[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 46 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 46

 To protect Social Security benefits and military pay and require that 
  the United States Government prioritize all obligations on the debt 
    held by the public in the event that the debt limit is reached.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

             January 22 (legislative day, January 3), 2013

Mr. Toomey (for himself, Mr. Vitter, Mr. Lee, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Enzi, Mr. 
    Barrasso, Mr. Chambliss, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Blunt, Mr. Johnson of 
 Wisconsin, Mr. Heller, Mr. Flake, Mr. Risch, Ms. Ayotte, Mr. Isakson, 
 Mr. Grassley, and Mr. Cruz) introduced the following bill; which was 
          read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To protect Social Security benefits and military pay and require that 
  the United States 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 title may be cited as the ``Ensuring the Full Faith and Credit 
of the United States and Protecting America's Soldiers and Seniors 
Act''.

SEC. 2. PRIORITIZE OBLIGATIONS ON THE DEBT HELD BY THE PUBLIC, SOCIAL 
              SECURITY BENEFITS, AND MILITARY PAY.

    In the event that the debt of the United States Government reaches 
the statutory limit as defined in section 3101 of title 31, United 
States Code, the following shall take equal priority over all other 
obligations incurred by the Government of the United States:
            (1) The authority of the Department of the Treasury 
        contained in section 3123 of title 31, United States Code, to 
        pay with legal tender the principal and interest on debt held 
        by the public.
            (2) The authority of the Commissioner of Social Security to 
        pay monthly old-age, survivors' and disability insurance 
        benefits under title II of the Social Security Act.
            (3) The payment of pay and allowances for members of the 
        Armed Forces on active duty.

SEC. 3. LIMITED DEBT LIMIT AUTHORITY.

    (a) In General.--If the Secretary of the Treasury determines, after 
consultation with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, 
that incoming revenue will not be sufficient to finance the priorities 
listed in section 2 over the following 2 weeks, the Secretary, in 
coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, 
shall--
            (1) notify Congress of the expected revenue shortfall; and
            (2) raise the debt limit by the amount necessary to cover 
        the difference between incoming revenue and the revenue needed 
        to finance the priorities listed in section 2 on a 2-week 
        basis.
    (b) Limit.--The debt limit increase provided by subsection (a)(2) 
may not exceed the difference between expected outlays for the listed 
priorities and expected revenue.
    (c) Excess Revenue.--If incoming revenue exceeds the amount 
projected by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the 
Director of the Office of Management and Budget, needed to finance the 
priorities listed in section 2 over the 2-week period, any amount in 
excess shall be held in reserve and applied to the following 2-week 
period.
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