Federal

DEBT Act

Source: Congress.gov · 760 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill requires the Secretary of the Treasury to appear before Congress before the national debt reaches its legal limit or before using special financial actions to prevent the country from defaulting on its debts. The Secretary must explain what special actions will be taken and how much they will cost.

Who It Affects

The Secretary of the Treasury is directly affected. Congress members on the Committee on Ways and Means in the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance in the Senate are directly affected.

Key Provisions

• The Secretary of the Treasury must appear before two Congressional committees between 21 and 60 days before the debt limit is reached or before taking extraordinary measures to prevent default. (Sec. 2(a)) • The Secretary must provide a detailed explanation of any extraordinary measures that will be taken to fund federal government obligations and estimate the administrative cost of taking those measures. (Sec. 2(a)(1)) • The Secretary must explain any reversal of extraordinary measures and any other changes to how federal government obligations will be funded after the debt limit increases. (Sec. 2(a)(2)) • Extraordinary measures are defined as nine specific actions, including suspending certain Treasury security sales, temporarily halting investments in federal retirement and postal funds, and issuing debt through the Federal Financing Bank. (Sec. 2(b))

What Changes

The bill adds a new requirement to federal law. Currently, the Secretary of the Treasury has no obligation to appear before Congress before taking these special financial actions. This bill creates that obligation.

Important Definitions

"Extraordinary measures" means nine specific financial actions the Treasury Department can take, including suspending sales of certain Treasury securities, temporarily stopping investments in Civil Service retirement funds, postal service retiree health funds, and other government investment accounts.

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 846 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 FEBRUARY 6, 2023 Mr. SCHWEIKERT (for himself, Mr. SMITH of Nebraska, and Mr. SMUCKER) 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- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Debt Explanation Be- 4 fore Taxwriters Act’’ or the ‘‘DEBT Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:51 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H846.IH H846 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 846 IH SEC. 2. SECRETARY OF TREASURY APPEARANCE BEFORE 1 CONGRESS BEFORE REACHING DEBT LIMIT 2 OR EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES TAKEN. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 31 of 4 title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 5 end the following: 6 ‘‘§ 3131. Secretary of Treasury appearance before 7 Congress before reaching debt limit or 8 extraordinary measures taken 9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not more than sixty days and 10 not less than twenty-one days prior to any date on which 11 the Secretary of the Treasury anticipates either that the 12 public debt will reach the limit specified under section 13 3101, as modified by section 3101A, or that extraordinary 14 measures will be taken to prevent the United States from 15 defaulting on its obligations, the Secretary shall appear 16 before the Committee on Ways and Means of the House 17 of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the 18 Senate, to submit a detailed explanation of— 19 ‘‘(1) any extraordinary measures the Secretary 20 will take to fund Federal government obligations 21 prior to such increase and an estimate of the admin- 22 istrative cost of taking such extraordinary measures; 23 and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:51 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H846.IH H846 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 846 IH ‘‘(2) any reversal of such measures, and any 1 other changes taken in the funding of Federal gov- 2 ernment obligations, as a result of such increase. 3 ‘‘(b) EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES DEFINED.—For 4 purposes of this section, the term ‘extraordinary measures’ 5 means each of the following: 6 ‘‘(1) Suspending sales of State and Local Gov- 7 ernment Series Treasury securities. 8 ‘‘(2) Redeeming existing, and suspending new, 9 investments of the Civil Service Retirement and Dis- 10 ability Fund and the Postal Service Retiree Health 11 Benefits Fund. 12 ‘‘(3) Suspending reinvestment of the Govern- 13 ment Securities Investment Fund. 14 ‘‘(4) Suspending reinvestment of the Exchange 15 Stabilization Fund. 16 ‘‘(5) Directing or approving the issuance of 17 debt by the Federal Financing Bank for the purpose 18 of entering into an exchange transaction for debt 19 that is subject to the limit under this section. 20 ‘‘(6) Suspending investments in the Govern- 21 ment Securities Investment Fund of the Thrift Sav- 22 ings Fund. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:51 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H846.IH H846 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 846 IH ‘‘(7) Suspending investments in the stabiliza- 1 tion fund established under section 5302 of title 31, 2 United States Code. 3 ‘‘(8) Suspending new investments in the Civil 4 Service Retirement and Disability Fund or the Post- 5 al Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund. 6 ‘‘(9) Selling or redeeming securities, obligations, 7 or other invested assets of the Civil Service Retire- 8 ment and Disability Fund or the Postal Service Re- 9 tiree Health Benefits Fund before maturity.’’. 10 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of analysis 11 for chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, is amended 12 by inserting after the item relating to section 3130 the 13 following: 14 ‘‘3131. Secretary of Treasury appearance before Congress before reaching debt limit or extraordinary measures taken.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:51 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H846.IH H846 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB

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