[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6643 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6643

To amend title 31, United States Code, to provide authority to increase 
  the debt limit when an Act of Congress provides budget authority or 
               reduces revenues, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 7, 2012

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 31, United States Code, to provide authority to increase 
  the debt limit when an Act of Congress provides budget authority or 
               reduces revenues, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Ending Fiscal Cliffs Act of 2012''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) Congress has been granted exclusive authority for the 
        collecting and appropriating of revenue in Article I of the 
        Constitution.
            (2) Any increase in the public debt limit is necessary in 
        response to obligations and reduced revenue authorized by 
        Congress.
            (3) Stability and predictability in the full faith and 
        credit of the United States are critical to economic security.
            (4) World markets are sensitive to the fiscal affairs of 
        the United States given its role as a global leader and its 
        status as the wealthiest nation.

SEC. 3. CHANGE IN PUBLIC DEBT LIMIT WHEN ACT OF CONGRESS PROVIDES 
              BUDGET AUTHORITY OR REDUCES REVENUES.

    Subsection (b) of section 3101 of title 31, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) by striking ``The face amount'' and inserting ``(1) The 
        face amount'';
            (2) by inserting ``(increased or decreased, as necessary, 
        by the applicable amount)'' after ``$14,294,000,000,000''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(2)(A) For purposes of paragraph (1), the Secretary of the 
Treasury shall determine the applicable amount after the enactment of 
any Act of Congress that provides budget authority (as defined in 
section 3(2) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 622(2))) 
or reduces revenues and shall publish such amount in the Federal 
Register.
    ``(B) For purposes of subparagraph (B), the term `applicable 
amount' means the amount determined by the Secretary of the Treasury to 
be required to meet existing commitments.''.
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