[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 128 (Tuesday, September 17, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H10525]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               AMENDMENTS

  Under clause 6 of rule XXIII, proposed amendments were submitted as 
follows:

                                H.R. --

            Omnibus Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 1997

                         Offered by: Ms. Harman

       Amendment No. 1: At the appropriate place, insert the 
     following new title:

                 TITLE--  . DEFICIT REDUCTION LOCK-BOX


                       deficit reduction lock-box

       Sec.   . (a) Establishment of Ledger.--Title III of the 
     Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is amended by adding at the 
     end the following new section:


                  ``deficit reduction lock-box ledger

       ``Sec. 314. (a) Establishment of Ledger.--The Director of 
     the Congressional Budget Office (hereinafter in this section 
     referred to as the ``Director'') shall maintain a ledger to 
     be known as the ``Deficit Reduction Lock-box Ledger''. The 
     Ledger shall be divided into entries corresponding to the 
     subcommittees of the Committees on Appropriations. Each entry 
     shall consist of three parts: the `House Lock-box Balance'; 
     the `Senate Lock-box Balance'; and the `Joint House-Senate 
     Lock-box Balance'.
       ``(b) Components of Ledger.--Each component in an entry 
     shall consist only of amounts credited to it under subsection 
     (c). No entry of a negative amount shall be made.
       ``(c) Credit of Amounts to Ledger.--(1) The Director shall, 
     upon the engrossment of any appropriation bill by the House 
     of Representatives and upon the engrossment of that bill by 
     the Senate, credit to the applicable entry balance of that 
     House amounts of new budget authority and outlays equal to 
     the net amounts of reductions in new budget authority and in 
     outlays resulting from amendments agreed to by that House to 
     that bill.
       ``(2) The Director shall, upon the engrossment of Senate 
     amendments to any appropriation bill, credit to the 
     applicable Joint House-Senate Lock-box Balance the amounts of 
     new budget authority and outlays equal to--
       ``(A) an amount equal to one-half of the sum of (i) the 
     amount of new budget authority in the House Lock-box Balance 
     plus (ii) the amount of new budget authority in the Senate 
     Lock-box Balance for that bill; and
       ``(B) an amount equal to one-half of the sum of (i) the 
     amount of outlays in the House Lock-box Balance plus (ii) the 
     amount of outlays in the Senate Lock-box Balance for that 
     bill.
       ``(3) Calculation of lock-box savings in senate.--For 
     purposes of calculating under this section the net amounts of 
     reductions in new budget authority and in outlays resulting 
     from amendments agreed to by the Senate on an appropriation 
     bill, the amendments reported to the Senate by its 
     Committee on Appropriations shall be considered to be part 
     of the original text of the bill.
       ``(d) Definition.--As used in this section, the term 
     `appropriation bill' means any general or special 
     appropriation bill, and any bill or joint resolution making 
     supplemental, deficiency, or continuing appropriations 
     through the end of a fiscal year.''.
       (b) Conforming Amendment.--The table of contents set forth 
     in section 1(b) of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment 
     Control Act of 1974 is amended by inserting after the item 
     relating to section 313 the following new item:

``Sec. 314. Deficit reduction lock-box ledger.''.


                    tally during house consideration

       Sec.   . There shall be available to Members in the House 
     of Representatives during consideration of any appropriations 
     bill by the House a running tally of the amendments adopted 
     reflecting increases and decreases of budget authority in the 
     bill as reported.


     downward adjustment of 602(a) allocations and section 602(b) 
                             suballocations

       Sec.   . (a) Allocations.--Section 602(a) of the 
     Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is amended by adding at the 
     end the following new paragraph:
       ``(5) Upon the engrossment of Senate amendments to any 
     appropriation bill (as defined in section 314(d)) for a 
     fiscal year, the amounts allocated under paragraph (1) or (2) 
     to the Committee on Appropriations of each House upon the 
     adoption of the most recent concurrent resolution on the 
     budget for that fiscal year shall be adjusted downward by the 
     amounts credited to the applicable Joint House-Senate Lock-
     box Balance under section 314(c)(2). The revised levels of 
     budget authority and outlays shall be submitted to each House 
     by the chairman of the Committee on the Budget of that House 
     and shall be printed in the Congressional Record.''.
       (b) Suballocations.--Section 602(b)(1) of the Congressional 
     Budget Act of 1974 is amended by adding at the end the 
     following new sentence: ``Whenever an adjustment is made 
     under subsection (a)(5) to an allocation under that 
     subsection, the chairman of the Committee on Appropriations 
     of each House shall make downward adjustments in the most 
     recent suballocations of new budget authority and outlays 
     under subparagraph (A) to the appropriate subcommittees of 
     that committee in the total amounts of those adjustments 
     under section 314(c)(2). The revised suballocations shall be 
     submitted to each House by the chairman of the Committee on 
     Appropriations of that House and shall be printed in the 
     Congressional Record.''.


                periodic reporting of ledger statements

       Sec.   . Section 308(b)(1) of the Congressional Budget Act 
     of 1974 is amended by adding at the end the following new 
     sentence: ``Such reports shall also include an up-to-date 
     tabulation of the amounts contained in the ledger and each 
     entry established by section 314(a).''.


          Downward adjustment of discretionary spending limits

       Sec.   . The discretionary spending limits for new budget 
     authority and outlays for any fiscal year set forth in 
     section 601(a)(2) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as 
     adjusted in strict conformance with section 251 of the 
     Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, 
     shall be reduced by the amounts set forth in the final 
     regular appropriation bill for that fiscal year or joint 
     resolution making continuing appropriations through the end 
     of that fiscal year. Those amounts shall be the sums of the 
     Joint House-Senate Lock-box Balances for that fiscal year, as 
     calculated under section 602(a)(5) of the Congressional 
     Budget Act of 1974. That bill or joint resolution shall 
     contain the following statement of law: ``As required by 
     section 6 of the Deficit Reduction Lock-box Act of 1995, for 
     fiscal year [insert appropriate fiscal year] and each 
     outyear, the adjusted discretionary spending limit for new 
     budget authority shall be reduced by $ [insert appropriate 
     amount of reduction] and the adjusted discretionary limit for 
     outlays shall be reduced by $ [insert appropriate amount of 
     reduction] for the budget year and each outyear.'' 
     Notwithstanding section 904(c) of the Congressional Budget 
     Act of 1974, section 306 of that Act as it applies to this 
     statement shall be waived. This adjustment shall be reflected 
     in reports under sections 254(g) and 254(h) of the Balanced 
     Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.


                             effective date

       Sec.   . (a) In General.--This title shall apply to all 
     remaining appropriation bills making appropriations for 
     fiscal year 1997 or any subsequent fiscal year.
       (b) Definition.--As used in this section, the term 
     ``appropriation bill'' means any general or special 
     appropriation bill, and any bill or joint resolution making 
     supplemental, deficiency, or continuing appropriations 
     through the end of a fiscal year.