Debt Ceiling Alternative Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5083 To provide that, in the event that the Secretary of the Treasury estimates that the debt ceiling will be reached, the Secretary is required to issue GDP-linked bonds to pay the principal and interest on the public debt and the President is authorized to request the rescission of certain unobligated balances and sell certain mortgage-related assets, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 14, 2019 Mr. SCHWEIKERT (for himself, Mr. NORMAN, Mr. MEADOWS, and Mr. GAETZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Serv- ices, the Budget, and Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To provide that, in the event that the Secretary of the Treasury estimates that the debt ceiling will be reached, the Secretary is required to issue GDP-linked bonds to pay the principal and interest on the public debt and the President is authorized to request the rescission of certain unobligated balances and sell certain mortgage- related assets, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:28 Nov 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5083.IH H5083 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 5083 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Debt Ceiling Alter- 2 native Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. ESTIMATE THAT BORROWING WILL REACH THE 4 STATUTORY DEBT LIMIT. 5 If the Secretary of the Treasury makes an estimate 6 of net marketable borrowing for a quarter that estimates 7 that the debt of the United States, as defined in section 8 3101 of title 31, United States Code, will reach the statu- 9 tory limit during such quarter, the Secretary shall imme- 10 diately notify Congress of such estimate, and the Sec- 11 retary of the Treasury shall issue bonds described under 12 section 3 and the President may take the actions described 13 under sections 4 and 5. 14 SEC. 3. ISSUANCE OF GDP-LINKED BONDS TO PAY THE 15 PRINCIPAL AND INTEREST ON THE PUBLIC 16 DEBT. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Upon the issuance of a notifica- 18 tion to Congress under section 2, the Secretary of the 19 Treasury shall issue bonds— 20 (1) with an interest rate linked to the nominal 21 gross domestic product of the United States; and 22 (2) the proceeds from which may only be used 23 to pay the principal and interest on obligations of 24 the United States held by the public or the Old-Age 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:28 Nov 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5083.IH H5083 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 5083 IH and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and Disability 1 Insurance Trust Fund. 2 (b) OBLIGATIONS EXEMPT FROM PUBLIC DEBT 3 LIMIT.—Obligations issued under subsection (a) shall not 4 be taken into account in applying the limitation in section 5 3101(b) of title 31, United States Code, to the extent that 6 such obligation would otherwise cause the limitation in 7 section 3101(b) of title 31, United States Code, to be ex- 8 ceeded. 9 (c) REPORT ON CERTAIN ACTIONS.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary of the 11 Treasury issues bonds under subsection (a), the Sec- 12 retary shall thereafter submit a report each week, 13 until all such bonds are redeemed, providing an ac- 14 counting relating to— 15 (A) the principal on mature obligations 16 and interest that is due or accrued of the 17 United States; and 18 (B) any bonds issued pursuant to sub- 19 section (a). 20 (2) SUBMISSION.—The report required by para- 21 graph (1) shall be submitted to the Committee on 22 Ways and Means of the House of Representatives 23 and the Committee on Finance of the Senate. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:28 Nov 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5083.IH H5083 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 5083 IH SEC. 4. RESCISSION OF UNOBLIGATED BALANCES. 1 (a) IDENTIFICATION OF UNOBLIGATED BALANCES.— 2 Upon the issuance of a notification under section 2, the 3 President may issue a message to Congress containing a 4 list of budget authority proposed to be rescinded. Such 5 list may only contain items related to unobligated balances 6 of funds made available before the beginning of the fiscal 7 year during which such notification is made. 8 (b) EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION OF RESCISSIONS.— 9 A message issued pursuant to subsection (a) shall be 10 deemed a special message for purposes of the expedited 11 procedures described under section 1017 of the Congres- 12 sional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (2 13 U.S.C. 688). 14 SEC. 5. SALE OF MORTGAGE-RELATED ASSETS. 15 Upon the issuance of a notification to Congress under 16 section 2, the President may order the sale of the following 17 assets, with the proceeds from such sales deposited in the 18 Treasury: 19 (1) On-balance sheet non-performing mortgages 20 of the Federal National Mortgage Association. 21 (2) Other mortgages owned or held by the Fed- 22 eral National Mortgage Association. 23 (3) Real estate owned properties of the Federal 24 National Mortgage Association. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:28 Nov 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5083.IH H5083 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 5083 IH (4) On-balance sheet non-performing mortgages 1 of the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. 2 (5) Other mortgages owned or held by the Fed- 3 eral Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. 4 (6) Real estate owned properties of the Federal 5 Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. 6 (7) Mortgage-backed securities held by the 7 Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System 8 or any Federal reserve bank. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:28 Nov 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5083.IH H5083 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS