[Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 108th Congress]
[108th Congress]
[House Document 107-284]
[Rules of the House of Representatives]
[Pages 939-942]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]


 
                               Rule XXVII


                     Statutory Limit on Public Debt



Sec. 1104. Public debt limit.

  1.  Upon adoption by Congress 
of a concurrent resolution on the budget under section 301 or 304 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974 that sets forth, as the appropriate 
level of the public debt for the period to which the concurrent 
resolution relates, an amount that is different from the amount of the 
statutory limit on the public debt that otherwise would be in effect for 
that period, the Clerk shall prepare an engrossment of a joint 
resolution increasing or decreasing, as the case may be, the statutory 
limit on the public debt in the form prescribed in clause 2. Upon 
engrossment of the joint resolution, the vote by which the concurrent 
resolution on the budget was finally agreed to in the House shall also 
be considered as a vote on passage of the joint resolution in the House, 
and the joint resolution shall be considered as passed by the House and 
duly certified and examined. The engrossed copy shall be signed by the 
Clerk and transmitted to the Senate for further legislative action.



[[Page 940]]

follows: ``That subsection (b) of section 3101 of title 31, United 
States Code, is amended by striking out the dollar limitation contained 
in such subsection and inserting in lieu thereof `$________'.'', with 
the blank being filled with a dollar limitation equal to the appropriate 
level of the public debt set forth pursuant to section 301(a)(5) of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974 in the relevant concurrent resolution 
described in clause 1. If an adopted concurrent resolution under clause 
1 sets forth different appropriate levels of the public debt for 
separate periods, only one engrossed joint resolution shall be prepared 
under clause 1; and the blank referred to in the preceding sentence 
shall be filled with the limitation that is to apply for each period.
  2. The matter after the resolving clause in a joint resolution 
described in clause 1 shall be as

  3. (a) The report of the Committee on the Budget on a concurrent 
resolution described in clause 1 and the joint explanatory statement of 
the managers on a conference report to accompany such a concurrent 
resolution each shall contain a clear statement of the effect the 
eventual enactment of a joint resolution engrossed under this rule would 
have on the statutory limit on the public debt.

  (b) It shall not be in order for the House to consider a concurrent 
resolution described in clause 1, or a conference report thereon, unless 
the report of the Committee on the Budget or the joint explanatory 
statement of the managers complies with paragraph (a).


[[Page 941]]

  4. Nothing in this rule shall be construed as limiting or otherwise 
affecting--

      (a) the power of the House or the Senate to consider and pass 
bills or joint resolutions, without regard to the procedures under 
clause 1, that would change the statutory limit on the public debt; or

      (b) the rights of Members, Delegates, the Resident Commissioner, 
or committees with respect to the introduction, consideration, and 
reporting of such bills or joint resolutions.


  5. In this rule the term ``statutory limit on the public debt'' means 
the maximum face amount of obligations issued under authority of chapter 
31 of title 31, United States Code, and obligations guaranteed as to 
principal and interest by the United States (except such guaranteed 
obligations as may be held by the Secretary of the Treasury), as 
determined under section 3101(b) of such title after the application of 
section 3101(a) of such title, that may be outstanding at any one time.


[[Page 942]]

figure (for the current and the next fiscal year), only one joint 
resolution be engrossed, containing the debt limit figure for the 
current fiscal year with a time limitation, and the debt limit figure 
for the following fiscal year as the permanent limit. Another conforming 
change in clause 1 was made in the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit 
Control Act of 1985 (P.L. 99-177, Dec. 12, 1985, p. 36209) to delete 
reference to a second concurrent resolution on the budget (no longer 
required under section 310 of the Budget Act). Before the House 
recodified its rules in the 106th Congress, this provision was found in 
former rule XLIX. Recodification placed it as rule XXIII (H. Res. 5, 
Jan. 6, 1999, p. ----). The rule was repealed in the 107th Congress 
(sec. 2(s), H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 2001, p. ----) and reinstated in the 
108th Congress (sec. 2(t), H. Res. 5, Jan. 7, 2003, p. ----).
  This rule was added in the 96th Congress by Public Law 96-78 (93 Stat. 
589) and was originally applicable to concurrent resolutions on the 
budget for fiscal years beginning on or after October 1, 1980 (fiscal 
1981). However, in the 96th Congress (H. Res. 642, Apr. 23, 1980, p. 
8800), the provisions of that public law amending the Rules of the House 
were made applicable to the third concurrent resolution on the budget 
for fiscal year 1980 as well as the first concurrent resolution on the 
budget for fiscal 1981 (H. Con. Res. 307, June 12, 1980, pp. 14505-19; 
see H.J. Res. 569 and H.J. Res. 570, June 13, 1980, p. 14609). 
Conforming changes were made in clauses 2 and 5 of this rule with the 
codification of title 31, United States Code, by Public Law 97-258 (96 
Stat. 1066). The rule was amended in the 98th Congress (H. Res. 241, 
June 23, 1983, p. 17162) to reflect the enactment into law (P.L. 98-34) 
of a new permanent, rather than temporary, debt limit. Clause 2 of the 
rule was rewritten, and clause 1 modified, to change the form of the 
joint resolution engrossed pursuant to the rule in order to delete 
references to a temporary debt limit and to reflect instead changes in a 
permanent debt limit. The rules change also provided that where a budget 
resolution contains more than one public debt limit




  This rule was rendered inapplicable to a conference report on a 
concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2000 (H. Res. 131, 
Mar. 25, 1999, p. ----). The date of final House action in adopting the 
conference report on the concurrent resolution on the budget, rather 
than the date of final Senate action, when later, is the appropriate 
date under this rule for deeming the House to have passed the joint 
resolution (July 14, 1986, p. 16316; Speaker Wright, June 25, 1987, p. 
17424).