[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2 Engrossed in House (EH)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 H. R. 2

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
 To give the President item veto authority over appropriation Acts and 
                 targeted tax benefits in revenue Acts.

    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 ``Line Item Veto Act''.

SEC. 2. LINE ITEM VETO AUTHORITY.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding the provisions of part B of title 
X of The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, and 
subject to the provisions of this section, the President may rescind 
all or part of the dollar amount of any discretionary budget authority 
specified in an appropriation Act or conference report or joint 
explanatory statement accompanying a conference report on the Act, or 
veto any targeted tax benefit which is subject to the terms of this Act 
if the President--
            (1) determines that--
                    (A) such rescission or veto would help reduce the 
                Federal budget deficit;
                    (B) such rescission or veto will not impair any 
                essential Government functions; and
                    (C) such rescission or veto will not harm the 
                national interest; and
            (2) notifies the Congress of such rescission or veto by a 
        special message not later than ten calendar days (not including 
        Sundays) after the date of enactment of an appropriation Act 
        providing such budget authority or a revenue or reconciliation 
        Act containing a targeted tax benefit.
    (b) Deficit Reduction.--In each special message, the President may 
also propose to reduce the appropriate discretionary spending limit set 
forth in section 601(a)(2) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 by 
an amount that does not exceed the total amount of discretionary budget 
authority rescinded by that message.
    (c) Separate Messages.--The President shall submit a separate 
special message for each appropriation Act and for each revenue or 
reconciliation Act under this section.
    (d) Limitation.--No special message submitted by the President 
under this section may change any prohibition or limitation of 
discretionary budget authority set forth in any appropriation Act.
    (e) Special Rule for Fiscal Year 1995 Appropriation Measures.--
Notwithstanding subsection (a)(2), in the case of any unobligated 
discretionary budget authority provided by any appropriation Act for 
fiscal year 1995, the President may rescind all or part of that 
discretionary budget authority under the terms of this Act if the 
President notifies the Congress of such rescission by a special message 
not later than ten calendar days (not including Sundays) after the date 
of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. LINE ITEM VETO EFFECTIVE UNLESS DISAPPROVED.

    (a)(1) Any amount of budget authority rescinded under this Act as 
set forth in a special message by the President shall be deemed 
canceled unless, during the period described in subsection (b), a 
rescission/receipts disapproval bill making available all of the amount 
rescinded is enacted into law.
    (2) Any provision of law vetoed under this Act as set forth in a 
special message by the President shall be deemed repealed unless, 
during the period described in subsection (b), a rescission/receipts 
disapproval bill restoring that provision is enacted into law.
    (b) The period referred to in subsection (a) is--
            (1) a congressional review period of twenty calendar days 
        of session, beginning on the first calendar day of session 
        after the date of submission of the special message, during 
        which Congress must complete action on the rescission/receipts 
        disapproval bill and present such bill to the President for 
        approval or disapproval;
            (2) after the period provided in paragraph (1), an 
        additional ten days (not including Sundays) during which the 
        President may exercise his authority to sign or veto the 
        rescission/receipts disapproval bill; and
            (3) if the President vetoes the rescission/receipts 
        disapproval bill during the period provided in paragraph (2), 
        an additional five calendar days of session after the date of 
        the veto.
    (c) If a special message is transmitted by the President under this 
Act and the last session of the Congress adjourns sine die before the 
expiration of the period described in subsection (b), the rescission or 
veto, as the case may be, shall not take effect. The message shall be 
deemed to have been retransmitted on the first Monday in February of 
the succeeding Congress and the review period referred to in subsection 
(b) (with respect to such message) shall run beginning after such first 
day.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    As used in this Act:
            (1) The term ``rescission/receipts disapproval bill'' means 
        a bill or joint resolution which only disapproves, in whole, 
        rescissions of discretionary budget authority or only 
        disapproves vetoes of targeted tax benefits in a special 
        message transmitted by the President under this Act and--
                    (A) which does not have a preamble;
                    (B)(i) in the case of a special message regarding 
                rescissions, the matter after the enacting clause of 
                which is as follows: ``That Congress disapproves each 
                rescission of discretionary budget authority of the 
                President as submitted by the President in a special 
                message on ________'', the blank space being filled in 
                with the appropriate date and the public law to which 
                the message relates; and
                    (ii) in the case of a special message regarding 
                vetoes of targeted tax benefits, the matter after the 
                enacting clause of which is as follows: ``That Congress 
                disapproves each veto of targeted tax benefits of the 
                President as submitted by the President in a special 
                message on ________'', the blank space being filled in 
                with the appropriate date and the public law to which 
                the message relates; and
                    (C) the title of which is as follows: ``A bill 
                disapproving the recommendations submitted by the 
                President on ________'', the blank space being filled 
                in with the date of submission of the relevant special 
                message and the public law to which the message 
                relates.
            (2) The term ``calendar days of session'' shall mean only 
        those days on which both Houses of Congress are in session.
            (3) The term ``targeted tax benefit'' means any provision 
        of a revenue or reconciliation Act determined by the President 
        to provide a Federal tax deduction, credit, exclusion, 
        preference, or other concession to 100 or fewer beneficiaries. 
        Any partnership, limited partnership, trust, or S corporation, 
        and any subsidiary or affiliate of the same parent corporation, 
        shall be deemed and counted as a single beneficiary regardless 
        of the number of partners, limited partners, beneficiaries, 
        shareholders, or affiliated corporate entities.
            (4) The term ``appropriation Act'' means any general or 
        special appropriation Act, and any Act or joint resolution 
        making supplemental, deficiency, or continuing appropriations.

SEC. 5. CONGRESSIONAL CONSIDERATION OF LINE ITEM VETOES.

    (a) Presidential Special Message.--Whenever the President rescinds 
any budget authority as provided in this Act or vetoes any provision of 
law as provided in this Act, the President shall transmit to both 
Houses of Congress a special message specifying--
            (1) the amount of budget authority rescinded or the 
        provision vetoed;
            (2) any account, department, or establishment of the 
        Government to which such budget authority is available for 
        obligation, and the specific project or governmental functions 
        involved;
            (3) the reasons and justifications for the determination to 
        rescind budget authority or veto any provision pursuant to this 
        Act;
            (4) to the maximum extent practicable, the estimated 
        fiscal, economic, and budgetary effect of the rescission or 
        veto; and
            (5) all actions, circumstances, and considerations relating 
        to or bearing upon the rescission or veto and the decision to 
        effect the rescission or veto, and to the maximum extent 
        practicable, the estimated effect of the rescission upon the 
        objects, purposes, and programs for which the budget authority 
        is provided.
    (b) Transmission of Messages to House and Senate.--
            (1) Each special message transmitted under this Act shall 
        be transmitted to the House of Representatives and the Senate 
        on the same day, and shall be delivered to the Clerk of the 
        House of Representatives if the House is not in session, and to 
        the Secretary of the Senate if the Senate is not in session. 
        Each special message so transmitted shall be referred to the 
        appropriate committees of the House of Representatives and the 
        Senate. Each such message shall be printed as a document of 
        each House.
            (2) Any special message transmitted under this Act shall be 
        printed in the first issue of the Federal Register published 
        after such transmittal.
    (c) Introduction of Rescission/Receipts Disapproval Bills.--The 
procedures set forth in subsection (d) shall apply to any rescission/
receipts disapproval bill introduced in the House of Representatives 
not later than the third calendar day of session beginning on the day 
after the date of submission of a special message by the President 
under section 2.
    (d) Consideration in the House of Representatives.--(1) The 
committee of the House of Representatives to which a rescission/
receipts disapproval bill is referred shall report it without 
amendment, and with or without recommendation, not later than the 
eighth calendar day of session after the date of its introduction. If 
the committee fails to report the bill within that period, it is in 
order to move that the House discharge the committee from further 
consideration of the bill. A motion to discharge may be made only by an 
individual favoring the bill (but only after the legislative day on 
which a Member announces to the House the Member's intention to do so). 
The motion is highly privileged. Debate thereon shall be limited to not 
more than one hour, the time to be divided in the House equally between 
a proponent and an opponent. 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 agreed to or 
disagreed to shall not be in order.
    (2) After a rescission/receipts disapproval bill is reported or the 
committee has been discharged from further consideration, it is in 
order to move that the House resolve into the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union for consideration of the bill. All 
points of order against the bill and against consideration of the bill 
are waived. The motion is highly privileged. The previous question 
shall be considered as ordered on that motion to its adoption without 
intervening motion. A motion to reconsider the vote by which the motion 
is agreed to or disagreed to shall not be in order. During 
consideration of the bill in the Committee of the Whole, the first 
reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. General debate shall 
proceed without intervening motion, shall be confined to the bill, and 
shall not exceed two hours equally divided and controlled by a 
proponent and an opponent of the bill. No amendment to the bill is in 
order, except any Member may move to strike the disapproval of any 
rescission or rescissions of budget authority or any proposed repeal of 
a targeted tax benefit, as applicable, if supported by 49 other 
Members. At the conclusion of the consideration of the bill for 
amendment, the Committee shall rise and report the bill to the House. 
The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and 
amendments thereto to final passage without intervening motion. A 
motion to reconsider the vote on passage of the bill shall not be in 
order.
    (3) Appeals from the decisions of the Chair relating to the 
application of the rules of the House of Representatives to the 
procedure relating to a bill described in subsection (a) shall be 
decided without debate.
    (4) It shall not be in order to consider more than one bill 
described in subsection (c) or more than one motion to discharge 
described in paragraph (1) with respect to a particular special 
message.
    (5) Consideration of any rescission/receipts disapproval bill under 
this subsection is governed by the rules of the House of 
Representatives except to the extent specifically provided by the 
provisions of this Act.
    (e) Consideration in the Senate.--
            (1) Any rescission/receipts disapproval bill received in 
        the Senate from the House shall be considered in the Senate 
        pursuant to the provisions of this Act.
            (2) Debate in the Senate on any rescission/receipts 
        disapproval bill and debatable motions and appeals in 
        connection therewith, shall be limited to not more than ten 
        hours. The time shall be equally divided between, and 
        controlled by, the majority leader and the minority leader or 
        their designees.
            (3) Debate in the Senate on any debatable motions or appeal 
        in connection with such bill shall be limited to one hour, to 
        be equally divided between, and controlled by the mover and the 
        manager of the bill, except that in the event the manager of 
        the bill is in favor of any such motion or appeal, the time in 
        opposition thereto shall be controlled by the minority leader 
        or his designee. Such leaders, or either of them, may, from the 
        time under their control on the passage of the bill, allot 
        additional time to any Senator during the consideration of any 
        debatable motion or appeal.
            (4) A motion to further limit debate is not debatable. A 
        motion to recommit (except a motion to recommit with 
        instructions to report back within a specified number of days 
        not to exceed one, not counting any day on which the Senate is 
        not in session) is not in order.
    (f) Points of Order.--
            (1) It shall not be in order in the Senate to consider any 
        rescission/receipts disapproval bill that relates to any matter 
        other than the rescission of budget authority or veto of the 
        provision of law transmitted by the President under this Act.
            (2) It shall not be in order in the Senate to consider any 
        amendment to a rescission/receipts disapproval bill.
            (3) Paragraphs (1) and (2) may be waived or suspended in 
        the Senate only by a vote of three-fifths of the members duly 
        chosen and sworn.

SEC. 6. REPORTS OF THE GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE.

    Beginning on January 6, 1996, and at one-year intervals thereafter, 
the Comptroller General shall submit a report to each House of Congress 
which provides the following information:
            (1) A list of each proposed Presidential rescission of 
        discretionary budget authority and veto of a targeted tax 
        benefit submitted through special messages for the fiscal year 
        ending during the preceding calendar year, together with their 
        dollar value, and an indication of whether each rescission of 
        discretionary budget authority or veto of a targeted tax 
        benefit was accepted or rejected by Congress.
            (2) The total number of proposed Presidential rescissions 
        of discretionary budget authority and vetoes of a targeted tax 
        benefit submitted through special messages for the fiscal year 
        ending during the preceding calendar year, together with their 
        total dollar value.
            (3) The total number of Presidential rescissions of 
        discretionary budget authority or vetoes of a targeted tax 
        benefit submitted through special messages for the fiscal year 
        ending during the preceding calendar year and approved by 
        Congress, together with their total dollar value.
            (4) A list of rescissions of discretionary budget authority 
        initiated by Congress for the fiscal year ending during the 
        preceding calendar year, together with their dollar value, and 
an indication of whether each such rescission was accepted or rejected 
by Congress.
            (5) The total number of rescissions of discretionary budget 
        authority initiated and accepted by Congress for the fiscal 
        year ending during the preceding calendar year, together with 
        their total dollar value.
            (6) A summary of the information provided by paragraphs 
        (2), (3) and (5) for each of the ten fiscal years ending before 
        the fiscal year during this calendar year.

SEC. 7. JUDICIAL REVIEW.

    (a) Expedited Review.--
            (1) Any Member of Congress may bring an action, in the 
        United States District Court for the District of Columbia, for 
        declaratory judgment and injunctive relief on the ground that 
        any provision of this Act violates the Constitution.
            (2) A copy of any complaint in an action brought under 
        paragraph (1) shall be promptly delivered to the Secretary of 
        the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives, and 
        each House of Congress shall have the right to intervene in 
        such action.
            (3) Any action brought under paragraph (1) shall be heard 
        and determined by a three-judge court in accordance with 
        section 2284 of title 28, United States Code.
Nothing in this section or in any other law shall infringe upon the 
right of the House of Representatives to intervene in an action brought 
under paragraph (1) without the necessity of adopting a resolution to 
authorize such intervention.
    (b) Appeal to Supreme Court.--Notwithstanding any other provision 
of law, any order of the United States District Court for the District 
of Columbia which is issued pursuant to an action brought under 
paragraph (1) of subsection (a) shall be reviewable by appeal directly 
to the Supreme Court of the United States. Any such appeal shall be 
taken by a notice of appeal filed within 10 days after such order is 
entered; and the jurisdictional statement shall be filed within 30 days 
after such order is entered. No stay of an order issued pursuant to an 
action brought under paragraph (1) of subsection (a) shall be issued by 
a single Justice of the Supreme Court.
    (c) Expedited Consideration.--It shall be the duty of the District 
Court for the District of Columbia and the Supreme Court of the United 
States to advance on the docket and to expedite to the greatest 
possible extent the disposition of any matter brought under subsection 
(a).

            Passed the House of Representatives February 6, 1995.

            Attest:

                                                                 Clerk.
                                     







104th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                                H. R. 2

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

 To give the President item veto authority over appropriation Acts and 
                 targeted tax benefits in revenue Acts.