I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2
To establish a procedure to safeguard the combined surpluses of the Social
Security and Medicare hospital insurance trust funds.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 8, 2001
Mr. HERGER (for himself, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. SCHROCK, Mr. TOOMEY, Mr.
ROYCE, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. GRAVES, Mr. BROWN of South Carolina, Mr.
OTTER, Ms. HART, Mr. AKIN, Mr. CRENSHAW, Mr. REHBERG, Mr.
TIBERI, Mr. SIMMONS, Mr. CULBERSON, Mr. CANTOR, Mr. JOHNSON of
Illinois, Mr. PLATTS, Ms. CAPITO, Mr. FLETCHER, Mrs. JOHNSON of
Connecticut, Mr. SHAW, Mr. DREIER, Mr. GOSS, Mr. HASTINGS of Wash-
ington, Mr. COLLINS, Ms. PRYCE of Ohio, Mr. KIRK, Mrs. MYRICK, Mr.
LINDER, and Mr. PUTNAM) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Rules, and in addition to the Committee on
the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker,
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris-
diction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To establish a procedure to safeguard the combined surpluses
of the Social Security and Medicare hospital insurance
trust funds.
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 ‘‘Social Security and
Medicare Lock-Box Act of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—
(1) the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 and
strong economic growth have ended decades of def-
icit spending;
(2) the Government is able to meet its current
obligations without using the social security and
medicare surpluses;
(3) fiscal pressures will mount as an aging pop-
ulation increases the Government’s obligations to
provide retirement income and health services;
(4) social security and medicare hospital insur-
ance surpluses should be used to reduce the debt
held by the public until legislation is enacted that re-
forms social security and medicare;
(5) preserving the social security and medicare
hospital insurance surpluses would restore con-
fidence in the long-term financial integrity of social
security and medicare; and
(6) strengthening the Government’s fiscal posi-
tion through debt reduction would increase national
savings, promote economic growth, and reduce its in-
terest payments.
(b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to—
(1) prevent the surpluses of the social security
and medicare hospital insurance trust funds from
being used for any purpose other than providing re-
tirement and health security; and
(2) use such surpluses to pay down the national
debt until such time as medicare and social security
reform legislation is enacted.
SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE
SURPLUSES.
(a) PROTECTION OF SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDI-
CARE SURPLUSES.—Title III of the Congressional Budget
Act of 1974 is amended by adding at the end the following
new section:
‘‘LOCK-BOX FOR SOCIAL SECURITY AND HOSPITAL
INSURANCE SURPLUSES
‘‘SEC. 316. (a) LOCK-BOX FOR SOCIAL SECURITY
AND HOSPITAL INSURANCE SURPLUSES.—
‘‘(1) CONCURRENT
RESOLUTIONS
ON
THE
BUDGET.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—It shall not be in
order in the House of Representatives or the
Senate to consider any concurrent resolution on
the budget, or an amendment thereto or con-
ference report thereon, that would set forth a
surplus for any fiscal year that is less than the
surplus of the Federal Hospital Insurance
Trust Fund for that fiscal year.
‘‘(B) adjusted to the maximum extent al-
lowable under all procedures that allow budg-
etary aggregates to be adjusted for legislation
that would cause a decrease in the surplus for
any fiscal year covered by the concurrent reso-
lution on the budget (other than procedures de-
scribed in paragraph (2)(A)(ii)).
‘‘(2) CURRENT
LEVELS
WITH
RESPECT
TO
SPENDING AND TAX LEGISLATION.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of en-
forcing subsection (a)(2), the current levels of
the surplus for any fiscal year shall be—
‘‘(i) calculated using the following
assumptions—
‘‘(I) direct spending and revenue
levels at the baseline levels underlying
the most recently agreed to concur-
rent resolution on the budget; and
‘‘(II) for the budget year, discre-
tionary spending levels at current law
levels and, for outyears, discretionary
spending levels at the baseline levels
underlying the most recently agreed to
concurrent resolution on the budget;
and
‘‘(ii) adjusted for changes in the sur-
plus levels set forth in the most recently
agreed to concurrent resolution on the
budget pursuant to procedures in such res-
olution that authorize adjustments in
budgetary aggregates for updated economic
and technical assumptions in the mid-ses-
sion report of the Director of the Congres-
sional Budget Office.
Such revisions shall be included in the first cur-
rent level report on the congressional budget
submitted for publication in the Congressional
Record after the release of such mid-session re-
port.
‘‘(B) BUDGETARY
TREATMENT.—Outlays
(or receipts) for any fiscal year resulting from
social security or medicare reform legislation in
excess of the amount of outlays (or less than
the amount of receipts) for that fiscal year set
forth in the most recently agreed to concurrent
resolution on the budget or the section 302(a)
allocation for such legislation, as applicable,
shall not be taken into account for purposes of
enforcing any point of order under subsection
(a)(2).
‘‘(3) DISCLOSURE OF HI SURPLUS.—For pur-
poses of enforcing any point of order under sub-
section (a), the surplus of the Federal Hospital In-
surance Trust Fund for a fiscal year shall be the
levels set forth in the later of the report accom-
panying the concurrent resolution on the budget (or,
in the absence of such a report, placed in the Con-
gressional Record prior to the consideration of such
resolution) or in the joint explanatory statement of
managers accompanying such resolution.
‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL CONTENT OF REPORTS ACCOM-
PANYING BUDGET RESOLUTIONS AND OF JOINT EXPLAN-
ATORY STATEMENTS.—The report accompanying any con-
current resolution on the budget and the joint explanatory
statement accompanying the conference report on each
such resolution shall include the levels of the surplus in
the budget for each fiscal year set forth in such resolution
and of the surplus or deficit in the Federal Hospital Insur-
ance Trust Fund, calculated using the assumptions set
forth in subsection (b)(2)(A).
‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section:
‘‘(1) The term ‘medicare reform legislation’
means a bill or a joint resolution to save Medicare
that includes a provision stating the following: ‘For
purposes of section 316(a) of the Congressional
Budget Act of 1974, this Act constitutes medicare
reform legislation.’
‘‘(2) The term ‘social security reform legisla-
tion’ means a bill or a joint resolution to save social
security that includes a provision stating the fol-
lowing: ‘For purposes of section 316(a) of the Con-
gressional Budget Act of 1974, this Act constitutes
social security reform legislation.’
‘‘(e) WAIVER AND APPEAL.—Subsection (a) may be
waived or suspended in the Senate only by an affirmative
vote of three-fifths of the Members, duly chosen and
sworn. An affirmative vote of three-fifths of the Members
of the Senate, duly chosen and sworn, shall be required
in the Senate to sustain an appeal of the ruling of the
Chair on a point of order raised under this section.
‘‘(f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall cease to
have any force or effect upon the enactment of social secu-
rity reform legislation and medicare reform legislation.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The item relating
to section 316 in the table of contents set forth in section
1(b) of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Con-
trol Act of 1974 is amended to read as follows:
‘‘Sec. 316. Protection of social security and medicare surpluses.’’.
SEC. 4. PRESIDENTS’ BUDGET.
(a) PROTECTION OF SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDI-
CARE SURPLUSES.—If the budget of the United States
Government submitted by the President under section
1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, recommends an
on-budget surplus for any fiscal year that is less than the
surplus of the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund for
that fiscal year, then it shall include a detailed proposal
for social security reform legislation or medicare reform
legislation.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (a) shall cease to
have any force or effect upon the enactment of social secu-
rity reform legislation and medicare reform legislation as
defined by section 316(d) of the Congressional Budget Act
of 1974.
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