHOLM, Mr. TURNER of Texas, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. 
MATHESON, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, 
Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. SCHIFF, Mrs. 
TAUSCHER, Mr. TANNER, Mr. JOHN, and Ms. HARMAN) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Budget, and 
in addition to the Committee on Rules, for a period to be subsequently 
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Con-
trol Act of 1985 and the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974 to extend the discretionary spending caps and the 
pay-as-you-go requirement, 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 ‘‘Assuring Honesty and 
Accountability Act of 2003’’.
SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF THE DISCRETIONARY SPENDING 
CAPS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 251(c) of the Balanced 
Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is 
amended—
(1) in paragraph (8), strike ‘‘(8) with respect to 
fiscal year 2004’’, redesignate the remaining matter 
as subparagraph (C), and before such redesignated 
matter insert the following: 
‘‘(8) with respect to fiscal year 2004—
‘‘(A) 
for 
the 
defense 
category: 
$399,683,000,000 in new budget authority and 
$389,746,000,000 in outlays; 
‘‘(B) 
for 
the 
nondefense 
category: 
$392,517,000,000 in new budget authority and 
$429,054,000,000 in outlays;’’; 
(2) in paragraph (9), strike ‘‘(9) with respect to 
fiscal year 2004’’, redesignate the remaining matter 
as subparagraph (C), and before such redesignated 
matter insert the following: 
‘‘(9) with respect to fiscal year 2005—
‘‘(A) 
for 
the 
defense 
category: 
$420,019,000,000 in new budget authority and 
$409,737,000,000 in outlays;
‘‘(B) 
for 
the 
nondefense 
category: 
$393,481,000,000 in new budget authority and 
$440,264,000,000 in outlays;’’; 
(3) in paragraph (10), strike ‘‘(10) with respect 
to fiscal year 2006’’, redesignate the remaining mat-
ter as subparagraph (C), and before such redesig-
nated matter insert the following: 
‘‘(10) with respect to fiscal year 2006—
‘‘(A) 
for 
the 
defense 
category: 
$440,044,000,000 in new budget authority and 
$422,808,000,000 in outlays; 
‘‘(B) 
for 
the 
nondefense 
category: 
$402,256,000,000 in new budget authority and 
$446,992,000,000;’’; and 
(4) redesignate paragraphs (11) through (16) 
as paragraphs (13) through (18), respectively, and 
insert after paragraph (10) the following new para-
graphs: 
‘‘(11) with respect to fiscal year 2007—
‘‘(A) 
for 
the 
defense 
category: 
$460,309,000,000 in new budget authority and 
$436,164,000,000 in outlays; and 
‘‘(B) 
for 
the 
nondefense 
category: 
$412,091,000,000 in new budget authority and 
$455,236,000,000;
‘‘(12) with respect to fiscal year 2008—
‘‘(A) 
for 
the 
defense 
category: 
$480,747,000,000 in new budget authority and 
$460,190,000,000 in outlays; and 
‘‘(B) 
for 
the 
nondefense 
category: 
$494,853,000,000 in new budget authority and 
$465,710,000,000;’’. 
(b) EXPIRATION.—Section 275 of the Balanced 
Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 
U.S.C. 900 note) is amended by striking subsection (b). 
SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF PAY-AS-YOU-GO REQUIREMENT. 
(a) PURPOSE.—Section 252(a) of the Balanced 
Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is 
amended by striking ‘‘enacted before October 1, 2002,’’. 
(b) SEQUESTRATION.—Section 252(b) of the Bal-
anced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 
is amended by striking ‘‘enacted before October 1, 2002’’. 
SEC. 4. AUTOMATIC BUDGET ENFORCEMENT FOR MEAS-
URES CONSIDERED ON THE FLOOR. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Congressional 
Budget Act of 1974 is amended by adding at the end the 
following new section: 
‘‘BUDGET EVASION POINTS OF ORDER 
‘‘SEC. 316. (a) DISCRETIONARY SPENDING CAPS.—
It shall not be in order in the House of Representatives 
or the Senate to consider any bill or resolution (or amend-
ment, motion, or conference report on that bill or resolu-
tion) that waives or suspends the enforcement of section 
251 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Con-
trol Act of 1985 or otherwise would alter the spending 
limits set forth in that section. 
‘‘(b) PAY-AS-YOU-GO.—It shall not be in order in the 
House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any 
bill or resolution (or amendment, motion, or conference 
report on that bill or resolution) that waives or suspends 
the enforcement of section 252 of the Balanced Budget 
and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 or otherwise 
would alter the balances of the pay-as-you-go scorecard 
pursuant to that section. 
‘‘(c) DIRECTED SCORING.—It shall not be in order 
in the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider 
any bill or resolution (or amendment, motion, or con-
ference report on that bill or resolution) that directs the 
scorekeeping of any bill or resolution. 
‘‘(d) FAR-OUTYEARS.—It shall not be in order in the 
House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any 
bill or resolution (or amendment, motion, or conference 
report on that bill or resolution) that contains a provision 
providing new budget authority which reduces revenues 
which first takes effect after the first 5 fiscal years covered 
in the most recently adopted concurrent resolution on the
budget and that would have the effect of reducing the sur-
plus or increasing the deficit in any fiscal year. 
‘‘(e) ENFORCEMENT IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENT-
ATIVES.—(1) It shall not be in order in the House of Rep-
resentatives to consider a rule or order that waives the 
application of this section. 
‘‘(2)(A) This subsection shall apply only to the House 
of Representatives. 
‘‘(B) In order to be cognizable by the Chair, a point 
of order under this section must specify the precise lan-
guage on which it is premised. 
‘‘(C) As disposition of points of order under this sec-
tion, the Chair shall put the question of consideration with 
respect to the proposition that is the subject of the points 
of order. 
‘‘(D) A question of consideration under this section 
shall be debatable for 10 minutes by each Member initi-
ating a point of order and for 10 minutes by an opponent 
on each point of order, but shall otherwise be decided with-
out intervening motion except one that the House adjourn 
or that the Committee of the Whole rise, as the case may 
be. 
‘‘(E) The disposition of the question of consideration 
under this subsection with respect to a bill or joint resolu-
tion shall be considered also to determine the question of
consideration under this subsection with respect to an 
amendment made in order as original text.’’. 
(b) WAIVER AND APPEAL IN THE SENATE.—Section 
904 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is amend-
ed—
(1) in subsection (c)(1), by inserting ‘‘316,’’ 
after ‘‘313,’’; and 
(2) in subsection (d)(2), by inserting ‘‘316,’’ 
after ‘‘313,’’. 
(c) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is amended by in-
serting after the item for section 315 the following:
‘‘Sec. 316. Budget evasion points of order.’’.
(d) RESERVE FUND FOR HOMELAND SECURITY.—
(1) Upon the enactment of any bill or joint resolution that 
provides new budget authority (and outlays flowing there-
from) for operations of the Department of Homeland Se-
curity or grants to States and localities for homeland secu-
rity, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 
shall make an appropriate adjustment to the discretionary 
spending limits (and those limits as adjusted) as set forth 
in section 251(c) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency 
Deficit Control Act of 1985 by the amount provided by 
that measure for that purpose, but the total adjustment 
for all measures considered under this subsection shall not 
exceed $10,000,000,000 in new budget authority for fiscal
year 2004 and outlays flowing therefrom. Adjustments 
may only be made under this paragraph for items included 
in the funding requests set forth in the report referred 
to in paragraph (2). 
(2) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall con-
duct a homeland security needs assessment in consultation 
with all Federal agencies with responsibilities for home-
land security and State and local governments. The Sec-
retary shall submit a report to Congress with additional 
funding requests, if any, identified in the needs assess-
ment. Such report shall also include a compilation of the 
needs assessments submitted by State and local govern-
ments. 
SEC. 5. DISCLOSURE OF INTEREST COSTS. 
Section 308(a)(1) of the Congressional Budget Act 
of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 639(a)(1)) is amended—
(1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘and’’ 
after the semicolon; 
(2) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period 
and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraph: 
‘‘(D) containing a projection by the Con-
gressional Budget Office of the cost of the debt 
servicing that would be caused by such measure
for such fiscal year (or fiscal years) and each 
of the 4 ensuing fiscal years.’’. 
SEC. 6. ACCOUNTABILITY IN EMERGENCY SPENDING. 
(a) OMB EMERGENCY CRITERIA.—Section 3 of the 
Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 
1974 is amended by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(11)(A) The term ‘emergency’ means a situa-
tion that—
‘‘(i) requires new budget authority and 
outlays (or new budget authority and the out-
lays flowing therefrom) for the prevention or 
mitigation of, or response to, loss of life or 
property, or a threat to national security; and 
‘‘(ii) is unanticipated. 
‘‘(B) As used in subparagraph (A), the term 
‘unanticipated’ means that the situation is—
‘‘(i) sudden, which means quickly coming 
into being or not building up over time; 
‘‘(ii) urgent, which means a pressing and 
compelling need requiring immediate action; 
‘‘(iii) unforeseen, which means not pre-
dicted or anticipated as an emerging need; and 
‘‘(iv) temporary, which means not of a per-
manent duration.’’.
(b) DEVELOPMENT OF GUIDELINES FOR APPLICA-
TION OF EMERGENCY DEFINITION.—Not later than 5 
months after the date of enactment of this Act, the chair-
men of the Committees on the Budget (in consultation 
with the President) shall, after consulting with the chair-
men of the Committees on Appropriations and applicable 
authorizing committees of their respective Houses and the 
Directors of the Congressional Budget Office and the Of-
fice of Management and Budget, jointly publish in the 
Congressional Record guidelines for application of the def-
inition of emergency set forth in section 3(11) of the Con-
gressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974. 
(c) RESERVE FUND FOR EMERGENCIES IN PRESI-
DENT’S BUDGET.—Section 1105 of title 31, United States 
Code is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsections: 
‘‘(h) The budget transmitted pursuant to subsection 
(a) for a fiscal year shall include a reserve fund for emer-
gencies. The amount set forth in such fund shall be cal-
culated as provided under section 317(b) of the Congres-
sional Budget Act of 1974. 
‘‘(i) In the case of any budget authority requested 
for an emergency, such submission shall include a detailed 
justification of the reasons that such emergency is an 
emergency within the meaning of section 3(11) of the Con-
gressional Budget Act of 1974, consistent with the guide-
lines described in section 6(b) of the Assuring Honesty 
and Accountability Act of 2003.’’. 
(d) SEPARATE HOUSE VOTE ON EMERGENCY DES-
IGNATION.—(1) Rule XXII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new clause: 
‘‘13. In the consideration of any measure for amend-
ment in the Committee of the Whole containing any emer-
gency spending designation, it shall always be in order un-
less specifically waived by terms of a rule governing con-
sideration of that measure, to move to strike such emer-
gency spending designation from the portion of the bill 
then open to amendment.’’. 
(2) The Committee on Rules shall include in the re-
port required by clause 1(d) of rule XI (relating to its 
activities during the Congress) of the Rules of House of 
Representatives a separate item identifying all waivers of 
points of order relating to emergency spending designa-
tions, listed by bill or joint resolution number and the sub-
ject matter of that measure. 
(e) COMMITTEE NOTIFICATION OF EMERGENCY LEG-
ISLATION.—Whenever the Committee on Appropriations 
or any other committee of either House (including a com-
mittee of conference) reports any bill or joint resolution
that provides budget authority for any emergency, the re-
port accompanying that bill or joint resolution (or the joint 
explanatory statement of managers in the case of a con-
ference report on any such bill or joint resolution) shall 
identify all provisions that provide budget authority and 
the outlays flowing therefrom for such emergency and in-
clude a statement of the reasons why such budget author-
ity meets the definition of an emergency pursuant to the 
guidelines described in subsection (b). 
SEC. 7. APPLICATION OF BUDGET ACT POINTS OF ORDER 
TO UNREPORTED LEGISLATION. 
(a) Section 315 of the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974 is amended by striking ‘‘reported’’ the first place it 
appears. 
(b) Section 303(b) of the Congressional Budget Act 
of 1974 is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘(A)’’ and by 
redesignating subparagraph (B) as paragraph (2) 
and by striking the semicolon at the end of such new 
paragraph (2) and inserting a period; and 
(2) by striking paragraph (3). 
SEC. 8. BUDGET COMPLIANCE STATEMENTS. 
Clause 3(d) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House 
of Representatives is amended by adding at the end the 
following new subparagraph:
‘‘(4) A budget compliance statement prepared 
by the chairman of the Committee on the Budget, 
if timely submitted prior to the filing of the report, 
which shall include assessment by such chairman as 
to whether the bill or joint resolution complies with 
the requirements of sections 302, 303, 306, 311, 
and 401 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 
or any other requirements set forth in a concurrent 
resolution on the budget and may include the budg-
etary implications of that bill or joint resolution 
under section 251 or 252 of the Balanced Budget 
and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, as ap-
plicable.’’. 
SEC. 9. JUSTIFICATION FOR BUDGET ACT WAIVERS IN THE 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
Clause 6 of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
‘‘(h) It shall not be in order to consider any resolution 
from the Committee on Rules for the consideration of any 
reported bill or joint resolution which waives section 302, 
303, 311, or 401 of the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974, unless the report accompanying such resolution in-
cludes a description of the provision proposed to be 
waived, an identification of the section being waived, the
reasons why such waiver should be granted, and an esti-
mated cost of the provisions to which the waiver applies.’’. 
SEC. 10. CBO SCORING OF CONFERENCE REPORTS. 
(a) The first sentence of section 402 of the Congres-
sional Budget Act of 1974 is amended as follows: 
(1) Insert ‘‘or conference report thereon,’’ be-
fore ‘‘and submit’’. 
(2) In paragraph (1), strike ‘‘bill or resolution’’ 
and insert ‘‘bill, joint resolution, or conference re-
port’’. 
(3) At the end of paragraph (2) strike ‘‘and’’, 
at the end of paragraph (3) strike the period and in-
sert ‘‘; and’’, and after such paragraph (3) add the 
following new paragraph: 
‘‘(4) A determination of whether such bill, joint 
resolution, or conference report provides direct 
spending.’’. 
(b) The second sentence of section 402 of the Con-
gressional Budget Act of 1974 is amended by inserting 
before the period the following: ‘‘, or in the case of a con-
ference report, shall be included in the joint explanatory 
statement of managers accompanying such conference re-
port if timely submitted before such report is filed’’.
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