3.0.0 3296 2023-01-11T13:23:58Z 2023-01-11T13:23:58Z House H HR 2013-10-16 113 From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]By Mr. GALLEGO:H.R. 3296.Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuantto the following:THE U.S. CONSTITUTION ARTICLE I, SECTION 8:POWERS OF CONGRESS CLAUSE 18The Congress shall have power . . . To make all laws whichshall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution theforegoing powers, and all other powers vested by thisConstitution in the government of the United States, or inany department or officer thereof.[Page H6643]]]> hswm00 Ways and Means Committee House Standing Referred to 2013-10-16T14:01:00Z 2013-10-16 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. IntroReferral H11100 2 House floor actions hswm00 Ways and Means Committee 2013-10-16 Introduced in House IntroReferral Intro-H 9 Library of Congress 2013-10-16 Introduced in House IntroReferral 1000 9 Library of Congress G000572 Rep. Gallego, Pete P. [D-TX-23] Pete Gallego D TX P. 23 N Economics and Public Finance Budget deficits and national debt Congressional oversight Defense spending Department of Defense Disaster relief and insurance Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management Government trust funds Medicare Military personnel and dependents Securities Social security and elderly assistance U.S. and foreign investments Veterans' pensions and compensation Economics and Public Finance 00 2013-10-16 Introduced in House 2013-11-14T22:38:29Z Pay America First Act - Makes this Act effective if the federal government defaults on its legal obligations for the first time in its history, as evidenced by one or more of certain actions taken by the Secretary of the Treasury.

Counts among such actions withholding from making payments of debt obligations to foreign bond holders, including those in China, Iran, and the Cayman Islands, before:

  • making a payment of a debt obligation to the Social Security and Medicare trust funds or redeeming a debt obligation held by those trust funds;
  • redeeming a debt obligation held by a trust fund providing veterans benefits, including the Veterans Special Life Insurance Fund, the Veterans Reopened Insurance Fund, the Armed Forces Retirement Home Fund, and the Court of Veteran Appeals Retirement Fund;
  • redeeming a debt obligation held by an intragovernmental fund to assist Americans during a natural disaster, including reserves for the National Flood Insurance Program and other disaster relief funds appropriated to the President; or
  • making a payment of debt obligations to the Department of Defense (DOD), including civilian and uniformed personnel (Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force), military active pay and military retirement benefits, and military benefits to their families.

Requires the Secretary, after exercising such authority, to report each week to Congress on the payments issued and amount of revenues incoming and remaining reserves for upcoming payments issued.

]]> Pay America First Act Display Title Pay America First Act Official Title as Introduced To authorize the United States Department of Treasury to prioritize certain payments in the event that the debt limit is reached. Introduced in House IH Short Titles as Introduced Pay America First Act Introduced in House 2013-10-16T04:00:00Z https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-113hr3296ih/xml/BILLS-113hr3296ih.xml 2013-10-16 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress This file contains bill summaries and statuses for federal legislation. A bill summary describes the most significant provisions of a piece of legislation and details the effects the legislative text may have on current law and federal programs. Bill summaries are authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. As stated in Public Law 91-510 (2 USC 166 (d)(6)), one of the duties of CRS is "to prepare summaries and digests of bills and resolutions of a public general nature introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives". For more information, refer to the User Guide that accompanies this file.