[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5788 Introduced in House (IH)]


109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5788

To amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to increase awareness of 
 accrual and long-term budgeting, and to express the sense of Congress 
that the President's annual budget submissions should consider accrual 
                        and long-term budgeting.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 13, 2006

  Mr. Cooper introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Budget, and in addition to the Committee on 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 amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to increase awareness of 
 accrual and long-term budgeting, and to express the sense of Congress 
that the President's annual budget submissions should consider accrual 
                        and long-term budgeting.

    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 ``Honest Deficit Recognition Act of 
2006''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) accrual accounting is accepted in the business 
        community as the most honest and realistic way to account for 
        revenues and expenses;
            (2) the budget of the United States Government is currently 
        formulated using cash accounting, which provides an inaccurate 
        view of the United States' true financial position;
            (3) the coming generational shift in the United States 
        creates dire need to reconcile spending and tax programs;
            (4) since 1997, the Department of Treasury, in cooperation 
        with the Government Accountability Office, has produced an 
        independently audited statement for the United States 
        Government, which provides a more accurate view of the 
        financial position of the Government than does the current 
        congressional budget resolution;
            (5) the honest deficit for the United States Government in 
        fiscal year 2005 was $760 billion, over twice the $318 billion 
        cash deficit reported by the Office of Management and Budget 
        and the Congressional Budget Office;
            (6) although the cash deficits of the United States 
        Government have been widely reported by the Office of 
        Management and Budget and the Congressional Budget Office, the 
        actual net operating cost for the each of the past nine fiscal 
        years have been as follows:
                    (A) 1997: $2.6 billion;
                    (B) 1998: $110 billion;
                    (C) 1999: -$101 billion (surplus);
                    (D) 2000: -$40 billion (surplus);
                    (E) 2001: $515 billion;
                    (F) 2002: $365 billion;
                    (G) 2003: $668 billion;
                    (H) 2004: $616 billion; and
                    (I) 2005: $760 billion;
            (7) according to the ``Fiscal Year 2005 Financial Report of 
        the United States Government'', the total liability of the 
        United States Government, explicit and implicit, was nearly $50 
        trillion at the end of fiscal year 2005;
            (8) according to the testimony of the Comptroller General 
        of the United States Government, David Walker, February 15, 
        2006, before the Committee on the Budget of the House of 
        Representatives, the total liability of the United States 
        Government, explicit and implicit, increased over $3 trillion 
        during fiscal year 2005, more than the entire budget of the 
        United States Government for fiscal year 2007; and
            (9) it is imperative that the congressional budget 
        resolution and the President's budget request both consider 
        these important facts if the United States is to stay the 
        world's strongest nation.

SEC. 3. RECOGNITION OF HONEST DEFICIT.

    Section 301(e)(2) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is 
amended by striking ``and'' at the end of subparagraph (E), by striking 
the period and inserting ``; and'' at the end of subparagraph (F), and 
by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
                    ``(G) information discussing the most recent 
                financial report of the United States Government 
                prepared pursuant to section 331(e)(1) of title 31, 
                United States Code, including a summary of the net 
                operating cost, net position, and long-term liabilities 
                of the Government as described in such report.''.

SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that, in the preparation of the annual 
budget submission under section 1105(a) of title 31, United States 
Code, the President should take into account the most recent financial 
report of the United States Government, especially any information 
regarding the Government's net operating cost, net position, and long-
term liabilities, and that the President should include a discussion of 
this information in each such submission.
                                 <all>