[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 907 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 907

To establish procedures for the expedited consideration by Congress of 
    certain proposals by the President to rescind amounts of budget 
                               authority.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 28, 2009

     Mr. Carper (for himself, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Bayh, Mr. Gregg, Mrs. 
McCaskill, Mr. Risch, Mr. Udall of Colorado, Mr. Brownback, Mr. Warner, 
  Mr. Isakson, Mr. Nelson of Nebraska, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. 
Begich, Mr. Voinovich, Mr. Enzi, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Thune, Mr. Bennet, Mr. 
  Johanns, and Mr. Grassley) introduced the following bill; which was 
         read twice and referred to the Committee on the Budget

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish procedures for the expedited consideration by Congress of 
    certain proposals by the President to rescind amounts 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.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Budget Enforcement Legislative Tool 
Act of 2009''.

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:

       ``expedited consideration of certain proposed rescissions

    ``Sec. 1013.  (a) Proposed Rescission of Discretionary Budget 
Authority.--In addition to the method of rescinding discretionary 
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 discretionary budget authority provided in an 
appropriations 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 days after the date of enactment of 
        an appropriations Act subject to rescission under this section, 
        the President may transmit to Congress a special message 
        proposing to rescind amounts of discretionary budget authority 
        provided in that Act and include with that special message a 
        draft bill or joint resolution that, if enacted, would only 
        rescind that discretionary budget authority.
            ``(2) In the case of an Act that includes accounts within 
        the jurisdiction of more than one subcommittee of the Committee 
        on Appropriations, the President in proposing to rescind 
        discretionary budget authority under this section shall send a 
        separate special message and accompanying draft bill or joint 
        resolution for accounts within the jurisdiction of each such 
        subcommittee.
            ``(3) Each special message shall specify, with respect to 
        the discretionary budget authority proposed to be rescinded, 
        the matters referred to in paragraphs (1) through (5) of 
        section 1012(a).
    ``(c) Limitation on Amounts Subject to Rescission.--
            ``(1) The amount of discretionary budget authority which 
        the President may propose to rescind in a special message under 
        this section for a particular program, project, or activity for 
        a fiscal year may not exceed 25 percent of the amount 
        appropriated for that program, project, or activity in that 
        Act.
            ``(2) The limitation contained in paragraph (1) shall only 
        apply to a program, project, or activity that is authorized by 
        law.
    ``(d) Procedures for Expedited Consideration.--
            ``(1)(A) Before the close of the second day of continuous 
        session of the applicable House 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 Congress 
        in which the Act involved originated shall introduce (by 
        request) the draft bill or joint resolution accompanying that 
        special message. If the bill or joint resolution is not 
        introduced as provided in the preceding sentence, then, on the 
        third day of continuous session of that House after the date of 
        receipt of that special message, any Member of that House may 
        introduce the bill or joint resolution.
            ``(B) The bill or joint resolution shall be referred to the 
        Committee on Appropriations of that House. The committee shall 
        report the bill or joint resolution without substantive 
        revision and with or without recommendation. The bill or joint 
        resolution shall be reported not later than the seventh day of 
        continuous session of that House after the date of receipt of 
        that special message. If the Committee on Appropriations fails 
        to report the bill or joint resolution within that period, that 
        committee shall be automatically discharged from consideration 
        of the bill or joint resolution, and the bill or joint 
        resolution shall be placed on the appropriate calendar.
            ``(C) A vote on final passage of the bill or joint 
        resolution shall be taken in that House on or before the close 
        of the 10th calendar day of continuous session of that House 
        after the date of the introduction of the bill or joint 
        resolution in that House. If the bill or joint resolution is 
        agreed to, the Clerk of the House of Representatives (in the 
        case of a bill or joint resolution agreed to in the House of 
        Representatives) or the Secretary of the Senate (in the case of 
        a bill or joint resolution agreed to in the Senate) shall cause 
        the bill or joint resolution to be engrossed, certified, and 
        transmitted to the other House of Congress on the same calendar 
        day on which the bill or joint resolution is agreed to.
            ``(2)(A) A bill or joint resolution transmitted to the 
        House of Representatives or the Senate pursuant to paragraph 
        (1)(C) shall be referred to the Committee on Appropriations of 
        that House. The committee shall report the bill or joint 
        resolution without substantive revision and with or without 
        recommendation. The bill or joint resolution shall be reported 
        not later than the seventh day of continuous session of that 
        House after it receives the bill or joint resolution. A 
        committee failing to report the bill or joint resolution within 
        such period shall be automatically discharged from 
        consideration of the bill or joint resolution, and the bill or 
        joint resolution shall be placed upon the appropriate calendar.
            ``(B) A vote on final passage of a bill or joint resolution 
        transmitted to that House shall be taken on or before the close 
        of the 10th calendar day of continuous session of that House 
        after the date on which the bill or joint resolution is 
        transmitted. If the bill or joint resolution is agreed to in 
        that House, the Clerk of the House of Representatives (in the 
        case of a bill or joint resolution agreed to in the House of 
        Representatives) or the Secretary of the Senate (in the case of 
        a bill or joint resolution agreed to in the Senate) shall cause 
        the engrossed bill or joint resolution to be returned to the 
        House in which the bill or joint resolution originated.
            ``(3)(A) A motion in the House of Representatives to 
        proceed to the consideration of a bill or joint resolution 
        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 or 
        joint resolution under this section shall not exceed 4 hours, 
        which shall be divided equally between those favoring and those 
        opposing the bill or joint resolution. A motion further to 
        limit debate shall not be debatable. It shall not be in order 
        to move to recommit a bill or joint resolution under this 
        section or to move to reconsider the vote by which the bill or 
        joint resolution 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 or joint resolution under this 
        section shall be decided without debate.
            ``(D) Except to the extent specifically provided in the 
        preceding provisions of this subsection, consideration of a 
        bill or joint resolution under this section shall be governed 
        by the Rules of the House of Representatives.
            ``(4)(A) A motion in the Senate to proceed to the 
        consideration of a bill or joint resolution 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 or joint resolution 
        under this section, 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 or joint resolution 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 or joint resolution, except that in the event the 
        manager of the bill or joint resolution 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 or joint resolution, 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 or joint resolution under this section is not debatable. A 
        motion to recommit a bill or joint resolution under this 
        section is not in order.
    ``(e) Amendments Prohibited.--No amendment to a bill or joint 
resolution considered under this section shall be in order in either 
the House of Representatives or 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.
    ``(f) Requirement To Make Available for Obligation.--Any amount of 
discretionary budget authority proposed to be rescinded in a special 
message transmitted to Congress under subsection (b) shall be made 
available for obligation on the day after the date on which either 
House defeats the bill or joint resolution transmitted with that 
special message.
    ``(g) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
            ``(1) continuity of a session of either House of Congress 
        shall be considered as broken only by an adjournment of that 
        House sine die, and the days on which that House is not in 
        session because of an adjournment of more than 3 days to a date 
        certain shall be excluded in the computation of any period; and
            ``(2) the term `discretionary budget authority' means the 
        dollar amount of discretionary budget authority and obligation 
        limitations--
                    ``(A) specified in an appropriation law, or the 
                dollar amount of budget authority required to be 
                allocated by a specific proviso in an appropriation law 
                for which a specific dollar figure was not included;
                    ``(B) represented separately in any table, chart, 
                or explanatory text included in the statement of 
                managers or the governing committee report accompanying 
                such law;
                    ``(C) required to be allocated for a specific 
                program, project, or activity in a law (other than an 
                appropriation law) that mandates obligations from or 
                within accounts, programs, projects, or activities for 
                which budget authority or an obligation limitation is 
                provided in an appropriation law;
                    ``(D) represented by the product of the estimated 
                procurement cost and the total quantity of items 
                specified in an appropriation law or included in the 
                statement of managers or the governing committee report 
                accompanying such law; or
                    ``(E) represented by the product of the estimated 
                procurement cost and the total quantity of items 
                required to be provided in a law (other than an 
                appropriation law) that mandates obligations from 
                accounts, programs, projects, or activities for which 
                dollar amount of discretionary budget authority or an 
                obligation limitation is provided in an appropriation 
                law.''.
    (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''.
    (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 subsection (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 subsection (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.''.
    (e) Application.--Section 1013 of the Congressional Budget and 
Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (as added by subsection (a)) shall 
apply to amounts of discretionary budget authority provided by 
appropriation Acts (as defined in subsection (g)(2) of such section) 
that are enacted after the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. TERMINATION.

    The authority provided by section 1013 of the Congressional Budget 
and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (as added by section 2) shall 
terminate effective on the date in 2012 on which the Congress adjourns 
sine die.
                                 <all>