    [Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 109th Congress]
    [109th Congress]
    [House Document 108-241]
    [Rules of the House of Representatives]
    [Pages 951-955]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                   Rule XXVII

                         Statutory Limit on Public Debt

    [[Page 952]]

    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.

    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

    [[Page 953]]

    ods, 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 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 peri

      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).

      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.

    [[Page 954]]

    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.

      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

      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 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 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. 47).
    The rule was repealed in the 107th Congress (sec. 2(s), H. Res. 5, Jan.
    3, 2001, p. 24) and reinstated in the 108th Congress (sec. 2(t), H. Res.
    5, Jan. 7, 2003, p. ----).

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    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).

      This rule has been ordered inapplicable to a conference report on a
    concurrent resolution on the budget (e.g., H. Res. 131, Mar. 25, 1999,
    p. 5671; H. Res. 446, Mar. 23, 2000, 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