[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 515 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 515

To amend the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 
to provide relief during fiscal years 2016 and 2017 from the reductions 
     in the discretionary spending limits imposed by sequestration.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 12, 2015

Mr. Schatz (for himself and Mr. Durbin) introduced the following bill; 
    which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Budget

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 
to provide relief during fiscal years 2016 and 2017 from the reductions 
     in the discretionary spending limits imposed by sequestration.

    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 ``Sequestration Relief Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The National Institutes of Health conduct critical 
        biomedical research and apply outcomes to ``enhance health, 
        lengthen life and reduce illness and disability''.
            (2) On November 4, 2013, the National Institutes of Health 
        reported the $1,550,000,000 sequester cut resulted in 640 fewer 
        competitive research project grants issued and 750 fewer new 
        patients admitted to the Clinical Center of the National 
        Institutes of Health.
            (3) In 2007 and 2010 Congress enacted, and the President 
        signed into law, the America COMPETES Act (Public Law 110-69) 
        and the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (Public 
        Law 111-358), respectively, each of which proposed to double 
        funding for the National Science Foundation, the Office of 
        Science of the Department of Energy, and the National Institute 
        of Standards and Technology.
            (4) In January 2015, General Martin E. Dempsey, Chairman of 
        the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said of the sequestration reductions 
        applied to the Department of Defense, ``If they're not 
        reversed, they're going to be imposed in 2016, and they will 
        negatively affect our national security interests.''.
            (5) Since 1998, every quadrennial review published by the 
        American Society of Civil Engineers has graded the condition 
        and status of infrastructure in the United States as near 
        failing.
            (6) More than 1,200,000 children attending public school 
        experienced homelessness in school year 2012-2013.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF THE SENATE.

    It is the sense of the Senate that Congress should--
            (1) increase the discretionary spending limits during 
        fiscal years 2016 and 2017 to facilitate job creating 
        investment in the United States and provide Congressional 
        leaders the flexibility to determine a more reasoned and 
        sustainable path forward;
            (2) maintain the principle that any offsetting legislation 
        should be balanced equally between revenue and savings;
            (3) invest in critical life-saving and life-improving 
        biomedical research;
            (4) meet the 21st century research investment goals set out 
        in the America COMPETES Act;
            (5) avoid budget architecture that undermines the ability 
        to maintain a robust national defense;
            (6) invest in, upgrade, and modernize the infrastructure of 
        the United States for the next generation, including 
        investments in ports, waterways, bridges, transit, rail, roads, 
        parks, schools, aviation, and drinking and waste water;
            (7) aggressively pursue the goal of ending child 
        homelessness; and
            (8) broadly invest in those programs that efficiently and 
        effectively support families and the most vulnerable 
        individuals in the United States.

SEC. 4. REVISION OF DISCRETIONARY SPENDING LIMITS FOR FISCAL YEARS 2016 
              AND 2017.

    (a) In General.--The Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control 
Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 900 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) in section 251(c) (2 U.S.C. 901(c)), by striking 
        paragraphs (3) and (4) and inserting the following:
            ``(3) for fiscal year 2016--
                    ``(A) for the revised security category, 
                $561,000,000,000 in new budget authority; and
                    ``(B) for the revised nonsecurity category, 
                $530,000,000,000 in new budget authority;
            ``(4) for fiscal year 2017--
                    ``(A) for the revised security category, 
                $573,000,000,000 in new budget authority; and
                    ``(B) for the revised nonsecurity category, 
                $541,000,000,000 in new budget authority;''; and
            (2) in section 251A(10) (2 U.S.C. 901a(10))--
                    (A) in the paragraph heading, by striking ``2014 
                and 2015'' and inserting ``2014 through 2017'';
                    (B) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``or the 
                amendment made by the Sequestration Relief Act of 2015 
                to section 251(c) of this Act revising the 
                discretionary spending limits for fiscal years 2016 and 
                2017'' after ``Act of 2013''; and
                    (C) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``fiscal years 
                2014 and 2015'' and inserting ``each of fiscal years 
                2014 through 2017''.
                                 <all>