[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3504 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3504

 To provide for a Web site to receive gifts to reduce the public debt.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 18, 2011

 Mr. Young of Alaska introduced the following bill; which was referred 
                   to the Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide for a Web site to receive gifts to reduce the public debt.

    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 ``DebtPatriots.Gov Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--
            (1) the total public debt as of November 17, 2011, is over 
        $15 trillion and that every American's share is $47,080;
            (2) www.pay.gov, launched in October 2000, is a secure 
        Government-wide collection portal, which is Web-based and 
        allows customers to access their accounts from any computer 
        with Internet access;
            (3) www.pay.gov satisfies agencies and consumers demands 
        for electronic alternatives by providing the ability to 
        complete forms, make payments, and submit queries 24 hours a 
        day electronically;
            (4) citizens who wish to make a general donation to the 
        United States Government may send contributions to a specific 
        account called ``Gifts to the United States'', an account 
        established in 1843 to accept gifts, such as bequests, from 
        individuals wishing to express their patriotism to the United 
        States;
            (5) citizens who wish to make a general donation to a 
        specific account called ``Gifts to Reduce the Public Debt of 
        the United States'' may use TreasuryDirect, a section of 
        www.pay.gov and Treasury Direct;
            (6) gifts to reduce the public debt are accepted under the 
        provisions of section 3113 of title 31, United States Code, 
        which authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to accept 
        conditional gifts to the United States for the purpose of 
        reducing the public debt;
            (7) gifts to reduce the public debt are voluntary 
        donations, and no goods, services, or other considerations are 
        provided to the donors, including, but not limited to, benefits 
        on future tax liability; and
            (8) gifts to reduce the public debt do not supersede the 
        constitutional powers nor the responsibility of Congress to 
        ``pay the debts'', as described in article I, section 8 of the 
        Constitution of the United States.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to publically recognize 
the patriotism of certain individuals and corporations which are 
willing to contribute additional funds, above and beyond their tax 
obligations, in order to reduce the public debt of the United States.

SEC. 3. NEW WEB SITE.

    (a) In General.--Using the existing infrastructure of www.pay.gov, 
the Secretary of the Treasury shall create a new Web site, 
www.DebtPatriots.gov, to specifically receive gifts to reduce the 
public debt. The Web site shall be known as ``Gifts to Reduce the 
Public Debt'' and shall include the following:
            (1) Improved features and user interface from the existing 
        infrastructure for ease of use.
            (2) An easily accessible domain name, www.DebtPatriots.gov.
            (3) an opt-in check-box to allow donor names to be 
        publically recognized for their donation.
            (4) A linked Web site on which the publically recognized 
        donors can be published according to the following levels of 
        donation:
                    (A) Corporation Award Levels:
                            (i) Corporate Founder ($50B).
                            (ii) Corporate Son of Liberty ($10B).
                            (iii) Corporate Constitutional Delegate 
                        ($1B).
                            (iv) Corporate Minuteman ($500M).
                            (v) Corporate Patriot ($1M).
                    (B) Individual Award Levels (Premium):
                            (i) Premium Founding Father/Mother ($1B).
                            (ii) Premium Son/Daughter of Liberty 
                        ($500M).
                            (iii) Premium Constitutional Delegate 
                        ($100M).
                            (iv) Premium Minuteman/woman ($10M).
                            (v) Premium Patriot ($1M).
                    (C) Individual Award Levels:
                            (i) Founding Father/Mother ($100K).
                            (ii) Son/Daughter of Liberty ($10K).
                            (iii) Constitutional Delegate ($1K).
                            (iv) Minuteman/woman ($100).
                            (v) Patriot ($10).
            (5) A clearly published list of the aforementioned award 
        levels on DebtPatriots.Gov.
            (6) A printable form and address for those who prefer to 
        make a gift through the mail by check.
    (b) Required Links to Web Site.--The Secretary of the Treasury and 
the President shall provide a link to this Web site on their main 
pages.

SEC. 4. CERTIFICATE OF APPRECIATION.

    The President shall issue a signed certification of appreciation 
recognizing the award level of each donor who contributes to ``Gifts to 
Reduce the Public Debt''.
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