[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 807 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 807

 To require that the Government prioritize all obligations on the debt 
    held by the public in the event that the debt limit is reached.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 25, 2013

  Mr. McClintock (for himself, Mr. Scalise, Mr. Jordan, Mr. Price of 
 Georgia, Mr. Hensarling, Mr. Garrett, Mr. Cole, Mr. Young of Indiana, 
Mr. Franks of Arizona, Ms. Foxx, Mr. Collins of Georgia, Mr. Mulvaney, 
    Mr. Rohrabacher, Mr. LaMalfa, Mr. Duncan of South Carolina, Mr. 
 Bucshon, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Chaffetz, Mr. Huizenga of Michigan, Mr. 
 Labrador, Mrs. Lummis, Mr. Miller of Florida, Mr. Bentivolio, and Mr. 
 Schweikert) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require that the Government prioritize all obligations on the debt 
    held by the public in the event that the debt limit is reached.

    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 ``Full Faith and Credit Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that:
            (1) The Act of Congress establishing the Treasury 
        Department of 1789 states that the Secretary of the Treasury 
        shall prepare plans for improving and managing the revenue of 
        the United States Government and for the support of the public 
        credit.
            (2) Section 321 of title 31, United States Code, codifies 
        the duty ``to prepare plans for improving and managing receipts 
        of the United States Government and managing the public debt''.
            (3) In carrying out the statutory responsibilities to 
        ``support of the public credit'' and ``managing the public 
        debt'' the Secretary shall take all necessary actions to ensure 
        all obligations of the United States Government with regard to 
        debt held by the public are fully discharged when due.
            (4) Such actions may include the forgoing of obligations 
        not related to debt held by the public for a period of time 
        deemed necessary by the Secretary as authorized under section 
        324 of title 31, United States Code, which states that--
    ``(a) The Secretary of the Treasury may--
            ``(1) dispose of obligations--
                    ``(A) acquired by the Secretary for the United 
                States Government; or
                    ``(B) delivered by an executive agency; and
            ``(2) make arrangements to extend the maturity of those 
        obligations.
    ``(b) The Secretary may dispose or extend the maturity of 
obligations under subsection (a) of this section in the way, in 
amounts, at prices (for cash, obligations, property, or a combination 
of cash, obligations, or property), and on conditions the Secretary 
considers advisable and in the public interest.''.

SEC. 3. DUTY TO PROTECT THE FULL FAITH AND CREDIT OF THE UNITED STATES 
              GOVERNMENT.

    (a) In General.--In the event that the debt of the United States 
Government, as defined in section 3101 of title 31, United States Code, 
reaches the statutory limit, the authority of the Department of the 
Treasury provided in section 3123 of title 31, United States Code, to 
pay with legal tender the principal and interest on debt held by the 
public shall take priority over all other obligations incurred by the 
Government of the United States.
    (b) Special Rule for Insufficiency of Funds.--Section 324 of title 
31, United States Code, is amended by redesignating subsection (c) as 
subsection (e), and by inserting after subsection (b) the following:
    ``(c) If the Secretary expects that there will be insufficient 
funds available to dispose of all obligations consisting of interest 
and principal of the debt held by the public on the next calendar day 
on which such obligations are due, then the Secretary shall extend the 
maturities of any other obligations under section (a) and refuse to 
issue warrants under section 321(a)(3) to the extent necessary to 
provide such funds as the Secretary deems prudent to dispose of 
obligations consisting of interest and principal of the debt held by 
the public for no less than the next 30 calendar days.
    ``(d) To the extent receipts exceed those required to meet the 
Secretary's obligation under subsection (c), the Secretary shall 
prioritize the disposal of obligations under subsection (a) and 
issuance of warrants under section 321(a)(3) in that order the 
Secretary considers advisable and in the public interest.''.
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