[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 6, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S46]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. REID (for himself, Mr. Conrad, Mr. Levin, Mr. Begich, Mr. 
        Carper, Mr. Durbin, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Bingaman, Ms. 
        Stabenow, Mrs. McCaskill, Ms. Klobuchar, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. 
        Schumer, and Ms. Mikulski):
  S. 10. A bill to restore fiscal discipline and begin to address the 
long-term fiscal challenges facing the United States, and for other 
purposes; read the first time.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the 
bill be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                 S. 10

       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 ``Fiscal Responsibility Act of 
     2009''.

     SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY.

       It is the sense of Congress that Congress and the President 
     should restore fiscal discipline and begin to address the 
     long-term fiscal challenges facing the United States through-
       (1) strong pay-as-you-go rules, to help block the approval 
     of measures that would increase the deficit;
       (2) recognition of warnings by both the Government 
     Accountability Office and the Congressional Budget Office 
     that the Federal budget is on an unsustainable path of rising 
     deficits and debt;
       (3) establishment by Congress and the President of a 
     process--
       (A) to analyze--
       (i) the current and long-term actuarial financial condition 
     of the Federal Government; and
       (ii) the gap between the projected revenues and 
     expenditures of the Federal Government;
       (B) to identify factors that affect the long-term fiscal 
     balance of the Federal Government;
       (C) to analyze potential courses of action to address 
     factors that affect the long-term fiscal balance of the 
     Federal Government;
       (D) to seek a bipartisan agreement, or set of agreements, 
     that will--
       (i) significantly improve the Nation's long-term fiscal 
     imbalances and the gap between projected revenues and 
     expenditures;
       (ii) ensure the economic security of the United States; and
       (iii) expand future prosperity and growth for all 
     Americans;
       (4) a thorough review of all Federal spending and tax 
     expenditures by the Director of the Office of Management and 
     Budget, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, 
     that identifies items that are outdated, inefficient, poorly 
     run, unnecessary, or otherwise undeserving of scarce Federal 
     resources or that are in need of reform; and
       (5) a review of the current system of taxation of the 
     United States to ensure that burdens are borne fairly and 
     equitably.
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