[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 55 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 55

    To express the sense of Congress regarding the use of a safety 
  mechanism to link long-term Federal budget surplus reductions with 
                       actual budgetary outcomes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 7, 2001

 Mrs. Tauscher (for herself, Mr. Houghton, Mr. Roemer, Mr. Upton, Mr. 
 Kind, Mr. Castle, Mr. Davis of Florida, Mr. Greenwood, Mr. Ford, Mr. 
Moran of Virginia, Mr. Israel, and Ms. Sanchez) submitted the following 
   concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the 
                                 Budget

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
    To express the sense of Congress regarding the use of a safety 
  mechanism to link long-term Federal budget surplus reductions with 
                       actual budgetary outcomes.

Whereas the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has projected that the Federal 
        unified budget surplus over the 10-year period from fiscal year 2002 to 
        fiscal year 2011 will total $5,600,000,000,000;
Whereas the projected Federal on-budget surplus over the same period of time is 
        projected to be $3,100,000,000,000, which includes a surplus for the 
        medicare program in the Federal Hospital Insurance (HI) Trust Fund of 
        $400,000,000,000;
Whereas the projected surplus provides Congress with an opportunity to address a 
        variety of pressing national needs, including Federal debt reduction, 
        tax relief, and increased investment in the shared priorities of the 
        American people, such as national defense, science, health, education, 
        retirement security, and other areas;
Whereas although CBO projections properly serve as the basis for budgetary 
        policies in the Congress, actual economic and fiscal outcomes may differ 
        substantially from projections;
Whereas for example, as CBO indicates in its January 2001 budget update, if the 
        future record is like the past, there is about a 50 percent chance that 
        errors in the assumptions about economic and technical factors will 
        cause CBO's projection of the annual surplus 5 years ahead to miss the 
        actual outcome by more than 1.8 percent of the Gross Domestic Product, 
        with a resulting difference in the surplus estimate of $245,000,000,000 
        in the fifth year alone;
Whereas where appropriate, long-term changes to tax and spending policy that are 
        predicated on the existence of significant budget surpluses should be 
        linked to actual fiscal performance, such as meeting specified debt 
        reduction or on-budget surplus targets, to ensure the Federal Government 
        does not incur on-budget deficits or increase the publicly-held debt;
Whereas during his testimony before the Senate Budget Committee on January 25, 
        2001, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan stated, ``In recognition 
        of the uncertainties in the economic and budget outlook, it is important 
        that any long-term tax plan, or spending initiative for that matter, be 
        phased in. Conceivably, it could include provisions that, in some way, 
        would limit surplus-reducing actions if specified targets for the budget 
        surplus and Federal debt were not satisfied. Only if the probability was 
        very low that prospective tax cuts or new outlay initiatives would send 
        the on-budget accounts into deficit, would unconditional initiatives 
        appear prudent'', and he reiterated this testimony before the Senate 
        Banking Committee on February 13, 2001; and
Whereas in light of Chairman Greenspan's testimony and the uncertainty of 
        surplus projections, while Members of Congress agree that the resources 
        are available to address many pressing national needs in the 107th 
        Congress, Congress should exercise great caution and not pass tax cuts 
        or spending increases that are so large that they will necessitate 
        future tax increases or significant spending cuts if anticipated budget 
        surpluses fail to materialize: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) with respect to any long-term, Federal surplus-reducing 
        actions adopted by the 107th Congress pursuant to the 
        Congressional Budget Office's projected surpluses, such actions 
        shall include a legislative ``trigger'' or ``safety'' mechanism 
        that links the phase-in of such actions to actual budgetary 
        outcomes over the next 10 fiscal years;
            (2) this legislative mechanism shall outline specific 
        legislative or automatic action that shall be taken should 
        specified levels of Federal debt reduction or on-budget 
        surpluses not be realized, in order to maintain fiscal 
        discipline and continue the reduction of our national debt;
            (3) the legislative mechanism shall be applied 
        prospectively and not repeal or cancel any previously enacted 
        implemented portion of a surplus-reducing action;
            (4) enactment of a ``trigger'' or ``safety'' mechanism 
        shall not prevent Congress from passing other legislation 
        affecting the level of Federal revenues or spending should 
        future economic performance dictate such action; and
            (5) this legislative mechanism will ensure fiscal 
        discipline because it restrains both Government spending and 
        tax cuts, by requiring that the budget is balanced and that 
        specified debt reduction targets are met.
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