[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3442 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3442

 To provide further means of accountability of the United States debt 
                   and promote fiscal responsibility.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 8, 2015

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide further means of accountability of the United States debt 
                   and promote fiscal responsibility.

    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 ``Debt Management and Fiscal 
Responsibility Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY REPORT TO CONGRESS BEFORE REACHING 
              DEBT LIMIT.

    (a) In General.--Subchapter II of chapter 31 of title 31, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 3131. Report before reaching debt limit
    ``(a) In General.--Not more than sixty days and not less than 
twenty-one days prior to any date on which the Secretary of the 
Treasury anticipates the public debt will reach the limit specified 
under section 3101, as modified by section 3101A, the Secretary shall 
appear before the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate, to submit 
the information described under subsection (b).
    ``(b) Information Required To Be Presented.--In an appearance 
described under subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit the 
following:
            ``(1) Debt report.--A report on the state of the public 
        debt, including--
                    ``(A) the historical levels of the debt, current 
                amount and composition of the debt, and future 
                projections of the debt;
                    ``(B) the drivers and composition of future debt; 
                and
                    ``(C) how, if the debt limit is raised, the United 
                States will meet debt obligations, including principal 
                and interest.
            ``(2) Statement of intent.--A detailed explanation of--
                    ``(A) proposals of the President to reduce the 
                public debt in the short term (the current and 
                following fiscal year), medium term (approximately 
                three to five fiscal years), and long term 
                (approximately ten fiscal years), and proposals of the 
                President to adjust the debt-to-gross domestic product 
                ratio;
                    ``(B) the impact an increased debt limit will have 
                on future Government spending, debt service, and the 
                position of the United States dollar as the 
                international reserve currency; and
                    ``(C) projections of fiscal health and 
                sustainability of major direct-spending entitlement 
                programs (including Social Security, Medicare, and 
                Medicaid).
            ``(3) Progress report.--
                    ``(A) In general.--A detailed report on the 
                progress of implementing all proposals of the President 
                described under subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2).
                    ``(B) Exception.--The report described under this 
                paragraph shall only be submitted if a Secretary has 
                already appeared at least once pursuant to this section 
                during any term of office for a particular President.
    ``(c) Public Access to Information.--The Secretary of the Treasury 
shall place on the homepage of the Department of the Treasury a link to 
a webpage that shall serve as a repository of information made 
available to the public for at least 6 months following the date of 
release of the relevant information, including:
            ``(1) The debt report submitted under subsection (b)(1).
            ``(2) The detailed explanation submitted under subsection 
        (b)(2).
            ``(3) The progress report submitted under subsection 
        (b)(3).
            ``(4) Such other information as the Secretary reasonably 
        believes is necessary or helpful to the public in understanding 
        the statutory debt limit, Government debt, and the reports and 
        explanations described under paragraphs (1), (2), and (3).''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of analysis for chapter 31 of 
title 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item 
relating to section 3130 the following:

``3131. Report before reaching debt limit.''.
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