[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3521 Referred in Senate (RFS)]
112th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 3521
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 9, 2012
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on the Budget
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To amend the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974
to provide for a legislative line-item veto to expedite consideration
of rescissions, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Expedited Legislative Line-Item Veto
and Rescissions Act of 2012''.
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL CONSIDERATION OF PROPOSED RESCISSIONS AND
DEFERRALS OF BUDGET AUTHORITY AND OBLIGATION LIMITATIONS.
Title X of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of
1974 (2 U.S.C. 621 et seq.) is amended by striking all of part B
(except for sections 1015, 1016, and 1013, which are transferred and
redesignated as sections 1017, 1018, and 1019, respectively) and part C
and by inserting after part A the following:
``Part B--Congressional Consideration of Proposed Rescissions and
Deferrals of Budget Authority and Obligation Limitations
``congressional consideration of proposed rescissions and deferrals of
budget authority and obligation limitations
``Sec. 1011. (a) Proposed Rescissions.--Within 10 days after the
enactment of any bill or joint resolution providing any funding, the
President may propose, in the manner provided in subsection (b), the
rescission of all or part of any dollar amount of such funding.
``(b) Special Message.--If the President proposes that Congress
rescind funding, the President shall transmit a special message to
Congress containing the information specified in this subsection.
``(1) Packaging of requested rescissions.--For each piece
of legislation that provides funding, the President shall
request at most 2 packages of rescissions and the rescissions
in each package shall apply only to funding contained in that
legislation. The President shall not include the same
rescission in both packages.
``(2) Transmittal.--The President shall deliver each
message requesting a package of rescissions to the Secretary of
the Senate if the Senate is not in session and to the Clerk of
the House of Representatives if the House is not in session.
The President shall make a copy of the transmittal message
publicly available, and shall publish in the Federal Register a
notice of the message and information on how it can be
obtained.
``(3) Contents of special message.--For each request to
rescind funding under this part, the transmittal message
shall--
``(A) specify--
``(i) the dollar amount to be rescinded;
``(ii) the agency, bureau, and account from
which the rescission shall occur;
``(iii) the program, project, or activity
within the account (if applicable) from which
the rescission shall occur;
``(iv) the amount of funding, if any, that
would remain for the account, program, project,
or activity if the rescission request is
enacted; and
``(v) the reasons the President requests
the rescission.
``(B) designate each separate rescission request by
number; and include proposed legislative text of an
approval bill to accomplish the requested rescissions
which may not include--
``(i) any changes in existing law, other
than the rescission of funding; or
``(ii) any supplemental appropriations,
transfers, or reprogrammings.
``grants of and limitations on presidential authority
``Sec. 1012. (a) Presidential Authority To Withhold Funding.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law and if the President
proposes a rescission of funding under this part, the President may,
subject to the time limits provided in subsection (c), temporarily
withhold that funding from obligation.
``(b) Withholding Available Only Once Per Proposed Rescission.--
Except as provided in section 1019, the President may not invoke the
authority to withhold funding granted by subsection (a) for any other
purpose.
``(c) Time Limits.--The President shall make available for
obligation any funding withheld under subsection (a) on the earliest
of--
``(1) the day on which the President determines that the
continued withholding or reduction no longer advances the
purpose of legislative consideration of the approval bill;
``(2) the 60th day following the date of enactment of the
appropriations measure to which the approval bill relates; or
``(3) the last day that the President determines the
obligation of the funding in question can no longer be fully
accomplished in a prudent manner before its expiration.
``(d) Deficit Reduction.--
``(1) In general.--Funds that are rescinded under this part
shall be dedicated only to reducing the deficit or increasing
the surplus.
``(2) Adjustment of levels in the concurrent resolution on
the budget.--Not later than 3 days of session after the date of
enactment of an approval bill as provided under this part, the
chairs of the Committees on the Budget of the Senate and the
House of Representatives shall revise allocations and
aggregates and other appropriate levels under the appropriate
concurrent resolution on the budget to reflect the rescissions,
and the Committees on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives and the Senate shall report revised
suballocations pursuant to section 302(b) of title III, as
appropriate.
``(3) Adjustments to statutory limits.--Not later than 3
days after enactment of an approval bill provided under this
section, the President shall revise downward by the amount of
the rescissions applicable limits under the Balanced Budget and
Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.
``procedures for expedited consideration
``Sec. 1013. (a) Expedited Consideration.--
``(1) Introduction of approval bill.--The majority leader
of each House or a designee shall (by request) introduce an
approval bill as defined in section 1015 not later than the
third day of session of that House after the date of receipt of
a special message transmitted to the Congress under section
1011(b).
``(2) Consideration in the house of representatives.--
``(A) Referral and reporting.--Any committee of the
House of Representatives to which an approval bill is
referred shall report it to the House without amendment
not later than the third legislative day after the date
of its introduction. If a committee fails to report the
bill within that period or the House has adopted a
concurrent resolution providing for adjournment sine
die at the end of a Congress, such committee shall be
automatically discharged from further consideration of
the bill and it shall be placed on the appropriate
calendar.
``(B) Proceeding to consideration.--Not later than
3 legislative days after the approval bill is reported
or a committee has been discharged from further
consideration thereof, it shall be in order to move to
proceed to consider the approval bill in the House.
Such a motion shall be in order only at a time
designated by the Speaker in the legislative schedule
within two legislative days after the day on which the
proponent announces an intention to the House to offer
the motion provided that such notice may not be given
until the approval bill is reported or a committee has
been discharged from further consideration thereof.
Such a motion shall not be in order after the House has
disposed of a motion to proceed with respect to that
special message. The previous question shall be
considered as ordered on the motion to its adoption
without intervening motion. A motion to reconsider the
vote by which the motion is disposed of shall not be in
order.
``(C) Consideration.--If the motion to proceed is
agreed to, the House shall immediately proceed to
consider the approval bill in the House without
intervening motion. The approval bill shall be
considered as read. All points of order against the
approval bill and against its consideration are waived.
The previous question shall be considered as ordered on
the approval bill to its passage without intervening
motion except 2 hours of debate equally divided and
controlled by the proponent and an opponent and one
motion to limit debate on the bill. A motion to
reconsider the vote on passage of the approval bill
shall not be in order.
``(3) Consideration in the senate.--
``(A) Committee action.--The appropriate committee
of the Senate shall report without amendment the
approval bill as defined in section 1015(2) not later
than the third session day after introduction. If a
committee fails to report the approval bill within that
period or the Senate has adopted a concurrent
resolution providing for adjournment sine die at the
end of a Congress, the Committee shall be automatically
discharged from further consideration of the approval
bill and it shall be placed on the appropriate
calendar.
``(B) Motion to proceed.--Not later than 3 session
days after the approval bill is reported in the Senate
or the committee has been discharged thereof, it shall
be in order for any Senator to move to proceed to
consider the approval bill in the Senate. The motion
shall be decided without debate and the motion to
reconsider shall be deemed to have been laid on the
table. Such a motion shall not be in order after the
Senate has disposed of a prior motion to proceed with
respect to the approval bill.
``(C) Consideration.--If a motion to proceed to the
consideration of the approval bill is agreed to, the
Senate shall immediately proceed to consideration of
the approval bill without intervening motion, order, or
other business, and the approval bill shall remain the
unfinished business of the Senate until disposed of.
Consideration on the bill in the Senate under this
subsection, and all debatable motions and appeals in
connection therewith, shall not exceed 10 hours equally
divided in the usual form. All points of order against
the approval bill or its consideration are waived.
Consideration in the Senate on any debatable motion or
appeal in connection with the approval bill shall be
limited to not more than 1 hour. A motion to postpone,
or a motion to proceed to the consideration of other
business, or a motion to recommit the approval bill is
not in order. A motion to reconsider the vote by which
the approval bill is agreed to or disagreed to is not
in order.
``(4) Amendments prohibited.--No amendment to, or motion to
strike a provision from, an approval bill considered under this
section shall be in order in either the Senate or the House of
Representatives.
``(5) Coordination with action by other house.--
``(A) In general.--If, before passing the approval
bill, one House receives from the other a bill--
``(i) the approval bill of the other House
shall not be referred to a committee; and
``(ii) the procedure in the receiving House
shall be the same as if no approval bill had
been received from the other House until the
vote on passage, when the bill received from
the other House shall supplant the approval
bill of the receiving House.
``(B) This paragraph shall not apply to the House
of Representatives.
``(b) Limitation.--Subsection (a) shall apply only to an approval
bill, as such term is defined in section 1015(2), introduced pursuant
to subsection (a)(1).
``(c) Extended Time Period.--If Congress adjourns at the end of a
Congress prior to the expiration of the periods described in sections
1012(c)(2) and 1014 and an approval bill was then pending in either
House of Congress or a committee thereof, or an approval bill had not
yet been introduced with respect to a special message, or before the
applicable 10-day period specified in section 1011(a) has expired, then
within the first 3 days of session, the President shall transmit to
Congress an additional special message containing all of the
information in the previous, pending special message and an approval
bill may be introduced within the first five days of session of the
next Congress and shall be treated as an approval bill under this part,
and the time periods described in sections 1012(c)(2) and 1014 shall
commence on the day of introduction of that approval bill.
``(d) Approval Bill Procedure.--In order for an approval bill to be
considered under the procedures set forth in this part, the bill must
meet the definition of an approval bill and must be introduced no later
than the third day of session following the beginning of the period
described in section 1013(a)(1) or the fifth day in the case of
subsection (c).
``(e) CBO Estimate.--Upon receipt of a special message under
section 1101 proposing to rescind all or part of any funding, CBO shall
prepare and submit to the appropriate committees of the House of
Representatives and the Senate an estimate of the reduction in budget
authority which would result from the enactment of the proposed
recisions.
``treatment of rescissions
``Sec. 1014. Rescissions proposed by the President under this part
shall take effect only upon enactment of the applicable approval bill.
If an approval bill is not enacted into law within 60 days from the
enactment of the appropriation measure to which the approval bill
relates, then the approval bill shall not be eligible for expedited
consideration under the provisions of this part.
``definitions
``Sec. 1015. As used in this part:
``(1) Appropriation measure.--The term `appropriation
measure' means an Act referred to in section 105 of title 1,
United States Code, including any general or special
appropriation Act, or any Act making supplemental, deficiency,
or continuing appropriations, that has been enacted into law
pursuant to article I, section 7, of the Constitution of the
United States.
``(2) Approval bill.--The term `approval bill' means a bill
which only approves rescissions of funding in a special message
transmitted by the President under this part and--
``(A) the title of which is as follows: `A bill
approving the proposed rescissions transmitted by the
President on ___', the blank space being filled in with
the date of transmission of the relevant special
message and the public law number to which the message
relates; and
``(B) which provides only the following after the
enacting clause: `That the Congress approves the
proposed rescissions ___', the blank space being filled
in with the list of the rescissions contained in the
President's special message, `as transmitted by the
President in a special message on ____', the blank
space being filled in with the appropriate date,
`regarding ____.', the blank space being filled in with
the public law number to which the special message
relates.
``(3) Rescind or rescission.--The terms `rescind' or
`rescission' mean to permanently cancel or prevent budget
authority or outlays available under an obligation limit from
having legal force or effect.
``(4) Congressional budget office.--The term `CBO' means
the Director of the Congressional Budget Office.
``(5) Comptroller general.--The term `Comptroller General'
means the Comptroller General of the United States.
``(6) Deferral of budget authority.--The term `deferral of
budget authority' includes--
``(A) withholding or delaying the obligations or
expenditure of budget authority (whether by
establishing reserves or otherwise) provided for
projects or activities; or
``(B) any other type of Executive action or
inaction which effectively precludes the obligation or
expenditure of budget authority, including authority to
obligate by contract in advance of appropriations as
specifically authorized by law.
``(7) Funding.--(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B),
the term `funding' means all or part of the dollar amount of
budget authority or obligation limit--
``(i) specified in an appropriation measure, or the
dollar amount of budget authority or obligation limit
required to be allocated by a specific proviso in an
appropriation measure for which a specific dollar
figure was not included;
``(ii) represented separately in any table, chart,
or explanatory text included in the statement of
managers or the governing committee report accompanying
such law; or
``(iii) represented by the product of the estimated
procurement cost and the total quantity of items
specified in an appropriation measure or included in
the statement of managers or the governing committee
report accompanying such law.
``(B) The term `funding' does not include--
``(i) direct spending;
``(ii) budget authority in an appropriation measure
which funds direct spending provided for in other law;
``(iii) any existing budget authority canceled in
an appropriation measure; or
``(iv) any restriction or condition in an
appropriation measure or the accompanying statement of
managers or committee reports on the expenditure of
budget authority for an account, program, project, or
activity, or on activities involving such expenditure.
``(8) Withhold.--The terms `withhold' and `withholding'
apply to any executive action or inaction that precludes the
obligation of funding at a time when it would otherwise have
been available to an agency for obligation. The terms do not
include administrative or preparatory actions undertaken prior
to obligation in the normal course of implementing budget laws.
``expiration
``Sec. 1016. On December 15, 2015, the amendments made by the
Expedited Legislative Line-Item Veto and Rescissions Act of 2012 shall
be replaced by the provisions of part B of the Impoundment Control Act
of 1974 as in effect immediately before the date of enactment of the
Expedited Legislative Line-Item Veto and Rescissions Act of 2012.''.
SEC. 3. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.
(a) Exercise of Rulemaking Powers.--Section 904 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 621 note) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ``1017'' and inserting
``1013''; and
(2) in subsection (d), by striking ``section 1017'' and
inserting ``section 1013''.
(b) Clerical Amendments.--(1) The last sentence of section 1(a) of
the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is amended
to read as follows: ``Sections 1011 through 1016 of part B of title X
may be cited as the `Expedited Legislative Line-Item Veto and
Rescissions Act of 2012'.''.
(2) Section 1017 of such Act (as redesignated) is amended by
striking ``section 1012 or 1013'' each place it appears and inserting
``section 1011 or 1019'' and section 1018 (as redesignated) is amended
by striking ``calendar'' and ``of continuous session''.
(3) Section 1019(c) of such Act (as redesignated) is amended by
striking ``1012'' and inserting ``1011''.
(4) Table of Contents.--The table of contents set forth in section
1(b) of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is
amended by striking the items relating to parts B and C (including all
of the items relating to the sections therein) of title X and inserting
the following:
``Part B--Congressional Consideration of Proposed Rescissions and
Deferrals of Budget Authority and Obligation Limitations
``Sec. 1011. Congressional consideration of proposed rescissions and
deferrals of budget authority and
obligation limitations.
``Sec. 1012. Grants of and limitations on presidential authority.
``Sec. 1013. Procedures for Expedited Consideration.
``Sec. 1014. Treatment of rescissions.
``Sec. 1015. Definitions.
``Sec. 1016. Expiration.''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this Act shall apply to
funding as defined in section 1015(8) of the Congressional Budget Act
and Impoundment Control of 1974 in any Act enacted after the date of
enactment of this Act.
SEC. 4. APPROVAL MEASURES CONSIDERED.
Section 314 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsections (b) through (e) as
subsections (c) through (f) and by inserting after subsection
(a) the following new subsection:
``(b) Adjustments for Rescissions.--(1) Whenever an approval bill
passes the House of Representatives, the Committee on the Budget shall
immediately reduce the applicable allocations under section 302(a) by
the total amount of reductions in budget authority and in outlays
resulting from such approval bill.
``(2) As used in this subsection, the term `approval bill' has the
meaning given to such term in section 1015.''; and
(2) in subsection (d) (as redesignated), by inserting ``or
(b)'' after ``subsection (a)''.
Passed the House of Representatives February 8, 2012.
Attest:
KAREN L. HAAS,
Clerk.