[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 523 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 523

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 13, 2017

 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 Transparency and Accountability 
Act''.

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 three fiscal years), medium term 
                (approximately five to nine fiscal years), and long 
                term (approximately ten to twenty-five 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;
                    ``(C) projections of fiscal health and 
                sustainability of major direct-spending entitlement 
                programs (including Social Security, Medicare, and 
                Medicaid); and
                    ``(D) any extraordinary measures the Secretary 
                intends to take to fund Federal Government obligations 
                if the debt limit is not raised, a projection of how 
                long such extraordinary measures will fund the Federal 
                Government, and a projection of the administrative cost 
                of taking such extraordinary measures.
            ``(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).
    ``(d) Extraordinary Measures Defined.--For purposes of this 
section, the term `extraordinary measures' means each of the following:
            ``(1) Directing or approving the issuance of debt by the 
        Federal Financing Bank for the purpose of entering into an 
        exchange transaction for debt that is subject to the limit 
        under this section.
            ``(2) Suspending investments in the Government Securities 
        Investment Fund of the Thrift Savings Fund.
            ``(3) Suspending investments in the stabilization fund 
        established under section 5302.
            ``(4) Suspending new investments in the Civil Service 
        Retirement and Disability Fund or the Postal Service Retiree 
        Health Benefits Fund.
            ``(5) Selling or redeeming securities, obligations, or 
        other invested assets of the Civil Service Retirement and 
        Disability Fund or the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits 
        Fund before maturity.
            ``(6) Suspending sales of State and Local Government Series 
        Treasury securities.
            ``(7) Such other measures as the Secretary determines 
        appropriate.''.
    (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.''.

SEC. 3. ACCESS TO CERTAIN TREASURY DEPARTMENT DATA.

    Not later than thirty days after receipt of a written request from 
the Chairman of the Committee on Finance of the Senate or of the 
Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives, but no 
more than four times per fiscal year for each, the Secretary of the 
Treasury shall provide to the requesting Chairman financial and 
economic data relevant to determining the amount of the public debt of 
the United States, including--
            (1) cash flow and debt transaction information used in 
        preparing the Daily Treasury Statement, including current 
        balances, receipts, and payments;
            (2) operating cash balance projections; and
            (3) relevant information regarding any extraordinary 
        measures (as defined under section 3131(d) of title 31, United 
        States Code) taken to prevent the public debt from exceeding 
        the limitation imposed by section 3101 of title 31, United 
        States Code, as modified by section 3101A of such title.
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