National Committee on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform Act of 2021

IA 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. J. RES. 41 To establish a National Committee on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 16, 2021 Mr. KINZINGER (for himself and Mr. PHILLIPS) submitted the following joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Rules JOINT RESOLUTION To establish a National Committee on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives 1 of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This joint resolution may be cited as the ‘‘National 4 Committee on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform Act of 5 2021’’. 6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF A JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE. 7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a joint 8 select committee of Congress to be known as the National 9 Committee on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (hereafter 10 known as the ‘‘Committee’’). 11 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HJ41.IH HJ41 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HJ 41 IH (b) GOAL.—The goal of the Committee shall be to 1 reduce the deficit by at least $3,250,000,000,000 over the 2 period of fiscal years 2021 to 2031. 3 SEC. 3. FUNCTIONS OF THE COMMITTEE. 4 The functions of the Committee are to— 5 (1) investigate policies to improve the fiscal sit- 6 uation in the medium term; 7 (2) achieve fiscal sustainability over the long 8 run; 9 (3) propose legislation designed to balance the 10 budget, excluding interest payments on the debt, by 11 2031; and 12 (4) issue a final report to the appropriate con- 13 gressional committees. 14 SEC. 4. MEMBERSHIP. 15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Committee shall be composed 16 of 12 members appointed pursuant to subsection (b). 17 (b) APPOINTMENT.—Members of the Committee shall 18 be appointed as follows: 19 (1) The majority leader of the Senate shall ap- 20 point three members from among Members of the 21 Senate. 22 (2) The minority leader of the Senate shall ap- 23 point three members from among Members of the 24 Senate. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HJ41.IH HJ41 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HJ 41 IH (3) The Speaker of the House of Representa- 1 tives shall appoint three members from among Mem- 2 bers of the House of Representatives. 3 (4) The Speaker, in consultation with the mi- 4 nority leader, of the House of Representatives, shall 5 appoint three members from among Members of the 6 House of Representatives. 7 (c) CO-CHAIRS.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be four Co- 9 Chairs of the Committee. The Co-Chairs shall be ap- 10 pointed not later than 14 calendar days after the 11 date of enactment of this joint resolution. The Co- 12 chairs shall be selected by: 13 (A) The majority leader of the Senate shall 14 appoint one Co-Chair from among Members of 15 the Senate. 16 (B) The minority leader of the Senate shall 17 appoint one Co-Chair from among Members of 18 the Senate. 19 (C) The Speaker of the House of Rep- 20 resentatives shall appoint one Co-Chair from 21 among Members of the House of Representa- 22 tives. 23 (D) The minority leader of the House of 24 Representatives shall appoint one Co-Chair 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HJ41.IH HJ41 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HJ 41 IH from among Members of the House of Rep- 1 resentatives. 2 (2) STAFF DIRECTOR.—The Co-Chairs, acting 3 jointly, shall hire the staff director of the Com- 4 mittee. 5 (d) DATE.—Members of the Committee shall be ap- 6 pointed not later than 14 calendar days after the date of 7 enactment of this joint resolution. 8 (e) PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT.—Members shall be 9 appointed for the life of the Committee. Any vacancy in 10 the Committee shall not affect its powers, but shall be 11 filled not later than 14 calendar days after the date on 12 which the vacancy occurs, in the same manner as the origi- 13 nal designation was made. If a member of the Committee 14 ceases to be a Member of the House of Representatives 15 or the Senate, as the case may be, the member is no longer 16 a member of the Committee and a vacancy shall exist. 17 SEC. 5. REPORTS. 18 (a) VOTE ON FINAL REPORT.—No later than 360 19 days after the date of enactment of this joint resolution, 20 the Committee shall vote on the approval of a final report 21 containing a set of recommendations to achieve the mis- 22 sion set forth in this resolution. 23 (b) SUPER MAJORITY REQUIREMENT.—The issuance 24 of a final report of the Committee shall require the ap- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HJ41.IH HJ41 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HJ 41 IH proval of not less than 8 of the 12 members of the Com- 1 mittee. 2 (c) TRANSMISSION OF REPORT AND LEGISLATIVE 3 LANGUAGE.—If the report and legislative language are 4 approved by the Committee pursuant to subsection (b), 5 the Committee shall submit the Committee report and leg- 6 islative language described in section 3 to the President, 7 the Vice President, the Speaker of the House of Rep- 8 resentatives, and the majority and minority leaders of each 9 House of Congress. 10 (d) REPORT AND LEGISLATIVE LANGUAGE TO BE 11 MADE PUBLIC.—Upon the approval or disapproval of the 12 Committee report and legislative language pursuant to 13 subsection (b), the Committee shall promptly make the full 14 report and legislative language, and a record of the vote, 15 available to the public. 16 SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATION. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—To enable the Committee to exer- 18 cise its powers, functions, and duties, there are authorized 19 to be disbursed by the Senate the actual and necessary 20 expenses of the Committee approved by the co-chairs, sub- 21 ject to the rules and regulations of the Senate and the 22 House. 23 (b) EXPENSES.—In carrying out its functions, the 24 Committee is authorized to incur expenses in the same 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HJ41.IH HJ41 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HJ 41 IH manner and under the same conditions as the Joint Eco- 1 nomic Committee is authorized by section 11 of Public 2 Law 79–304 (15 U.S.C. 1024(d)). 3 (c) QUORUM.—Eight members of the Committee 4 shall constitute a quorum for purposes of voting and 5 issuing a final report. Four members of the Committee 6 shall constitute a quorum for conducting a hearing or 7 markup. 8 (d) VOTING.— 9 (1) PROXY VOTING.—Proxy voting shall be al- 10 lowed on behalf of the members of the Committee 11 pursuant to House and Senate rules. 12 (2) CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE ESTI- 13 MATES.—The Congressional Budget Office shall pro- 14 vide estimates of the legislation in accordance with 15 sections 308(a) and 201(f) of the Congressional 16 Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 639(a) and 601(f)) 17 (including estimates of the effect of interest payment 18 on the debt). In addition, the Congressional Budget 19 Office shall provide information on the budgetary ef- 20 fect of the legislation beyond the year 2031. The 21 Committee may not vote on any version of the re- 22 port, recommendations, or legislative language un- 23 less such estimates are available for consideration by 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HJ41.IH HJ41 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HJ 41 IH all members of the Committee at least 48 hours 1 prior to the vote as certified by the Co-Chairs. 2 (e) MEETINGS.— 3 (1) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 21 cal- 4 endar days after the date of enactment of this joint 5 resolution, the Committee shall hold its first meet- 6 ing. The Committee may adopt its rules of procedure 7 at this time, which shall be published in the Con- 8 gressional Record. 9 (2) AGENDA.—The Co-Chairs of the Committee 10 shall provide an agenda to its members not less than 11 48 hours in advance of any meeting. 12 (f) HEARINGS.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Committee may, for the 14 purpose of carrying out this section, hold such hear- 15 ings, sit and act at such times and places, require 16 attendance of witnesses and production of books, pa- 17 pers, and documents, take such testimony, receive 18 such evidence, and administer such oaths as the 19 Committee considers advisable. 20 (2) HEARING PROCEDURES AND RESPONSIBIL- 21 ITIES OF CO-CHAIRS.— 22 (A) ANNOUNCEMENT.—The Co-Chairs of 23 the Committee shall make a public announce- 24 ment of the date, place, time, and subject mat- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HJ41.IH HJ41 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HJ 41 IH ter of any hearing to be conducted, not less 1 than 7 days in advance of such hearing, unless 2 all four Co-Chairs determine that there is good 3 cause to begin such hearing at an earlier date. 4 (B) WRITTEN STATEMENT.—A witness ap- 5 pearing before the Committee shall file a writ- 6 ten statement of proposed testimony at least 24 7 hours before the appearance of the witness, un- 8 less the requirement is waived by the Co-Chairs, 9 following their determination that there is good 10 cause for failure to comply with such require- 11 ment. 12 (g) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Upon written request 13 of the four Co-Chairs, a Federal agency shall provide tech- 14 nical assistance to the Committee in order for the Com- 15 mittee to carry out its duties. 16 SEC. 7. STAFF OF THE COMMITTEE. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Co-Chairs of the Committee 18 may jointly appoint and fix the compensation of staff as 19 they deem necessary, within the guidelines for employees 20 of the Senate and following all applicable rules and em- 21 ployment requirements of the Senate. 22 (b) ETHICAL STANDARDS.—Members on the Com- 23 mittee who serve in the House of Representatives shall be 24 governed by the ethics rules and requirements of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HJ41.IH HJ41 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HJ 41 IH House. Members of the Senate who serve on the Com- 1 mittee and staff of the Committee shall comply with the 2 ethics rules of the Senate. 3 SEC. 8. EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION OF COMMITTEE REC- 4 OMMENDATIONS. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—If approved by the majority re- 6 quired by section 5(b), the proposed legislative language 7 submitted pursuant to section 3 shall be introduced in the 8 Senate (by request) on the next day on which the Senate 9 is in session by the majority leader of the Senate or by 10 a Member of the Senate designated by the majority leader 11 of the Senate and shall be introduced in the House of Rep- 12 resentatives (by request) on the next legislative day by the 13 majority leader of the House or by a Member of the House 14 designated by the majority leader of the House. 15 (b) CONSIDERATION IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENT- 16 ATIVES.— 17 (1) REFERRAL AND REPORTING.—Any com- 18 mittee of the House of Representatives to which the 19 joint committee bill is referred shall report it to the 20 House without amendment not later than 7 session 21 days. If a committee fails to report the joint com- 22 mittee bill within that period, it shall be in order to 23 move that the House discharge the committee from 24 further consideration of the bill. Such a motion shall 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HJ41.IH HJ41 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HJ 41 IH not be in order after the last committee authorized 1 to consider the bill reports it to the House or after 2 the House has disposed of a motion to discharge the 3 bill. The previous question shall be considered as or- 4 dered on the motion to its adoption without inter- 5 vening motion except 20 minutes of debate equally 6 divided and controlled by the proponent and an op- 7 ponent. If such a motion is adopted, House shall 8 proceed immediately to consider the bill in accord- 9 ance with this subsection. A motion to reconsider the 10 vote by which the motion is disposed of shall not be 11 in order. 12 (2) PROCEEDING TO CONSIDERATION.—After 13 the last committee authorized to consider a joint 14 committee bill reports it to the House or has been 15 discharged (other than by motion) from its consider- 16 ation, it shall be in order to move to proceed to con- 17 sider the joint committee bill in the House. Such a 18 motion shall not be in order after the House has dis- 19 posed of a motion to proceed with respect to the 20 joint committee bill. The previous question shall be 21 considered as ordered on the motion to its adoption 22 without intervening motion. A motion to reconsider 23 the vote by which the motion is disposed of shall not 24 be in order. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HJ41.IH HJ41 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HJ 41 IH (3) CONSIDERATION.—The joint committee bill 1 shall be considered as read. All points of order 2 against the joint committee bill and against its con- 3 sideration are waived. The previous question shall be 4 considered as ordered on the joint committee bill to 5 its passage without intervening motion except 2 6 hours of debate equally divided and controlled by the 7 proponent and an opponent and one motion to limit 8 debate on the joint committee bill. A motion to re- 9 consider the vote on passage of the joint committee 10 bill shall not be in order. 11 (4) VOTE ON PASSAGE.—The vote on passage 12 of the joint committee bill shall occur not later than 13 7 session days after being reported. 14 (c) EXPEDITED PROCEDURE IN THE SENATE.— 15 (1) COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION.—A joint com- 16 mittee bill introduced in the Senate under subsection 17 (a) shall be referred to the committee or committees 18 of jurisdiction, which committees shall report the bill 19 without any revision and with a favorable rec- 20 ommendation, an unfavorable recommendation, or 21 without recommendation, not later than 7 session 22 days. If any committee fails to report the bill within 23 that period, that committee shall be automatically 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HJ41.IH HJ41 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HJ 41 IH discharged from consideration of the bill, and the 1 bill shall be placed on the appropriate calendar. 2 (2) MOTION TO PROCEED.—Notwithstanding 3 Rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, it 4 is in order, not later than 2 days of session after the 5 date on which a joint committee bill is reported or 6 on which Committee(s) are discharged from th [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]