[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 595 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 595

       To provide for expedited rescissions of budget authority.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 19, 2007

     Mr. Udall of Colorado (for himself and Mr. Ryan of Wisconsin) 
 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 provide for expedited rescissions of budget authority.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE, FINDINGS, AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Stimulating 
Leadership in Limiting Expenditures (or `SLICE') Act of 2007''.
    (b) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) the Congressional Budget Office has projected that 
        unless current laws and policies are changed Federal 
        expenditures will exceed revenues during and after fiscal year 
        2007, which will require the Government to borrow funds to 
        offset these deficits;
            (2) substantial Federal appropriations will continue to be 
        required for ongoing costs of national defense and homeland 
        security, as well as for other urgent purposes;
            (3) rescinding previously-mandated spending on lower-
        priority items would help reduce the extent to which such 
        necessary appropriations for urgent purposes would require 
        increases in the national debt that must be repaid, with 
        interest, in the future; and
            (4) however, under current law, while the President can 
        propose rescinding such spending, the Congress is not required 
        to act on any such proposals by the President.
    (c) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to enable the President to 
require Congress to debate and vote on certain presidential proposals 
for reducing spending.

SEC. 2. EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION OF CERTAIN PROPOSED RESCISSIONS.

    (a) In General.--Part B of title X of the Congressional Budget and 
Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 681 et seq.) is amended by 
redesignating sections 1013 through 1017 as sections 1014 through 1018, 
respectively, and inserting after section 1012 the following new 
section:

``SEC. 1013. EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION OF CERTAIN PROPOSED RESCISSIONS.

    ``(a) Proposed Rescission of Budget Authority.--In addition to the 
method of rescinding budget authority specified in section 1012, the 
President may propose, at the time and in the manner provided in 
subsection (b), the rescission of any budget authority provided in an 
appropriation Act. Funds made available for obligation under this 
procedure may not be proposed for rescission again under this section 
or section 1012.
    ``(b) Transmittal of Special Message.--
            ``(1) Not later than 3 calendar days after the date of 
        enactment of an appropriation Act, the President may transmit 
        to Congress one special message proposing to rescind amounts of 
        budget authority provided in that Act and include with that 
        special message a draft bill that, if enacted, would only 
        rescind that budget authority. That bill shall clearly identify 
        the amount of budget authority that is proposed to be rescinded 
        for each program, project, or activity to which that budget 
        authority relates.
            ``(2) In the case of an appropriation Act that includes 
        accounts within the jurisdiction of more than one subcommittee 
        of the Committee on Appropriations, the President in proposing 
        to rescind budget authority under this section shall send a 
        separate special message and accompanying draft bill for 
        accounts within the jurisdiction of each such subcommittee.
            ``(3) Each special message shall specify, with respect to 
        the budget authority proposed to be rescinded, the matters 
        referred to in paragraphs (1) through (5) of section 1012(a).
    ``(c) Procedures for Expedited Consideration.--
            ``(1)(A) Before the close of the second legislative day of 
        the House of Representatives after the date of receipt of a 
        special message transmitted to Congress under subsection (b), 
        the majority leader or minority leader of the House of 
        Representatives shall introduce (by request) the draft bill 
        accompanying that special message. If the bill is not 
        introduced as provided in the preceding sentence, then, on the 
        third legislative day of the House of Representatives after the 
        date of receipt of that special message, any Member of that 
        House may introduce the bill.
            ``(B) The bill shall be referred to the Committee on 
        Appropriations of the House of Representatives. The Committee 
        shall report the bill without substantive revision and with or 
        without recommendation. The bill shall be reported not later 
        than the seventh legislative day of that House after the date 
        of receipt of that special message. If the Committee on 
        Appropriations fails to report the bill within that period, 
        that committee shall be automatically discharged from 
        consideration of the bill, and the bill shall be placed on the 
        appropriate calendar.
            ``(C) A vote on final passage of the bill referred to in 
        subparagraph (B) shall be taken in the House of Representatives 
        on or before the close of the 10th legislative day of that 
        House after the date of the introduction of the bill in that 
        House. If the bill is passed, the Clerk of the House of 
        Representatives shall cause the bill to be engrossed, 
        certified, and transmitted to the Senate within one calendar 
        day of the day on which the bill is passed.
            ``(2)(A) A motion in the House of Representatives to 
        proceed to the consideration of a bill under this section shall 
        be highly privileged and not debatable. An amendment to the 
        motion shall not be in order, nor shall it be in order to move 
        to reconsider the vote by which the motion is agreed to or 
        disagreed to.
            ``(B) Debate in the House of Representatives on a bill 
        under this section shall not exceed 4 hours, which shall be 
        divided equally between those favoring and those opposing the 
        bill. A motion further to limit debate shall not be debatable. 
        It shall not be in order to move to recommit a bill under this 
        section or to move to reconsider the vote by which the bill is 
        agreed to or disagreed to.
            ``(C) Appeals from decisions of the Chair relating to the 
        application of the Rules of the House of Representatives to the 
        procedure relating to a bill under this section shall be 
        decided without debate.
            ``(3)(A) A bill transmitted to the Senate pursuant to 
        paragraph (1) (C) or (E) shall be referred to its Committee on 
        Appropriations. The committee shall report the bill either 
        without substantive revision or with an amendment in the nature 
        of a substitute, and with or without recommendation. The bill 
        shall be reported not later than the seventh legislative day of 
        the Senate after it receives the bill. A committee failing to 
        report the bill within such period shall be automatically 
        discharged from consideration of the bill, and the bill shall 
        be placed upon the appropriate calendar.
            ``(B) A vote on final passage of a bill transmitted to the 
        Senate shall be taken on or before the close of the 10th 
        legislative day of the Senate after the date on which the bill 
        is transmitted.
            ``(4)(A) A motion in the Senate to proceed to the 
        consideration of a bill under this section shall be privileged 
        and not debatable. An amendment to the motion shall not be in 
        order, nor shall it be in order to move to reconsider the vote 
        by which the motion is agreed to or disagreed to.
            ``(B) Debate in the Senate on a bill under this section, 
        and all amendments thereto and all debatable motions and 
        appeals in connection therewith, shall not exceed 10 hours. The 
        time shall be equally divided between, and controlled by, the 
        majority leader and the minority leader or their designees.
            ``(C) Debate in the Senate on any debatable motion or 
        appeal in connection with a bill under this section shall be 
        limited to not more than 1 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 time under their 
        control on the passage of a bill, allot additional time to any 
        Senator during the consideration of any debatable motion or 
        appeal.
            ``(D) A motion in the Senate to further limit debate on a 
        bill under this section is not debatable. A motion to recommit 
        a bill under this section is not in order.
    ``(d) Amendments and Divisions Generally Prohibited.--(1) Except as 
provided by paragraph (2), no amendment to a bill considered under this 
section or to a substitute amendment referred to in paragraph (2) shall 
be in order in either the House of Representatives or the Senate. It 
shall not be in order to demand a division of the question in the House 
of Representatives (or in a Committee of the Whole) or in the Senate. 
No motion to suspend the application of this subsection shall be in 
order in either House, nor shall it be in order in either House to 
suspend the application of this subsection by unanimous consent.
    ``(2)(A) It shall be in order in the Senate to consider an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute reported by the Committee on 
Appropriations under subsection (c)(3)(A) that complies with 
subparagraph (B).
    ``(B) It shall only be in order in the Senate to consider any 
amendment described in subparagraph (A) if--
            ``(i) the amendment contains only rescissions to the same 
        appropriation Act as the bill that it is amending contained; 
        and
            ``(ii) the aggregate amount of budget authority rescinded 
        equals or exceeds the aggregate amount of budget authority 
        rescinded in the bill that it is amending;
unless that amendment consists solely of the text of the bill as 
introduced in the House of Representatives that makes rescissions to 
carry out the applicable special message of the President.
    ``(C) It shall not be in order in the Senate to consider a bill or 
an amendment in the nature of a substitute reported by the Committee on 
Appropriations under subsection (c)(3)(A) unless the Senate has voted 
upon and rejected an amendment in the nature of a substitute consisting 
solely of the text of the bill as introduced in the House of 
Representatives that makes rescissions to carry out the applicable 
special message of the President.
    ``(e) Requirement to Make Available for Obligation.--Any amount of 
budget authority proposed to be rescinded in a special message 
transmitted to Congress under subsection (b) shall be made available 
for obligation on the earlier of--
            ``(1) the day after the date upon which the House of 
        Representatives defeats the bill transmitted with that special 
        message rescinding the amount proposed to be rescinded and (if 
        reported by the Committee on Appropriations) the alternative 
        bill; or
            ``(2) the day after the date upon which the Senate rejects 
        a bill or amendment in the nature of a substitute consisting 
        solely of the text of the bill as introduced in the House of 
        Representatives that makes rescissions to carry out the 
        applicable special message of the President.
    ``(f) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
            ``(1) the term `appropriation Act' means any general or 
        special appropriation Act, and any Act or joint resolution 
        making supplemental, deficiency, or continuing appropriations; 
        and
            ``(2) the term `legislative day' means, with respect to 
        either House of Congress, any calendar day during which that 
        House is in session.''.
    (b) Exercise of Rulemaking Powers.--Section 904 of such Act (2 
U.S.C. 621 note) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and 1017'' in subsection (a) and 
        inserting ``1013, and 1018''; and
            (2) by striking ``section 1017'' in subsection (d) and 
        inserting ``sections 1013 and 1018''; and
    (c) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Section 1011 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 682(5)) is amended--
                    (A) in paragraph (4), by striking ``1013'' and 
                inserting ``1014''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (5)--
                            (i) by striking ``1016'' and inserting 
                        ``1017''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``1017(b)(1)'' and 
                        inserting ``1018(b)(1)''.
            (2) Section 1015 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 685) (as 
        redesignated by section 2(a)) is amended--
                    (A) by striking ``1012 or 1013'' each place it 
                appears and inserting ``1012, 1013, or 1014'';
                    (B) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ``1012'' and 
                inserting ``1012 or 1013'';
                    (C) in subsection (b)(2), by striking ``1013'' and 
                inserting ``1014''; and
                    (D) in subsection (e)(2)--
                            (i) by striking ``and'' at the end of 
                        subparagraph (A);
                            (ii) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as 
                        subparagraph (C);
                            (iii) by striking ``1013'' in subparagraph 
                        (C) (as so redesignated) and inserting 
                        ``1014''; and
                            (iv) by inserting after subparagraph (A) 
                        the following new subparagraph:
                    ``(B) he has transmitted a special message under 
                section 1013 with respect to a proposed rescission; 
                and''.
            (3) Section 1016 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 686) (as 
        redesignated by section 2(a)) is amended by striking ``1012 or 
        1013'' each place it appears and inserting ``1012, 1013, or 
        1014''.
    (d) Clerical Amendments.--The table of sections for subpart B of 
title X of such Act is amended--
            (1) by redesignating the items relating to sections 1013 
        through 1017 as items relating to sections 1014 through 1018; 
        and
            (2) by inserting after the item relating to section 1012 
        the following new item:

``Sec. 1013. Expedited consideration of certain proposed 
                            rescissions.''.

SEC. 3. APPLICATION.

    (a) In General.--Section 1013 of the Congressional Budget and 
Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (as added by section 2) shall apply to 
amounts of budget authority provided by appropriation Acts (as defined 
in subsection (f) of such section) that are enacted during the One 
Hundred Tenth Congress.
    (b) Special Transition Rule.--Within 3 calendar days after the 
beginning of the One Hundred Eleventh Congress, the President may 
retransmit a special message, in the manner provided in section 1013(b) 
of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (as 
added by section 2), proposing to rescind only those amounts of budget 
authority that were contained in any special message to the One Hundred 
Tenth Congress which that Congress failed to consider because of its 
sine die adjournment before the close of the time period set forth in 
such section 1013 for consideration of those proposed rescissions. A 
draft bill shall accompany that special message that, if enacted, would 
only rescind that budget authority. Before the close of the second 
legislative day of the House of Representatives after the date of 
receipt of that special message, the majority leader or minority leader 
of the House of Representatives shall introduce (by request) the draft 
bill accompanying that special message. If the bill is not introduced 
as provided in the preceding sentence, then, on the third legislative 
day of the House of Representatives after the date of receipt of that 
special message, any Member of that House may introduce the bill. The 
House of Representatives and the Senate shall proceed to consider that 
bill in the manner provided in such section 1013.
                                 <all>