The United States and our leaders on both sides of the Aisle have failed the citizenry of this country with it's pro corporate, pro TPP, pro pollution, pro legal bribery, and all round anything the corporations and wealthy wants goes.
To hell with the disabled person who is trying to survive on $700 month, or the disabled veteran trying to survive on $800/month, or the senior trying to survive on $1000/month, or worse the homeless person trying to live on nearly nothing at all.
The GOP plan calls for more cuts to SNAP(food stamps), Getting rid of EPA regulations, and Rolling back the DODD FRANK WALL STREET REFORM BILL, while at the same time reducing taxes for corporations and wealthy individuals, among other wrong headed ideas.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
China Targets Big Oil In Wars On Corruption, Pollution
"China's two major state-owned oil companies -- Sinopec and CNPC (also known as PetroChina) -- came in for a scathing treatment in a viral pollution documentary released earlier this month. The film, "Under the Dome" -- which was largely blocked from the Internet by government censors after one week -- accuses the firms of stymying pollution controls and milking their duopoly position for corrupt profits."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
House Republicans Just Let The Cat Out Of The Bag
"After decrying these abstract costs, the GOP then makes clear what they're really upset about: Obamacare, the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law and Environmental Protection Agency rules on carbon emissions from burning coal. No other legislation or regulatory initiative is mentioned. While the Republican budget bill decries "unnecessary red tape," the only examples it can find of such inefficiency just happen to be the signature domestic policy achievements of the Obama administration."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
Bernie Sanders Storms The Senate and Rips The Republican Rich Get Richer Budget
"At a time of massive wealth and income inequality, the Republicans apparently believe that the richest people in America need to be made even richer. It is apparently not good enough that 99 percent of all new income today is going to the top 1 percent. That’s apparently not enough. It is not good enough that the top one-tenth of one percent today own almost as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent. Clearly, in Republican eyes, the wealthy and the powerful need more help. Not only should they not be asked to pay more in taxes, the Republicans believe that we should cut tax rates for millionaires and billionaires."
http://www.politicususa.com/...
GOP JOBS BILL:
http://www.gpo.gov/...
GOP BUDGET
http://budget.house.gov/...
Most of the text to the GOP budget can be found beneath the orange chaos.
WARNING A LOT OF DATA BELOW.
A GREAT DEAL OF THE TEXT IS HERE:
Chairman’s Mark
114TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. l
Establishing the budget for the United States Government for fiscal year
2016 and setting forth appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years
2017 through 2025.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Mr. PRICE of Georgia, from the Committee on the Budget, reported the following
concurrent resolution; which was committed to the Committee of
the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed.
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Establishing the budget for the United States Government
for fiscal year 2016 and setting forth appropriate budgetary
levels for fiscal years 2017 through 2025.
1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
2 concurring),
3 SECTION 1. CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET
4 FOR FISCAL YEAR 2016.
5 (a) DECLARATION.—The Congress determines and
6 declares that this concurrent resolution establishes the
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1 budget for fiscal year 2016 and sets forth appropriate
2 budgetary levels for fiscal years 2017 through 2025.
3 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for
4 this concurrent resolution is as follows:
Sec. 1. Concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2016.
TITLE I—RECOMMENDED LEVELS AND AMOUNTS
Sec. 101. Recommended levels and amounts.
Sec. 102. Major functional categories.
TITLE II—RECONCILIATION
Sec. 201. Reconciliation in the House of Representatives.
Sec. 202. Reconciliation procedures.
Sec. 203. Additional guidance for reconciliation.
TITLE III—SUBMISSIONS FOR THE ELIMINATION OF WASTE,
FRAUD, AND ABUSE
Sec. 301. Submissions of findings for the elimination of waste, fraud, and
abuse.
TITLE IV—BUDGET ENFORCEMENT
Sec. 401. Cost estimates for major legislation to incorporate macroeconomic effects.
Sec. 402. Limitation on measures affecting Social Security solvency.
Sec. 403. Budgetary treatment of administrative expenses.
Sec. 404. Limitation on transfers from the general fund of the Treasury to the
Highway Trust Fund.
Sec. 405. Limitation on advance appropriations.
Sec. 406. Fair value credit estimates.
Sec. 407. Limitation on long-term spending.
Sec. 408. Allocation for overseas contingency operations/global war on terrorism.
Sec. 409. Adjustments for improved control of budgetary resources.
Sec. 410. Concepts, aggregates, allocations and application.
Sec. 411. Rulemaking powers.
TITLE V—RESERVE FUNDS
Sec. 501. Reserve fund for the repeal of the President’s health care law.
Sec. 502. Deficit-neutral reserve fund for promoting real health care reform.
Sec. 503. Deficit-neutral reserve fund related to the Medicare provisions of the
President’s health care law.
Sec. 504. Deficit-neutral reserve fund for the State Children’s Health Insurance
Program.
Sec. 505. Deficit-neutral reserve fund for graduate medical education.
Sec. 506. Deficit-neutral reserve fund for trade agreements.
Sec. 507. Deficit-neutral reserve fund for reforming the tax code.
Sec. 508. Deficit-neutral reserve fund for revenue measures.
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Sec. 509. Deficit-neutral reserve fund to reduce poverty and increase opportunity
and upward mobility.
Sec. 510. Deficit-neutral reserve fund for transportation.
Sec. 511. Deficit-neutral reserve fund for Federal retirement reform.
Sec. 512. Deficit-neutral reserve fund for defense sequester replacement.
Sec. 513. Deficit-neutral reserve fund for overseas contingency operations/global
war on terrorism.
TITLE VI—ESTIMATES OF DIRECT SPENDING
Sec. 601. Direct spending.
TITLE VII—RECOMMENDED LONG-TERM LEVELS
Sec. 701. Long-term budgeting.
TITLE VIII—POLICY STATEMENTS
Sec. 801. Policy statement on balanced budget amendment.
Sec. 802. Policy statement on budget process and baseline reform.
Sec. 803. Policy statement on economic growth and job creation.
Sec. 804. Policy statement on tax reform.
Sec. 805. Policy statement on trade.
Sec. 806. Policy statement on Social Security.
Sec. 807. Policy statement on repealing the President’s health care law and
promoting real health care reform.
Sec. 808. Policy statement on Medicare.
Sec. 809. Policy statement on medical discovery, development, delivery and innovation.
Sec. 810. Policy statement on Federal regulatory reform.
Sec. 811. Policy statement on higher education and workforce development opportunity.
Sec. 812. Policy statement on Department of Veterans Affairs.
Sec. 813. Policy statement on Federal accounting methodologies.
Sec. 814. Policy statement on scorekeeping for outyear budgetary effects in appropriations
acts.
Sec. 815. Policy statement on reducing unnecessary, wasteful, and unauthorized
spending.
Sec. 816. Policy statement on deficit reduction through the cancellation of unobligated
balances.
Sec. 817. Policy statement on agency fees and spending.
Sec. 818. Policy statement on responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars.
Sec. 819. Policy statement on ‘‘No Budget, No Pay’’.
.....
MISSING PAGES
......
64
1 gressional Budget Act of 1974 and that causes
2 a gross budgetary effect (before incorporating
3 macroeconomic effects) in any fiscal year over
4 the years of the most recently agreed to concur-
5 rent resolution on the budget equal to or great-
6 er than 0.25 percent of the current projected
7 gross domestic product of the United States for
8 that fiscal year; or
9 (B) designated as such by the chair of the
10 Committee on the Budget for all direct spend-
11 ing legislation other than revenue legislation or
12 the Member who is chair or vice chair, as appli-
13 cable, of the Joint Committee on Taxation for
14 revenue legislation; and
15 (2) the term ‘‘budgetary effects’’ means
16 changes in revenues, budget authority, outlays, and
17 deficits.
18 SEC. 402. LIMITATION ON MEASURES AFFECTING SOCIAL
19 SECURITY SOLVENCY.
20 (a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of the enforcement
21 of this concurrent resolution, upon its adoption until the
22 end of fiscal year 2016, it shall not be in order to consider
23 in the House or the Senate a bill or joint resolution, or
24 an amendment thereto or conference report thereon, that
25 reduces the actuarial balance by at least .01 percent of
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1 the present value of future taxable payroll of the Federal
2 Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund established
3 under section 201(a) of the Social Security Act for the
4 75-year period utilized in the most recent annual report
5 of the Board of Trustees provided pursuant to section
6 201(c)(2) of the Social Security Act.
7 (b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to
8 a measure that would improve the actuarial balance of the
9 combined balance in the Federal Old-Age and Survivors
10 Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insur-
11 ance Trust Fund for the 75-year period utilized in the
12 most recent annual report of the Board of Trustees pro-
13 vided pursuant to section 201(c)(2) of the Social Security
14 Act.
15 SEC. 403. BUDGETARY TREATMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE
16 EXPENSES.
17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section
18 302(a)(1) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, sec-
19 tion 13301 of the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990, and
20 section 4001 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act
21 of 1989, the report accompanying this concurrent resolu-
22 tion on the budget or the joint explanatory statement ac-
23 companying the conference report on any concurrent reso-
24 lution on the budget shall include in its allocation under
25 section 302(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974
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1 to the Committee on Appropriations amounts for the dis-
2 cretionary administrative expenses of the Social Security
3 Administration and the United States Postal Service.
4 (b) SPECIAL RULE.—For purposes of enforcing sec-
5 tions 302(f) and 311 of the Congressional Budget Act of
6 1974, estimates of the level of total new budget authority
7 and total outlays provided by a measure shall include any
8 discretionary amounts described in subsection (a).
9 SEC. 404. LIMITATION ON TRANSFERS FROM THE GENERAL
10 FUND OF THE TREASURY TO THE HIGHWAY
11 TRUST FUND.
12 For purposes of the Congressional Budget Act of
13 1974, the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Con-
14 trol Act of 1985, or the rules or orders of the House of
15 Representatives, a bill or joint resolution, or an amend-
16 ment thereto or conference report thereon, that transfers
17 funds from the general fund of the Treasury to the High-
18 way Trust Fund shall be counted as new budget authority
19 and outlays equal to the amount of the transfer in the
20 fiscal year the transfer occurs.
21 SEC. 405. LIMITATION ON ADVANCE APPROPRIATIONS.
22 (a) IN GENERAL.—In the House, except as provided
23 for in subsection (b), any bill or joint resolution, or amend-
24 ment thereto or conference report thereon, making a genVerDate
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1 eral appropriation or continuing appropriation may not
2 provide for advance appropriations.
3 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—An advance appropriation may be
4 provided for programs, projects, activities, or accounts
5 identified in the report to accompany this concurrent reso-
6 lution or the joint explanatory statement of managers to
7 accompany this concurrent resolution under the heading:
8 (1) GENERAL.—‘‘Accounts Identified for Ad-
9 vance Appropriations’’; and
10 (2) VETERANS.—‘‘Veterans Accounts Identified
11 for Advance Appropriations’’.
12 (c) LIMITATIONS.—The aggregate level of advance
13 appropriations shall not exceed—
14 (1) GENERAL.—$28,852,000,000 in new budget
15 authority for all programs identified pursuant to
16 subsection (b)(1); and
17 (2) VETERANS.—$63,271,000,000 in new budg-
18 et authority for programs in the Department of Vet-
19 erans Affairs identified pursuant to subsection
20 (b)(2).
21 (d) DEFINITION.—The term ‘‘advance appropria-
22 tion’’ means any new discretionary budget authority pro-
23 vided in a bill or joint resolution, or any amendment there-
24 to or conference report thereon, making general approVerDate
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1 priations or continuing appropriations, for the fiscal year
2 following fiscal year 2016.
3 SEC. 406. FAIR VALUE CREDIT ESTIMATES.
4 (a) FAIR VALUE ESTIMATES.—Upon the request of
5 the chair or ranking member of the Committee on the
6 Budget, any estimate of the budgetary effects of a meas-
7 ure prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget
8 Office under the terms of title V of the Congressional
9 Budget Act of 1974, ‘‘credit reform’’ shall, as a supple-
10 ment to such estimate, and to the extent practicable, also
11 provide an estimate of the current actual or estimated
12 market values representing the ‘‘fair value’’ of assets and
13 liabilities affected by such measure.
14 (b) FAIR VALUE ESTIMATES FOR HOUSING AND
15 STUDENT LOAN PROGRAMS.—Whenever the Director of
16 the Congressional Budget Office prepares an estimate
17 pursuant to section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act
18 of 1974 of the budgetary effects which would be incurred
19 in carrying out any bill or joint resolution and if the Direc-
20 tor determines that such bill or joint resolution has a
21 budgetary effect related to a housing, residential mortgage
22 or student loan program under title V of the Congressional
23 Budget Act of 1974, then the Director shall also provide
24 an estimate of the current actual or estimated market val-
25 ues representing the ‘‘fair value’’ of assets and liabilities
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1 affected by the provisions of such bill or joint resolution
2 that result in such effect.
3 (c) ENFORCEMENT.—If the Director of the Congres-
4 sional Budget Office provides an estimate pursuant to
5 subsection (a) or (b), the chair of the Committee on the
6 Budget may use such estimate to determine compliance
7 with the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and other
8 budgetary enforcement controls.
9 SEC. 407. LIMITATION ON LONG-TERM SPENDING.
10 (a) IN GENERAL.—In the House, it shall not be in
11 order to consider a bill or joint resolution reported by a
12 committee (other than the Committee on Appropriations),
13 or an amendment thereto or a conference report thereon,
14 if the provisions of such measure have the net effect of
15 increasing direct spending in excess of $5,000,000,000 for
16 any period described in subsection (b).
17 (b) TIME PERIODS.—The applicable periods for pur-
18 poses of this section are any of the four consecutive ten
19 fiscal-year periods beginning in the fiscal year following
20 the last fiscal year of this concurrent resolution.
21 SEC. 408. ALLOCATION FOR OVERSEAS CONTINGENCY OP-
22 ERATIONS/GLOBAL WAR ON TERRORISM.
23 (a) SEPARATE OCO/GWOT ALLOCATION.—In the
24 House, there shall be a separate allocation of new budget
25 authority and outlays provided to the Committee on ApVerDate
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1 propriations for the purposes of Overseas Contingency Op-
2 erations/Global War on Terrorism.
3 (b) APPLICATION.—For purposes of enforcing the
4 separate allocation referred to in subsection (a) under sec-
5 tion 302(f) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the
6 ‘‘first fiscal year’’ and the ‘‘total of fiscal years’’ shall be
7 deemed to refer to fiscal year 2016. Section 302(c) of such
8 Act shall not apply to such separate allocation.
9 (c) DESIGNATIONS.—New budget authority or out-
10 lays counting toward the allocation established by sub-
11 section (a) shall be designated pursuant to section
12 251(b)(2)(A)(ii) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency
13 Deficit Control Act of 1985.
14 (d) ADJUSTMENTS.—For purposes of subsection (a)
15 for fiscal year 2016, no adjustment shall be made under
16 section 314(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974
17 if any adjustment would be made under section
18 251(b)(2)(A)(ii) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency
19 Deficit Control Act of 1985.
20 SEC. 409. ADJUSTMENTS FOR IMPROVED CONTROL OF
21 BUDGETARY RESOURCES.
22 (a) ADJUSTMENTS OF DISCRETIONARY AND DIRECT
23 SPENDING LEVELS.—In the House, if a committee (other
24 than the Committee on Appropriations) reports a bill or
25 joint resolution, or offers any amendment thereto or subVerDate
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1 mits a conference report thereon, providing for a decrease
2 in direct spending (budget authority and outlays flowing
3 therefrom) for any fiscal year and also provides for an au-
4 thorization of appropriations for the same purpose, upon
5 the enactment of such measure, the chair of the Com-
6 mittee on the Budget may decrease the allocation to such
7 committee and increase the allocation of discretionary
8 spending (budget authority and outlays flowing therefrom)
9 to the Committee on Appropriations for fiscal year 2016
10 by an amount equal to the new budget authority (and out-
11 lays flowing therefrom) provided for in a bill or joint reso-
12 lution making appropriations for the same purpose.
13 (b) DETERMINATIONS.—In the House, for the pur-
14 pose of enforcing this concurrent resolution, the alloca-
15 tions and aggregate levels of new budget authority, out-
16 lays, direct spending, new entitlement authority, revenues,
17 deficits, and surpluses for fiscal year 2016 and the period
18 of fiscal years 2016 through fiscal year 2025 shall be de-
19 termined on the basis of estimates made by the chair of
20 the Committee on the Budget and such chair may adjust
21 applicable levels of this concurrent resolution.
22 SEC. 410. CONCEPTS, AGGREGATES, ALLOCATIONS AND AP-
23 PLICATION.
24 (a) CONCEPTS, ALLOCATIONS, AND APPLICATION.—
25 In the House—
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1 (1) upon a change in budgetary concepts or
2 definitions, the chair of the Committee on the Budg-
3 et may adjust any allocations, aggregates, and other
4 budgetary levels in this concurrent resolution accord-
5 ingly;
6 (2) any adjustments of the allocations, aggre-
7 gates, and other budgetary levels made pursuant to
8 this concurrent resolution shall—
9 (A) apply while that measure is under con-
10 sideration;
11 (B) take effect upon the enactment of that
12 measure;
13 (C) be published in the Congressional
14 Record as soon as practicable;
15 (3) section 202 of S. Con. Res. 21 (111th Con-
16 gress) shall have no force or effect for any reconcili-
17 ation bill reported pursuant to instructions set forth
18 in this concurrent resolution;
19 (4) the chair of the Committee on the Budget
20 may adjust the allocations, aggregates, and other
21 appropriate budgetary levels to reflect changes re-
22 sulting from the most recently published or adjusted
23 baseline of the Congressional Budget Office; and
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1 (5) the term ‘‘budget year’’ means the most re-
2 cent fiscal year for which a concurrent resolution on
3 the budget has been adopted.
4 (b) AGGREGATES, ALLOCATIONS AND APPLICA-
5 TION.—In the House, for purposes of this concurrent reso-
6 lution and budget enforcement—
7 (1) the consideration of any bill or joint resolu-
8 tion, or amendment thereto or conference report
9 thereon, for which the chair of the Committee on the
10 Budget makes adjustments or revisions in the alloca-
11 tions, aggregates, and other budgetary levels of this
12 concurrent resolution shall not be subject to the
13 points of order set forth in clause 10 of rule XXI
14 of the Rules of the House of Representatives or sec-
15 tion 407 of this concurrent resolution;
16 (2) for purposes of enforcing section 303 of the
17 Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the terms of
18 such section shall apply against each provision of a
19 bill or joint resolution, an amendment thereto or
20 conference report thereon, as set forth in the joint
21 explanatory statement of managers accompanying
22 the conference report on H.R. 2015 (105th Con-
23 gress); and
24 (3) revised allocations and aggregates resulting
25 from these adjustments shall be considered for the
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1 purposes of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974
2 as allocations and aggregates included in this con-
3 current resolution.
4 SEC. 411. RULEMAKING POWERS.
5 The House adopts the provisions of this title—
6 (1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of
7 the House of Representatives and as such they shall
8 be considered as part of the rules of the House of
9 Representatives, and these rules shall supersede
10 other rules only to the extent that they are incon-
11 sistent with other such rules; and
12 (2) with full recognition of the constitutional
13 right of the House of Representatives to change
14 those rules at any time, in the same manner, and to
15 the same extent as in the case of any other rule of
16 the House of Representatives.
17 TITLE V—RESERVE FUNDS
18 SEC. 501. RESERVE FUND FOR THE REPEAL OF THE PRESI-
19 DENT’S HEALTH CARE LAW.
20 In the House, the chair of the Committee on the
21 Budget may revise the allocations, aggregates, and other
22 budgetary levels in this concurrent resolution for the budg-
23 etary effects of any bill or joint resolution, or amendment
24 thereto or conference report thereon, that consists solely
25 of the full repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable
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1 Care Act and the health care-related provisions of the
2 Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 or
3 measures that make modifications to such law.
4 SEC. 502. DEFICIT-NEUTRAL RESERVE FUND FOR PRO-
5 MOTING REAL HEALTH CARE REFORM.
6 In the House, the chair of the Committee on the
7 Budget may revise the allocations, aggregates, and other
8 budgetary levels in this concurrent resolution for the budg-
9 etary effects of any bill or joint resolution, or amendment
10 thereto or conference report thereon, that promotes real
11 health care reform, if such measure would not increase
12 the deficit for the period of fiscal years 2016 through
13 2025.
14 SEC. 503. DEFICIT-NEUTRAL RESERVE FUND RELATED TO
15 THE MEDICARE PROVISIONS OF THE PRESI-
16 DENT’S HEALTH CARE LAW.
17 In the House, the chair of the Committee on the
18 Budget may revise the allocations, aggregates, and other
19 budgetary levels in this concurrent resolution for the budg-
20 etary effects of any bill or joint resolution, or amendment
21 thereto or conference report thereon, that repeals all or
22 part of the decreases in Medicare spending included in the
23 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or the Health
24 Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, if such
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1 measure would not increase the deficit for the period of
2 fiscal years 2016 through 2025.
3 SEC. 504. DEFICIT-NEUTRAL RESERVE FUND FOR THE
4 STATE CHILDREN’S HEALTH INSURANCE
5 PROGRAM.
6 In the House, the chair of the Committee on the
7 Budget may revise the allocations, aggregates, and other
8 budgetary levels in this concurrent resolution for any bill
9 or joint resolution, or amendment thereto or conference
10 report thereon, if such measure extends the State Chil-
11 dren’s Health Insurance Program, but only if such meas-
12 ure would not increase the deficit over the period of fiscal
13 years 2016 through 2025.
14 SEC. 505. DEFICIT-NEUTRAL RESERVE FUND FOR GRAD-
15 UATE MEDICAL EDUCATION.
16 In the House, the chair of the Committee on the
17 Budget may revise the allocations, aggregates, and other
18 budgetary levels in this concurrent resolution for any bill
19 or joint resolution, or amendment thereto or conference
20 report thereon, if such measure reforms, expands access
21 to, and improves, as determined by such chair, graduate
22 medical education programs, but only if such measure
23 would not increase the deficit over the period of fiscal
24 years 2016 through 2025.
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1 SEC. 506. DEFICIT-NEUTRAL RESERVE FUND FOR TRADE
2 AGREEMENTS.
3 In the House, the chair of the Committee on the
4 Budget may revise the allocations, aggregates, and other
5 budgetary levels in this concurrent resolution for the budg-
6 etary effects of any bill or joint resolution reported by the
7 Committee on Ways and Means, or amendment thereto
8 or conference report thereon, that implements a trade
9 agreement, but only if such measure would not increase
10 the deficit for the period of fiscal years 2016 through
11 2025.
12 SEC. 507. DEFICIT-NEUTRAL RESERVE FUND FOR REFORM-
13 ING THE TAX CODE.
14 In the House, if the Committee on Ways and Means
15 reports a bill or joint resolution that reforms the Internal
16 Revenue Code of 1986, the chair of the Committee on the
17 Budget may revise the allocations, aggregates, and other
18 budgetary levels in this concurrent resolution for the budg-
19 etary effects of any such bill or joint resolution, or amend-
20 ment thereto or conference report thereon, if such measure
21 would not increase the deficit for the period of fiscal years
22 2016 through 2025.
23 SEC. 508. DEFICIT-NEUTRAL RESERVE FUND FOR REVENUE
24 MEASURES.
25 In the House, the chair of the Committee on the
26 Budget may revise the allocations, aggregates, and other
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1 budgetary levels in this concurrent resolution for the budg-
2 etary effects of any bill or joint resolution reported by the
3 Committee on Ways and Means, or amendment thereto
4 or conference report thereon, that decreases revenue, but
5 only if such measure would not increase the deficit for the
6 period of fiscal years 2016 through 2025.
7 SEC. 509. DEFICIT-NEUTRAL RESERVE FUND TO REDUCE
8 POVERTY AND INCREASE OPPORTUNITY AND
9 UPWARD MOBILITY.
10 In the House, the chair of the Committee on the
11 Budget may revise the allocations, aggregates, and other
12 budgetary levels in this concurrent resolution for any bill
13 or joint resolution, or amendment thereto or conference
14 report thereon, if such measure reforms policies and pro-
15 grams to reduce poverty and increase opportunity and up-
16 ward mobility, but only if such measure would neither ad-
17 versely impact job creation nor increase the deficit over
18 the period of fiscal years 2016 through 2025.
19 SEC. 510. DEFICIT-NEUTRAL RESERVE FUND FOR TRANS-
20 PORTATION.
21 In the House, the chair of the Committee on the
22 Budget may revise the allocations, aggregates, and other
23 budgetary levels in this concurrent resolution for any bill
24 or joint resolution, or amendment thereto or conference
25 report thereon, if such measure maintains the solvency of
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1 the Highway Trust Fund, but only if such measure would
2 not increase the deficit over the period of fiscal years 2016
3 through 2025.
4 SEC. 511. DEFICIT-NEUTRAL RESERVE FUND FOR FEDERAL
5 RETIREMENT REFORM.
6 In the House, the chair of the Committee on the
7 Budget may revise the allocations, aggregates, and other
8 budgetary levels in this concurrent resolution for any bill
9 or joint resolution, or amendment thereto or conference
10 report thereon, if such measure reforms, improves and up-
11 dates the Federal retirement system, as determined by
12 such chair, but only if such measure would not increase
13 the deficit over the period of fiscal years 2016 through
14 2025.
15 SEC. 512. DEFICIT-NEUTRAL RESERVE FUND FOR DEFENSE
16 SEQUESTER REPLACEMENT.
17 The chair of the Committee on the Budget may revise
18 the allocations, aggregates, and other budgetary levels in
19 this concurrent resolution for any bill or joint resolution,
20 or amendment thereto or conference report thereon, if
21 such measure supports the following activities: Depart-
22 ment of Defense training and maintenance associated with
23 combat readiness, modernization of equipment,
24 auditability of financial statements, or military compensa-
25 tion and benefit reforms, by the amount provided for these
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1 purposes, but only if such measure would not increase the
2 deficit (without counting any net revenue increases in that
3 measure) over the period of fiscal years 2016 through
4 2025.
5 SEC. 513. DEFICIT-NEUTRAL RESERVE FUND FOR OVER-
6 SEAS CONTINGENCY OPERATIONS/GLOBAL
7 WAR ON TERRORISM.
8 The chair of the Committee on the Budget may revise
9 the allocations, aggregates, and other budgetary levels in
10 this concurrent resolution for any bill or joint resolution,
11 or amendment thereto or conference report thereon, if
12 such measure is related to the support of Overseas Contin-
13 gency Operations/Global War on Terrorism by the
14 amounts provided in such legislation in excess of $73.5
15 billion but not to exceed $94 billion, but only if such meas-
16 ure would not increase the deficit (without counting any
17 net revenue increases in that measure) over the period of
18 fiscal years 2016 through 2025.
19 TITLE VI—ESTIMATES OF
20 DIRECT SPENDING
21 SEC. 601. DIRECT SPENDING.
22 (a) MEANS-TESTED DIRECT SPENDING.—
23 (1) For means-tested direct spending, the aver-
24 age rate of growth in the total level of outlays durVerDate
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1 ing the 10-year period preceding fiscal year 2016 is
2 6.8 percent.
3 (2) For means-tested direct spending, the esti-
4 mated average rate of growth in the total level of
5 outlays during the 10-year period beginning with fis-
6 cal year 2016 is 4.6 percent under current law.
7 (3) The following reforms are proposed in this
8 concurrent resolution for means-tested direct spend-
9 ing:
10 (A) In 1996, a Republican Congress and a
11 Democratic president reformed welfare by lim-
12 iting the duration of benefits, giving States
13 more control over the program, and helping re-
14 cipients find work. In the five years following
15 passage, child-poverty rates fell, welfare case-
16 loads fell, and workers’ wages increased. This
17 budget applies the lessons of welfare reform to
18 both the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
19 Program and Medicaid.
20 (B) For Medicaid, this budget assumes the
21 conversion of the Federal share of Medicaid
22 spending into flexible State allotments, which
23 States will be able to tailor to meet their unique
24 needs. Such a reform would end the misguided
25 one-size-fits-all approach that ties the hands of
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1 State governments and would provide States
2 with the freedom and flexibility they have long
3 requested in the Medicaid program. Moreover,
4 this budget assumes the repeal of the Medicaid
5 expansions in the President’s health care law,
6 relieving State governments of the crippling
7 one-size-fits-all enrollment mandates, as well as
8 the overwhelming pressure the law’s Medicaid
9 expansion puts on an already-strained system.
10 (C) For the Supplemental Nutrition As-
11 sistance Program, this budget assumes the con-
12 version of the program into a flexible State al-
13 lotment tailored to meet each State’s needs.
14 The allotment would increase based on the De-
15 partment of Agriculture Thrifty Food Plan
16 index and beneficiary growth. Such a reform
17 would provide incentives for States to ensure
18 dollars will go towards those who need them
19 most.
20 (b) NONMEANS-TESTED DIRECT SPENDING.—
21 (1) For nonmeans-tested direct spending, the
22 average rate of growth in the total level of outlays
23 during the 10-year period preceding fiscal year 2016
24 is 5.4 percent.
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1 (2) For nonmeans-tested direct spending, the
2 estimated average rate of growth in the total level of
3 outlays during the 10-year period beginning with fis-
4 cal year 2016 is 5.5 percent under current law.
5 (3) The following reforms are proposed in this
6 concurrent resolution for nonmeans-tested direct
7 spending:
8 (A) For Medicare, this budget advances
9 policies to put seniors, not the Federal Govern-
10 ment, in control of their health care decisions.
11 Future retirees would be able to choose from a
12 range of guaranteed coverage options, with pri-
13 vate plans competing alongside the traditional
14 fee-for-service Medicare program. Medicare
15 would provide a premium-support payment ei-
16 ther to pay for or offset the premium of the
17 plan chosen by the senior, depending on the
18 plan’s cost. The Medicare premium-support
19 payment would be adjusted so that the sick
20 would receive higher payments if their condi-
21 tions worsened; lower-income seniors would re-
22 ceive additional assistance to help cover out-of-
23 pocket costs; and wealthier seniors would as-
24 sume responsibility for a greater share of their
25 premiums. Putting seniors in charge of how
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1 their health care dollars are spent will force
2 providers to compete against each other on
3 price and quality. This market competition will
4 act as a real check on widespread waste and
5 skyrocketing health care costs. As with previous
6 budgets, this program will begin in 2024 and
7 makes no changes to those in or near retire-
8 ment.
9 (B) In keeping with a recommendation
10 from the National Commission on Fiscal Re-
11 sponsibility and Reform, this budget calls for
12 Federal employees—including Members of Con-
13 gress and congressional staff—to make greater
14 contributions toward their own retirement.
15 TITLE VII—RECOMMENDED
16 LONG-TERM LEVELS
17 SEC. 701. LONG-TERM BUDGETING.
18 The following are the recommended revenue, spend-
19 ing, and deficit levels for each of fiscal years 2030, 2035,
20 and 2040 as a percent of the gross domestic product of
21 the United States:
22 (1) REVENUES.—The budgetary levels of Fed-
23 eral revenues are as follows:
24 Fiscal year 2030: 18.7 percent.
25 Fiscal year 2035: 19.0 percent.
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1 Fiscal year 2040: 19.0 percent.
2 (2) OUTLAYS.—The budgetary levels of total
3 budget outlays are not to exceed:
4 Fiscal year 2030: 18.4 percent.
5 Fiscal year 2035: 17.8 percent.
6 Fiscal year 2040: 16.9 percent.
7 (3) DEFICITS.—The budgetary levels of deficits
8 are not to exceed:
9 Fiscal year 2030: -0.3 percent.
10 Fiscal year 2035: -1.2 percent.
11 Fiscal year 2040: -2.1 percent.
12 (4) DEBT.—The budgetary levels of debt held
13 by the public are not to exceed:
14 Fiscal year 2030: 44.0 percent.
15 Fiscal year 2035: 32.0 percent.
16 Fiscal year 2040: 18.0 percent.
17 TITLE VIII—POLICY
18 STATEMENTS
19 SEC. 801. POLICY STATEMENT ON BALANCED BUDGET
20 AMENDMENT.
21 (a) FINDINGS.—The House finds the following:
22 (1) The Federal Government collects approxi-
23 mately $3 trillion annually in taxes, but spends more
24 than $3.5 trillion to maintain the operations of govVerDate
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1 ernment. The Federal Government must borrow 14
2 cents of every Federal dollar spent.
3 (2) At the end of the year 2014, the national
4 debt of the United States was more than $18.1 tril-
5 lion.
6 (3) A majority of States have petitioned the
7 Federal Government to hold a Constitutional Con-
8 vention for the consideration of adopting a Balanced
9 Budget Amendment to the United States Constitu-
10 tion.
11 (4) Forty-nine States have fiscal limitations in
12 their State Constitutions, including the requirement
13 to annually balance the budget.
14 (5) H.J Res. 2, sponsored by Rep. Robert W.
15 Goodlatte (R-VA), was considered by the House of
16 Representatives on November 18, 2011, though it
17 received 262 aye votes, it did not receive the two-
18 thirds required for passage.
19 (6) Numerous balanced budget amendment pro-
20 posals have been introduced on a bipartisan basis in
21 the House. Twelve were introduced in the 113th
22 Congress alone, including H. J. Res. 4 by Demo-
23 cratic Representative John J. Barrow of Georgia,
24 and H. J. Res. 38 by Republican Representative
25 Jackie Walorski of Indiana.
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1 (7) The joint resolution providing for a bal-
2 anced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution
3 referred to in paragraph (5) prohibited outlays for
4 a fiscal year (except those for repayment of debt
5 principal) from exceeding total receipts for that fis-
6 cal year (except those derived from borrowing) un-
7 less Congress, by a three-fifths roll call vote of each
8 chamber, authorizes a specific excess of outlays over
9 receipts.
10 (8) In 1995, a balanced budget amendment to
11 the U.S. Constitution passed the House with bipar-
12 tisan support, but failed of passage by one vote in
13 the United States Senate.
14 (b) POLICY STATEMENT.—It is the policy of this res-
15 olution that Congress should pass a joint resolution incor-
16 porating the provisions set forth in subsection (b), and
17 send such joint resolution to the States for their approval,
18 to amend the Constitution of the United States to require
19 an annual balanced budget.
20 SEC. 802. POLICY STATEMENT ON BUDGET PROCESS AND
21 BASELINE REFORM.
22 (a) FINDINGS.—
23 (1) In 1974, after more than 50 years of execu-
24 tive dominance over fiscal policy, Congress acted to
25 reassert its ‘‘power of the purse,’’ and passed the
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1 Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control
2 Act.
3 (2) The measure explicitly sought to establish
4 congressional control over the budget process, to
5 provide for annual congressional determination of
6 the appropriate level of taxes and spending, to set
7 important national budget priorities, and to find
8 ways in which Members of Congress could have ac-
9 cess to the most accurate, objective, and highest
10 quality information to assist them in discharging
11 their duties.
12 (3) Far from achieving its intended purpose,
13 however, the process has instituted a bias toward
14 higher spending and larger government. The behe-
15 moth of the Federal Government has largely been fi-
16 nanced through either borrowing or taking ever
17 greater amounts of the national income through high
18 taxation.
19 (4) The process does not treat programs and
20 policies consistently and shows a bias toward higher
21 spending and higher taxes.
22 (5) It assumes extension of spending programs
23 (of more than $50 million per year) scheduled to ex-
24 pire.
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1 (6) Yet it does not assume the extension of tax
2 policies in the same way. consequently, extending ex-
3 isting tax policies that may be scheduled to expire is
4 characterized as a new tax reduction, requiring off-
5 sets to ‘‘pay for’’ merely keeping tax policy the same
6 even though estimating conventions would not re-
7 quire similar treatment of spending programs.
8 (7) The original goals set for the congressional
9 process are admirable in their intent, but because
10 the essential mechanisms of the process have re-
11 mained the same, and ‘‘reforms’’ enacted over the
12 past 40 years have largely taken the form of
13 layering greater levels of legal complexity without re-
14 forming or reassessing the very fundamental nature
15 of the process.
16 (b) POLICY STATEMENT.—It is the policy of this con-
17 current resolution on the budget that as the primary
18 branch of Government, Congress must:
19 (1) Restructure the fundamental procedures of
20 budget decision making;
21 (2) Reassert Congress‘‘s’’power of the purse,″
22 and reinforce the balance of powers between Con-
23 gress and the President, as the 1974 Act intended.
24 (3) Create greater incentives for lawmakers to
25 do budgeting as intended by the Congressional
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1 Budget Act of 1974, especially adopting a budget
2 resolution every year.
3 (4) Encourage more effective control over
4 spending, especially currently uncontrolled direct
5 spending.
6 (5) Consider innovative fiscal tools such as: zero
7 based budgeting, which would require a department
8 or agency to justify its budget as if it were a new
9 expenditure; and direct spending caps to enhance
10 oversight of automatic pilot spending that increases
11 each year without congressional approval.
12 (6) Promote efficient and timely budget actions,
13 so that lawmakers complete their budget actions by
14 the time the new fiscal year begins.
15 (7) Provide access to the best analysis of eco-
16 nomic conditions available and increase awareness of
17 how fiscal policy directly impacts overall economic
18 growth and job creation,
19 (9) Remove layers of complexity that have com-
20 plicated the procedures designed in 1974, and made
21 budgeting more arcane and opaque.
22 (10) Remove existing biases that favor higher
23 spending.
24 (11) Include procedures by which current tax
25 laws may be extended and treated on a basis that
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1 is not different from the extension of entitlement
2 programs.
3 (c) BUDGET PROCESS REFORM.—Comprehensive
4 budget process reform should also remove the bias in the
5 baseline against the extension of current tax laws in the
6 following ways:
7 (1) Permanent extension of tax laws should not
8 be used as a means to increase taxes on other tax-
9 payers;
10 (2) For those expiring tax provisions that are
11 proposed to be permanently extended, Congress
12 should use a more realistic baseline that does not re-
13 quire them to be offset; and,
14 (3) Tax-reform legislation should not include
15 tax increases just to offset the extension of current
16 tax laws.
17 (d) LEGISLATION.—The Committee on the Budget
18 intends to draft legislation during the 114th Congress that
19 will rewrite the Congressional Budget and Impoundment
20 Control Act of 1974 to fulfill the goals of making the con-
21 gressional budget process more effective in ensuring tax-
22 payers’ dollars are spent wisely and efficiently.
23 SEC. 803. POLICY STATEMENT ON ECONOMIC GROWTH AND
24 JOB CREATION.
25 (a) FINDINGS.—The House finds the following:
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1 (1) Although the United States economy tech-
2 nically emerged from recession more than 5 years
3 ago, the subsequent recovery has felt more like a
4 malaise than a rebound. Real gross domestic product
5 GDP growth over the past 5 years has averaged
6 slightly more than 2 percent, well below the 3.2 per-
7 cent historical trend rate of growth in the United
8 States. Although the economy has shown some wel-
9 come signs of improvement of late, the Nation re-
10 mains in the midst of the weakest economic recovery
11 of the modern era.
12 (2) Looking ahead, CBO expects the economy
13 to grow by an average of just 2.3 percent over the
14 next 10 years. That level of economic growth is sim-
15 ply unacceptable and insufficient to expand opportu-
16 nities and the incomes of millions of middle-income
17 Americans.
18 (3) Sluggish economic growth has also contrib-
19 uted to the country’s fiscal woes. Subpar growth
20 means that revenue levels are lower than they would
21 otherwise be while government spending (e.g. welfare
22 and income-support programs) is higher. Clearly,
23 there is a dire need for policies that will spark high-
24 er rates of economic growth and greater, higher-
25 quality job opportunities
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1 (4) Although job gains have been trending up
2 of late, other aspects of the labor market remain
3 weak. The labor force participation rate, for in-
4 stance, is hovering just under 63 percent, close to
5 the lowest level since 1978. Long-term unemploy-
6 ment also remains a problem. Of the roughly 8.7
7 million people who are currently unemployed, 2.7
8 million (more than 30 percent) have been unem-
9 ployed for more than 6 months. Long-term unem-
10 ployment erodes an individual’s job skills and de-
11 taches them from job opportunities. It also under-
12 mines the long-term productive capacity of the econ-
13 omy.
14 (5) Perhaps most important, wage gains and in-
15 come growth have been subpar for middle-class
16 Americans. Average hourly earnings of private-sector
17 workers have increased by just 1.6 percent over the
18 past year. Prior to the recession, average hourly
19 earnings were tracking close to 4 percent. Likewise,
20 average income levels have remained flat in recent
21 years. Real median household income is just under
22 $52,000, one of the lowest levels since 1995.
23 (6) The unsustainable fiscal trajectory has cast
24 a shadow on the country’s economic outlook. inves-
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1 looking basis. they know that today’s large debt lev-
2 els are simply tomorrow’s tax hikes, interest rate in-
3 creases, or inflation and they act accordingly. This
4 debt overhang, and the uncertainty it generates, can
5 weigh on growth, investment, and job creation.
6 (7) Nearly all economists, including those at the
7 CBO, conclude that reducing budget deficits (there-
8 by bending the curve on debt levels is a net positive
9 for economic growth over time. The logic is that def-
10 icit reduction creates long-term economic benefits
11 because it increases the pool of national savings and
12 boosts investment, thereby raising economic growth
13 and job creation.
14 (8) CBO analyzed the House Republican fiscal
15 year 2016 budget resolution and found it would in-
16 crease real output per capita (a proxy for a coun-
17 try’s standard of living) by about $1,000 in 2025
18 and roughly $5,000 by 2040 relative to the baseline
19 path. That means more income and greater pros-
20 perity for all Americans.
21 (9) In contrast, if the government remains on
22 the current fiscal path, future generations will face
23 ever-higher debt service costs, a decline in national
24 savings, and a ‘‘crowding out’’ of private investment.
25 This dynamic will eventually lead to a decline in ecoVerDate
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1 nomic output and a diminution in our country’s
2 standard of living.
3 (9) The key economic challenge is determining
4 how to expand the economic pie, not how best to di-
5 vide up and re-distribute a shrinking pie.
6 (10) A stronger economy is vital to lowering
7 deficit levels and eventually balancing the budget.
8 According to CBO, if annual real GDP growth is
9 just 0.1 percentage point higher over the budget
10 window, deficits would be reduced by $326 billion.
11 (11) This budget resolution therefore embraces
12 pro-growth policies, such as fundamental tax reform,
13 that will help foster a stronger economy, greater op-
14 portunities and more job creation.
15 (b) POLICY ON ECONOMIC GROWTH AND JOB CRE-
16 ATION.—It is the policy of this resolution to promote fast-
17 er economic growth and job creation. By putting the budg-
18 et on a sustainable path, this resolution ends the debt-
19 fueled uncertainty holding back job creators. Reforms to
20 the tax code will put American businesses and workers in
21 a better position to compete and thrive in the 21st century
22 global economy. This resolution targets the regulatory red
23 tape and cronyism that stack the deck in favor of special
24 interests. All of the reforms in this resolution serve as
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1 means to the larger end of helping the economy grow and
2 expanding opportunity for all Americans.
3 SEC. 804. POLICY STATEMENT ON TAX REFORM.
4 (a) Findings- The House finds the following:
5 (1) A world-class tax system should be simple,
6 fair, and promote (rather than impede) economic
7 growth. The United States tax code fails on all three
8 counts: It is notoriously complex, patently unfair,
9 and highly inefficient. The tax code’s complexity dis-
10 torts decisions to work, save, and invest, which leads
11 to slower economic growth, lower wages, and less job
12 creation.
13 (2) Over the past decade alone, there have been
14 4,107 changes to the tax code, more than one per
15 day. Many of the major changes over the years have
16 involved carving out special preferences, exclusions,
17 or deductions for various activities or groups. These
18 loopholes add up to more than $1 trillion per year
19 and make the code unfair, inefficient, and highly
20 complex.
21 (3) In addition, these tax preferences are dis-
22 proportionately used by upper-income individuals.
23 (4) The large amount of tax preferences that
24 pervade the code end up narrowing the tax base. A
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1 narrow tax base, in turn, requires much higher tax
2 rates to raise a given amount of revenue.
3 (5) It is estimated that American taxpayers end
4 up spending $160 billion and roughly 6 billion hours
5 a year complying with the tax code waste of time
6 and resources that could be used in more productive
7 activities.
8 (6) Standard economic theory shows that high
9 marginal tax rates dampen the incentives to work,
10 save, and invest, which reduces economic output and
11 job creation. Lower economic output, in turn, mutes
12 the intended revenue gain from higher marginal tax
13 rates.
14 (7) Roughly half of U.S. active business income
15 and half of private sector employment are derived
16 from business entities (such as partnerships, S cor-
17 porations, and sole proprietorships) that are taxed
18 on a ‘‘pass-through’’ basis, meaning the income
19 flows through to the tax returns of the individual
20 owners and is taxed at the individual rate structure
21 rather than at the corporate rate. Small businesses,
22 in particular, tend to choose this form for Federal
23 tax purposes, and the top Federal rate on such small
24 business income can reach nearly 45 percent. For
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1 these reasons, sound economic policy requires low-
2 ering marginal rates on these pass-through entities.
3 (8) The U.S. corporate income tax rate (includ-
4 ing Federal, State, and local taxes) sums to slightly
5 more than 39 percent, the highest rate in the indus-
6 trialized world. Tax rates this high suppress wages
7 and discourage investment and job creation, distort
8 business activity, and put American businesses at a
9 competitive disadvantage with foreign competitors.
10 (9) By deterring potential investment, the U.S.
11 corporate tax restrains economic growth and job cre-
12 ation. The U.S. tax rate differential with other coun-
13 tries also fosters a variety of complicated multi-
14 national corporate behaviors intended to avoid the
15 tax, which have the effect of moving the tax base
16 offshore, destroying American jobs, and decreasing
17 corporate revenue.
18 (10) The ‘‘worldwide’’ structure of U.S. inter-
19 national taxation essentially taxes earnings of
20 United States firms twice, putting them at a signifi-
21 cant competitive disadvantage with competitors with
22 more competitive international tax systems.
23 (11) Reforming the United States tax code to
24 a more competitive international system would boost
25 the competitiveness of United States companies opVerDate
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1 erating abroad and it would also greatly reduce tax
2 avoidance.
3 (12) The tax code imposes costs on American
4 workers through lower wages, on consumers in high-
5 er prices, and on investors in diminished returns.
6 (13) Revenues have averaged about 17.4 per-
7 cent of the economy throughout modern American
8 history. Revenues rise above this level under current
9 law to 18.3 percent of the economy by the end of the
10 10-year budget window.
11 (14) Attempting to raise revenue through new
12 tax increases to meet out-of-control spending would
13 sink the economy and Americans’ ability to save for
14 their retirement and their children’s education.
15 (15) This resolution also rejects the idea of in-
16 stituting a carbon tax in the United States, which
17 some have offered as a new source of revenue. Such
18 a plan would damage the economy, cost jobs, and
19 raise prices on American consumers.
20 (16) Closing tax loopholes to fund spending
21 does not constitute fundamental tax reform.
22 (17) The goal of tax reform should be to curb
23 or eliminate loopholes and use those savings to lower
24 tax rates across the board not to fund more wasteful
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1 Government spending. Washington has a spending
2 problem, not a revenue problem.
3 (18) Many economists believe that fundamental
4 tax reform (i.e. a broader tax base and lower tax
5 rates) would lead to greater labor supply and in-
6 creased investment, which, over time, would have a
7 positive impact on total national output.
8 (19) Heretofore, the congressional scorekeepers
9 the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the
10 Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT).
11 (20) Static scoring implicitly assumes that the
12 size of the economy (and therefore key economic
13 variables such as labor supply and investment) re-
14 mains fixed throughout the considered budget hori-
15 zon. This is an abstraction from reality.
16 (22) A new House rule was adopted at the be-
17 ginning of the 114th session of Congress to help cor-
18 rect this problem. This rule requires CBO and JCT
19 to incorporate the macroeconomic effects of major
20 legislation into their official cost estimates.
21 (22) This rule seeks to bridge the divide be-
22 tween static estimates and scoring that incorporates
23 economic feedback effects by providing policymakers
24 with a greater amount of information about the like-
25 ly economic impact of policies under their considerVerDate
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1 ation while at the same time preserving traditional
2 scoring methods and reporting conventions.
3 (b) POLICY ON TAX REFORM.—It is the policy of this
4 resolution that Congress should enact legislation that pro-
5 vides for a comprehensive reform of the United States tax
6 code to promote economic growth, create American jobs,
7 increase wages, and benefit American consumers, inves-
8 tors, and workers through fundamental tax reform that:
9 (1) Simplifies the tax code to make it fairer to
10 American families and businesses and reduces the
11 amount of time and resources necessary to comply
12 with tax laws;
13 (2) Substantially lowers tax rates for individ-
14 uals and consolidates the current seven individual in-
15 come tax brackets into fewer brackets;
16 (3) Repeals the Alternative Minimum Tax;
17 (4) Reduces the corporate tax rate; and
18 (5) Transitions the tax code to a more competi-
19 tive system of international taxation in a manner
20 that does not discriminate against any particular
21 type of income or industry.
22 SEC. 805. POLICY STATEMENT ON TRADE.
23 (a) FINDINGS.—The House finds the following:
24 (1) Opening foreign markets to American ex-
25 ports is vital to the United States economy and benVerDate
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1 eficial to American workers and consumers. The
2 Commerce Department estimates that every $1 bil-
3 lion of United States exports supports more than
4 5,000 jobs here at home.
5 (2) The United States can increase economic
6 opportunities for American workers and businesses
7 through the expansion of trade, adherence to trade
8 agreement rules by the United States and its trading
9 partners, and the elimination of foreign trade bar-
10 riers to United States goods and services.
11 (3) Trade Promotion Authority is a bipartisan
12 and bicameral effort to strengthen the role of Con-
13 gress in setting negotiating objectives for trade
14 agreements, to improve consultation with Congress
15 by the Administration, and to provide a clear frame-
16 work for congressional consideration and implemen-
17 tation of trade agreements.
18 (4) Global trade and commerce is not a zero-
19 sum game. The idea that global expansion tends to
20 ‘‘hollow out’’ United States operations is incorrect.
21 Foreign-affiliate activity tends to complement, not
22 substitute for, key parent activities in the United
23 States such as employment, worker compensation,
24 and capital investment. When United States
25 headquartered multinationals invest and expand opVerDate
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1 erations abroad it often leads to more jobs and eco-
2 nomic growth at home.
3 (5) Trade agreements have saved the average
4 American family of four more than $10,000 per
5 year, as a result of lower duties. Trade agreements
6 also lower the cost of manufacturing inputs by re-
7 moving duties.
8 (6) American businesses and workers have
9 shown that, on a level playing field, they can excel
10 and surpass the international competition.
11 (7) When negotiating trade agreements, United
12 States laws on Intellectual Property (IP) protection
13 should be used as a benchmark for establishing glob-
14 al IP frameworks. Strong IP protections have con-
15 tributed significantly to the United States status as
16 a world leader in innovation across sectors, including
17 in the development of life-saving biologic medicines.
18 The data protections afforded to biologics in United
19 States law, including 12 years of data protection,
20 allow continued development of pioneering medicines
21 to benefit patients both in the United States and
22 abroad. To maintain the cycle of innovation and
23 achieve truly 21st century trade agreements, it is
24 vital that our negotiators insist on the highest stand-
25 ards for IP protections.
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1 (8) The status quo of the current tax code also
2 undermines the competitiveness of United States
3 businesses and costs the United States economy in-
4 vestment and jobs.
5 (9) The United States currently has an anti-
6 quated system of international taxation whereby
7 United States multinationals operating abroad pay
8 both the foreign-country tax and United States cor-
9 porate taxes. They are essentially taxed twice. This
10 puts them at an obvious competitive disadvantage. A
11 modern and competitive international tax system
12 would facilitate global commerce for United States
13 multinational companies and would encourage for-
14 eign business investment and job creation in the
15 United States.
16 (10) The ability to defer United States taxes on
17 their foreign operations, which some erroneously
18 refer to as a ‘‘tax loophole,’’ cushions this disadvan-
19 tage to a certain extent. Eliminating or restricting
20 this provision (and others like it) would harm United
21 States competitiveness.
22 (11) This budget resolution advocates funda-
23 mental tax reform that would lower the United
24 States corporate rate, now the highest in the indus-
25 trialized world, and switch to a more competitive
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1 system of international taxation. This would make
2 the United States a much more attractive place to
3 invest and station business activity and would chip
4 away at the incentives for United States companies
5 to keep their profits overseas (because the United
6 States corporate rate is so high).
7 (b) POLICY ON TRADE.—It is the policy of this con-
8 current resolution to pursue international trade, global
9 commerce, and a modern and competitive United States
10 international tax system to promote job creation in the
11 United States. The United States should continue to seek
12 increased economic opportunities for American workers
13 and businesses through the expansion of trade opportuni-
14 ties, adherence to trade agreements and rules by the
15 United States and its trading partners, and the elimi-
16 nation of foreign trade barriers to United States goods
17 and services by opening new markets and by enforcing
18 United States rights. To that end, Congress should pass
19 Trade Promotion Authority to strengthen the role of Con-
20 gress in setting negotiating objectives for trade agree-
21 ments, to improve consultation with Congress by the Ad-
22 ministration, and to provide a clear framework for con-
23 gressional consideration and implementation of trade
24 agreements.
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1 SEC. 806. POLICY STATEMENT ON SOCIAL SECURITY.
2 (a) FINDINGS.—The House finds the following:
3 (1) More than 55 million retirees, individuals
4 with disabilities, and survivors depend on Social Se-
5 curity. Since enactment, Social Security has served
6 as a vital leg on the ‘‘three-legged stool’’ of retire-
7 ment security, which includes employer provided
8 pensions as well as personal savings.
9 (2) The Social Security Trustees Report has re-
10 peatedly recommended that Social Security’s long-
11 term financial challenges be addressed soon. Each
12 year without reform, the financial condition of Social
13 Security becomes more precarious and the threat to
14 seniors and those receiving Social Security disability
15 benefits becomes more pronounced:
16 (A) In 2016, the Disability Insurance
17 Trust Fund will be exhausted and program rev-
18 enues will be unable to pay scheduled benefits.
19 (B) In 2033, the combined Old-Age and
20 Survivors and Disability Trust Funds will be
21 exhausted, and program revenues will be unable
22 to pay scheduled benefits.
23 (C) With the exhaustion of the Trust
24 Funds in 2033, benefits will be cut nearly 23
25 percent across the board, devastating those curVerDate
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1 rently in or near retirement and those who rely
2 on Social Security the most.
3 (3) The recession and continued low economic
4 growth have exacerbated the looming fiscal crisis
5 facing Social Security. The most recent Congres-
6 sional Budget Office (CBO) projections find that So-
7 cial Security will run cash deficits of more than $2
8 trillion over the next 10 years.
9 (4) Lower-income Americans rely on Social Se-
10 curity for a larger proportion of their retirement in-
11 come. Therefore, reforms should take into consider-
12 ation the need to protect lower-income Americans’
13 retirement security.
14 (5) The Disability Insurance program provides
15 an essential income safety net for those with disabil-
16 ities and their families. According to the CBO, be-
17 tween 1970 and 2012, the number of people receiv-
18 ing disability benefits (both disabled workers and
19 their dependent family members) has increased by
20 more than 300 percent from 2.7 million to over 10.9
21 million. This increase is not due strictly to popu-
22 lation growth or decreases in health. David Autor
23 and Mark Duggan have found that the increase in
24 individuals on disability does not reflect a decrease
25 in self-reported health. CBO attributes program
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1 growth to changes in demographics, changes in the
2 composition of the labor force and compensation, as
3 well as Federal policies.
4 (6) If this program is not reformed, families
5 who rely on the lifeline that disability benefits pro-
6 vide will face benefit cuts of up to 20 percent in
7 2016, devastating individuals who need assistance
8 the most.
9 (7) In the past, Social Security has been re-
10 formed on a bipartisan basis, most notably by the
11 ‘‘Greenspan Commission’’ which helped to address
12 Social Security shortfalls for more than a genera-
13 tion.
14 (8) Americans deserve action by the President,
15 the House, and the Senate to preserve and strength-
16 en Social Security. It is critical that bipartisan ac-
17 tion be taken to address the looming insolvency of
18 Social Security. In this spirit, this resolution creates
19 a bipartisan opportunity to find solutions by requir-
20 ing policymakers to ensure that Social Security re-
21 mains a critical part of the safety net.
22 (b) POLICY ON SOCIAL SECURITY.—It is the policy
23 of this resolution that Congress should work on a bipar-
24 tisan basis to make Social Security sustainably solvent.
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1 This resolution assumes reform of a current law trigger,
2 such that:
3 (1) If in any year the Board of Trustees of the
4 Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust
5 Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust
6 Fund annual Trustees Report determines that the
7 75-year actuarial balance of the Social Security
8 Trust Funds is in deficit, and the annual balance of
9 the Social Security Trust Funds in the 75th year is
10 in deficit, the Board of Trustees should, no later
11 than September 30 of the same calendar year, sub-
12 mit to the President recommendations for statutory
13 reforms necessary to achieve a positive 75-year actu-
14 arial balance and a positive annual balance in the
15 75th-year. Recommendations provided to the Presi-
16 dent must be agreed upon by both Public Trustees
17 of the Board of Trustees.
18 (2) Not later than 1 December of the same cal-
19 endar year in which the Board of Trustees submit
20 their recommendations, the President should
21 promptly submit implementing legislation to both
22 Houses of Congress including his recommendations
23 necessary to achieve a positive 75-year actuarial bal-
24 ance and a positive annual balance in the 75th year.
25 The Majority Leader of the Senate and the Majority
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1 Leader of the House should introduce the Presi-
2 dent’s legislation upon receipt.
3 (3) Within 60 days of the President submitting
4 legislation, the committees of jurisdiction to which
5 the legislation has been referred should report a bill,
6 which should be considered by the full House or
7 Senate under expedited procedures.
8 (4) Legislation submitted by the President
9 should:
10 (A) Protect those in or near retirement;
11 (B) Preserve the safety net for those who
12 count on Social Security the most, including
13 those with disabilities and survivors;
14 (C) Improve fairness for participants;
15 (D) Reduce the burden on, and provide
16 certainty for, future generations; and
17 (E) Secure the future of the Disability In-
18 surance program while addressing the needs of
19 those with disabilities today and improving the
20 determination process.
21 (c) POLICY ON DISABILITY INSURANCE.—It is the
22 policy of this resolution that Congress and the President
23 should enact legislation on a bipartisan basis to reform
24 the Disability Insurance program prior to its insolvency
25 in 2016 and should not raid the Social Security retirement
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1 system without reforms to the Disability Insurance sys-
2 tem. This resolution assumes reform that:
3 (1) Ensure benefits continue to be paid to indi-
4 viduals with disabilities and their family members
5 who rely on them;
6 (2) Prevents a 20 percent across-the-board ben-
7 efit cut;
8 (3) Makes the Disability Insurance program
9 work better; and
10 (4) Promotes opportunity for those trying to re-
11 turn to work.
12 (d) POLICY ON SOCIAL SECURITY SOLVENCY.—Any
13 legislation that Congress considers to improve the solvency
14 of the Disability Insurance trust fund also must improve
15 the long-term solvency of the combined Old Age and Sur-
16 vivors Disability Insurance (OASDI) trust fund.
17 SEC. 807. POLICY STATEMENT ON REPEALING THE PRESI-
18 DENT’S HEALTH CARE LAW AND PROMOTING
19 REAL HEALTH CARE REFORM.
20 (a) FINDINGS.—The House finds the following:
21 (1) The President’s health care law put Wash-
22 ington’s priorities first, and not patients’. The Pa-
23 tient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)
24 has failed to reduce health care premiums as prom-
25 ised; instead, the law mandated benefits and covVerDate
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1 erage levels, denying patients the opportunity to
2 choose the type of coverage that best suits their
3 health needs and driving up health coverage costs. A
4 typical family’s health care premiums were supposed
5 to decline by $2,500 a year; instead, according to
6 the 2014 Employer Health Benefits Survey, health
7 care premiums have increased by 7 percent for indi-
8 viduals and families since 2012.
9 (2) The President pledged ‘‘If you like your
10 health care plan, you can keep your health care
11 plan.’’ Instead, the non-partisan Congressional
12 Budget Office now estimates 9 million Americans
13 with employment-based health coverage will lose
14 those plans due to the President’s health care law,
15 further limiting patient choice.
16 (3) Then-Speaker of the House, Pelosi, said
17 that the President’s health care law would create 4
18 million jobs over the life of the law and almost
19 400,000 jobs immediately. Instead, the Congres-
20 sional Budget Office estimates that the reduction in
21 hours worked due to Obamacare represents a decline
22 of about 2.0 to 2.5 million full-time equivalent work-
23 ers, compared with what would have occurred in the
24 absence of the law. The full impact on labor rep-
25 resents a reduction in employment by 1.5 percent to
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1 2.0 percent, while additional studies show less mod-
2 est results. A recent study by the Mercatus Center
3 at George Mason University estimates that
4 Obamacare will reduce employment by up to 3 per-
5 cent, or about 4 million full-time equivalent workers.
6 (4) The President has charged the Independent
7 Payment Advisory Board, a panel of unelected bu-
8 reaucrats, with cutting Medicare by an additional
9 $20.9 billion over the next ten years, according to
10 the President’s most recent budget.
11 (5) Since PPACA was signed into law, the ad-
12 ministration has repeatedly failed to implement it as
13 written. The President has unilaterally acted to
14 make a total of 28 changes, delays, and exemptions.
15 The President has signed into law another 17
16 changes made by Congress. The Supreme Court
17 struck down the forced expansion of Medicaid; ruled
18 the individual ‘‘mandate’’ could only be character-
19 ized as a tax to remain constitutional; and rejected
20 the requirement that closely-held companies provide
21 health insurance to their employees if doing so vio-
22 lates these companies’ religious beliefs. Even now,
23 almost five years after enactment, the Supreme
24 Court continues to evaluate the legality of how the
25 President’s administration has implemented the law.
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1 All of these changes prove the folly underlying the
2 entire program health care in the United States can-
3 not be run from a centralized bureaucracy.
4 (6) The President’s health care law is
5 unaffordable, intrusive, overreaching, destructive,
6 and unworkable. The law should be fully repealed,
7 allowing for real, patient-centered health care re-
8 form: the development of real health care reforms
9 that puts patients first, that make affordable, qual-
10 ity health care available to all Americans, and that
11 build on the innovation and creativity of all the par-
12 ticipants in the health care sector.
13 (b) POLICY ON PROMOTING REAL HEALTH CARE RE-
14 FORM.—It is the policy of this resolution that the Presi-
15 dent’s health care law should be fully repealed and real
16 health care reform promoted in accordance with the fol-
17 lowing principles:
18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Health care reform should
19 enhance affordability, accessibility, quality, innova-
20 tion, choices and responsiveness in health care cov-
21 erage for all Americans, putting patients, families,
22 and doctors in charge, not Washington, DC. These
23 reforms should encourage increased competition and
24 transparency. Under the President’s health care law,
25 government controls Americans’ health care choices.
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1 Under true, patient-centered reform, Americans
2 would.
3 (2) AFFORDABILITY.—Real reform should be
4 centered on ensuring that all Americans, no matter
5 their age, income, or health status, have the ability
6 to afford health care coverage. The health care deliv-
7 ery structure should be improved, and individuals
8 should not be priced out of the health insurance
9 market due to pre-existing conditions, but national-
10 ized health care is not only unnecessary to accom-
11 plish this, it undermines the goal. Individuals should
12 be allowed to join together voluntarily to pool risk
13 through mechanisms such as Individual Membership
14 Associations and Small Employer Membership Asso-
15 ciations.
16 (3) ACCESSABILITY.—Instead of Washington
17 outlining for Americans the ways they cannot use
18 their health insurance, reforms should make health
19 coverage more portable. Individuals should be able to
20 own their insurance and have it follow them in and
21 out of jobs throughout their career. Small business
22 owners should be permitted to band together across
23 State lines through their membership in bona fide
24 trade or professional associations to purchase health
25 coverage for their families and employees at a low
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1 cost. This will increase small businesses’ bargaining
2 power, volume discounts, and administrative effi-
3 ciencies while giving them freedom from State-man-
4 dated benefit packages. Also, insurers licensed to sell
5 policies in one State should be permitted to offer
6 them to residents in any other State, and consumers
7 should be permitted to shop for health insurance
8 across State lines, as they are with other insurance
9 products online, by mail, by phone, or in consulta-
10 tion with an insurance agent.
11 (4) QUALITY.—Incentives for providers to de-
12 liver high-quality, responsive, and coordinated care
13 will promote patient outcomes and drive down health
14 care costs. likewise, reforms that work to restore the
15 patient-physician relationship by reducing adminis-
16 trative burdens and allowing physicians to do what
17 they do best: care for patients
18 (5) CHOICES.—Individuals and families should
19 be free to secure the health care coverage that best
20 meets their needs, rather than instituting one-size-
21 fits-all directives from Federal bureaucracies such as
22 the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of
23 Health and Human Services, and the Independent
24 Payment Advisory Board.
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1 (6) INNOVATION.—Instead of stifling innovation
2 in health care technologies, treatments, medications,
3 and therapies with Federal mandates, taxes, and
4 price controls, a reformed health care system should
5 encourage research, development and innovation.
6 (7) RESPONSIVENESS.—Reform should return
7 authority to States wherever possible to make the
8 system more responsive to patients and their needs.
9 Instead of tying States’ hands with Federal require-
10 ments for their Medicaid programs, the Federal
11 Government should return control of this program to
12 the States. Not only does the current Medicaid pro-
13 gram drive up Federal debt and threaten to bank-
14 rupt State budgets, but States are better positioned
15 to provide quality, affordable care to those who are
16 eligible for the program and to track down and weed
17 out waste, fraud and abuse. Beneficiary choices in
18 the State Children’s Health Insurance Program
19 (SCHIP) and Medicaid should be improved. States
20 should make available the purchase of private insur-
21 ance as an option to their Medicaid and SCHIP pop-
22 ulations (though they should not require enroll-
23 ment).
24 (8) REFORMS.—Reforms should be made to
25 prevent lawsuit abuse and curb the practice of deVerDate
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1 fensive medicine, which are significant drivers in-
2 creasing health care costs. The burden of proof in
3 medical malpractice cases should be based on com-
4 pliance with best practice guidelines, and States
5 should be free to implement those policies to best
6 suit their needs.
7 SEC. 808. POLICY STATEMENT ON MEDICARE.
8 (a) FINDINGS.—The House finds the following:
9 (1) More than 50 million Americans depend on
10 Medicare for their health security.
11 (2) The Medicare Trustees Report has repeat-
12 edly recommended that Medicare’s long-term finan-
13 cial challenges be addressed soon. Each year without
14 reform, the financial condition of Medicare becomes
15 more precarious and the threat to those in or near
16 retirement becomes more pronounced. According to
17 the Medicare Trustees Report—
18 (A) the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund
19 will be exhausted in 2030 and unable to pay
20 scheduled benefits; and
21 (B) Medicare enrollment is expected to in-
22 crease by over 50 percent in the next two dec-
23 ades, as 10,000 baby boomers reach retirement
24 age each day; and
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1 (C) enrollees remain in Medicare three
2 times longer than at the outset of the program;
3 and
4 (D) current workers’ payroll contributions
5 pay for current beneficiaries. In 2013, the ratio
6 was 3.2 workers per beneficiary, but this falls
7 to 2.3 in 2030 and continues to decrease over
8 time; and
9 (E) most Medicare beneficiaries receive
10 about three dollars in Medicare benefits for
11 every one dollar paid into the program; and
12 (F) Medicare spending is growing faster
13 than the economy and Medicare outlays are
14 currently rising at a rate of 6.5 percent per
15 year over the next 10 years. According to the
16 Congressional Budget Office’s 2014 Long-Term
17 Budget Outlook, spending on Medicare is pro-
18 jected to reach 5 percent of gross domestic
19 product (GDP) by 2043 and 9.3 percent of
20 GDP by 2089.
21 (3) Failing to address this problem will leave
22 millions of American seniors without adequate health
23 security and younger generations burdened with
24 enormous debt to pay for spending levels that cannot
25 be sustained.
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1 (b) POLICY ON MEDICARE REFORM.—It is the policy
2 of this resolution to preserve the program for those in or
3 near retirement and strengthen Medicare for future bene-
4 ficiaries.
5 (c) ASSUMPTIONS.—This resolution assumes reform
6 of the Medicare program such that:
7 (1) Current Medicare benefits are preserved for
8 those in or near retirement.
9 (2) Permanent reform of the sustainable growth
10 rate is responsibly accounted for to ensure physi-
11 cians continue to participate in the Medicare pro-
12 gram and provide quality health care for bene-
13 ficiaries.
14 (3) When future generations reach eligibility,
15 Medicare is reformed to provide a premium support
16 payment and a selection of guaranteed health cov-
17 erage options from which recipients can choose a
18 plan that best suits their needs.
19 (4) Medicare will maintain traditional fee-for-
20 service as a plan option.
21 (5) Medicare will provide additional assistance
22 for lower-income beneficiaries and those with greater
23 health risks.
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1 (6) Medicare spending is put on a sustainable
2 path and the Medicare program becomes solvent
3 over the long-term.
4 SEC. 809. POLICY STATEMENT ON MEDICAL DISCOVERY,
5 DEVELOPMENT, DELIVERY AND INNOVATION.
6 (a) FINDINGS.—The House finds the following:
7 (1) For decades, the Nation’s commitment to
8 the discovery, development, and delivery of new
9 treatments and cures has made the United States
10 the biomedical innovation capital of the world, bring-
11 ing life-saving drugs and devices to patients and well
12 over a million high-paying jobs to local communities.
13 (2) Thanks to the visionary and determined
14 leadership of innovators throughout America, includ-
15 ing industry, academic medical centers, and the Na-
16 tional Institutes of Health (NIH), the United States
17 has led the way in early discovery. The United
18 States leadership role is being threatened, however,
19 as other countries contribute more to basic research
20 from both public and private sources.
21 (3) The Organisation for Economic Develop-
22 ment and Cooperation predicts that China, for ex-
23 ample, will outspend the United States in total re-
24 search and development by the end of the decade.
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1 (4) Federal policies should foster innovation in
2 health care, not stifle it. America should maintain
3 its world leadership in medical science by encour-
4 aging competitive forces to work through the mar-
5 ketplace in delivering cures and therapies to pa-
6 tients.
7 (5) Too often the bureaucracy and red-tape in
8 Washington hold back medical innovation and pre-
9 vent new lifesaving treatments from reaching pa-
10 tients. This resolution recognizes the valuable role of
11 the NIH and the indispensable contributions to med-
12 ical research coming from outside Washington.
13 (6) America is the greatest, most innovative
14 Nation on Earth. Her people are innovators, entre-
15 preneurs, visionaries, and relentless builders of the
16 future. Americans were responsible for the first tele-
17 phone, the first airplane, the first computer, for put-
18 ting the first man on the moon, for creating the first
19 vaccine for polio and for legions of other scientific
20 and medical breakthroughs that have improved and
21 prolonged human health and life for countless people
22 in America and around the world.
23 (b) POLICY ON MEDICAL INNOVATION.—
24 (1) It is the policy of this resolution to support
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1 out the country, including private-sector innovators,
2 medical centers and the National Institutes of
3 Health.
4 (2) At the same time, the budget calls for con-
5 tinued strong funding for the agencies that engage
6 in valuable research and development, while also
7 urging Washington to get out of the way of re-
8 searchers, discoverers and innovators all over the
9 country.
10 SEC. 810. POLICY STATEMENT ON FEDERAL REGULATORY
11 REFORM.
12 (a) FINDINGS.— The House finds the following:
13 (1) Excessive regulation at the Federal level
14 has hurt job creation and dampened the economy,
15 slowing the Nation’s recovery from the economic re-
16 cession.
17 (2) Since President Obama’s inauguration in
18 2009, the administration has issued more than
19 468,500 pages of regulations in the Federal Register
20 including 70,066 pages in 2014.
21 (3) The National Association of Manufacturers
22 estimates the total cost of regulations is as high as
23 $2.03 trillion per year. Since 2009, the White House
24 has generated more than $494 billion in regulatory
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1 activity, with an additional $87.6 billion in regu-
2 latory costs currently pending.
3 (4) The Dodd-Frank financial services legisla-
4 tion (Public Law 111–203) has resulted in more
5 than $32 billion in compliance costs and saddled job
6 creators with more than 63 million hours of compli-
7 ance paperwork.
8 (5) Implementation of the Affordable Care Act
9 to date has added 132.9 million annual hours of
10 compliance paperwork, imposing $24.3 billion of
11 compliance costs on the private sector and an $8 bil-
12 lion cost burden on the States.
13 (6) The highest regulatory costs come from
14 rules issued by the Environmental Protection Agency
15 (EPA); these regulations are primarily targeted at
16 the coal industry. In June 2014, the EPA proposed
17 a rule to cut carbon pollution from the Nation’s
18 power plants. The proposed standards are
19 unachievable with current commercially available
20 technology, resulting in a de-facto ban on new coal-
21 fired power plants.
22 (7) Coal-fired power plants provide roughly 40
23 percent of the United States electricity at a low cost.
24 Unfairly targeting the coal industry with costly and
25 unachievable regulations will increase energy prices,
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1 disproportionately disadvantaging energy-intensive
2 industries like manufacturing and construction, and
3 will make life more difficult for millions of low-in-
4 come and middle class families already struggling to
5 pay their bills.
6 (8) Three hundred and thirty coal units are
7 being retired or converted as a result of EPA regula-
8 tions. Combined with the de-facto prohibition on new
9 plants, these retirements and conversions may fur-
10 ther increase the cost of electricity.
11 (9) A recent study by the energy market anal-
12 ysis group Energy Ventures Analysis Inc. estimates
13 the average energy bill in West Virginia will rise
14 $750 per household by 2020, due in part to EPA
15 regulations. West Virginia receives 95 percent of its
16 electricity from coal.
17 (10) The Heritage Foundation found that a
18 phase-out of coal would cost 600,000 jobs by the end
19 of 2023, resulting in an aggregate gross domestic
20 product decrease of $2.23 trillion over the entire pe-
21 riod and reducing the income of a family of four by
22 $1,200 per year. Of these jobs, 330,000 will come
23 from the manufacturing sector, with California,
24 Texas, Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Michigan, New
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1 York, Indiana, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and
2 Georgia seeing the highest job losses.
3 (b) POLICY ON FEDERAL REGULATORY REFORM.—
4 It is the policy of this resolution that Congress should,
5 in consultation with the public burdened by excessive regu-
6 lation, enact legislation that:
7 (1) Promotes economic growth and job creation
8 by eliminating unnecessary red tape and stream-
9 lining and simplifying Federal regulations;
10 (2) Requires the implementation of a regulatory
11 budget to be allocated amongst government agencies,
12 which would require congressional approval and limit
13 the maximum costs of regulations in a given year;
14 (3) Requires congressional approval of all new
15 major regulations (those with an impact of $100
16 million or more) before enactment as opposed to cur-
17 rent law in which Congress must expressly dis-
18 approve of regulation to prevent it from becoming
19 law, which would keep Congress engaged as to pend-
20 ing regulatory policy and prevent costly and unsound
21 policies from being implemented and becoming effec-
22 tive;
23 (4) Requires a three year retrospective cost-ben-
24 efit analysis of all new major regulations, to ensure
25 that regulations operate as intended;
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1 (5) Reinforces the requirement of regulatory
2 impact analysis for regulations proposed by executive
3 branch agencies but also expands the requirement to
4 independent agencies so that by law they consider
5 the costs and benefits of proposed regulations rather
6 than merely being encouraged to do so as is current
7 practice; and
8 (6) Requires a formal rulemaking process for
9 all major regulations, which would increase trans-
10 parency over the process and allow interested parties
11 to communicate their views on proposed legislation
12 to agency officials.
13 SEC. 811. POLICY STATEMENT ON HIGHER EDUCATION AND
14 WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITY.
15 (a) FINDINGS ON HIGHER EDUCATION.—The House
16 finds the following:
17 (1) A well-educated workforce is critical to eco-
18 nomic, job, and wage growth.
19 (2) Roughly 20 million students are enrolled in
20 American colleges and universities.
21 (3) Over the past decade, tuition and fees have
22 been growing at an unsustainable rate. Between the
23 2004-2005 Academic Year and the 2014-2015 Aca-
24 demic Year:
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1 (A) Published tuition and fees at public 4-
2 year colleges and universities increased at an
3 average rate of 3.5 percent per year above the
4 rate of inflation;
5 (B) Published tuition and fees at public
6 two-year colleges and universities increased at
7 an average rate of 2.5 percent per year above
8 the rate of inflation; and
9 (C) Published tuition and fees at private
10 nonprofit 4-year colleges and universities in-
11 creased at an average rate of 2.2 percent per
12 year above the rate of inflation.
13 (4) Federal financial aid for higher education
14 has also seen a dramatic increase. The portion of the
15 Federal student aid portfolio composed of Direct
16 Loans, Federal Family Education Loans, and Per-
17 kins Loans with outstanding balances grew by 119
18 percent between fiscal year 2007 and fiscal year
19 2014.
20 (5) This spending has failed to make college
21 more affordable.
22 (6) In his 2012 State of the Union Address,
23 President Obama noted: ‘‘We can’t just keep sub-
24 sidizing skyrocketing tuition; we’ll run out of
25 money’’.
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1 (7) American students are chasing ever-increas-
2 ing tuition with ever-increasing debt. According to
3 the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, student
4 debt now stands at nearly $1.2 trillion. This makes
5 student loans the second largest balance of consumer
6 debt, after mortgage debt.
7 (8) Students are carrying large debt loads and
8 too many fail to complete college or end up default-
9 ing on these loans due to their debt burden and a
10 weak economy and job market.
11 (9) Based on estimates from the Congressional
12 Budget Office, the Pell Grant Program will face a
13 fiscal shortfall beginning in fiscal year 2017 and
14 continuing in each subsequent year in the current
15 budget window.
16 (10) Failing to address these problems will
17 jeopardize access and affordability to higher edu-
18 cation for America’s young people.
19 (b) POLICY ON HIGHER EDUCATION AFFORD-
20 ABILITY.—It is the policy of this resolution to address the
21 root drivers of tuition inflation, by:
22 (1) Targeting Federal financial aid to those
23 most in need;
24 (2) Streamlining programs that provide aid to
25 make them more effective;
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1 (3) Maintaining the maximum Pell grant award
2 level at $5,775 in each year of the budget window;
3 and
4 (4) Removing regulatory barriers in higher edu-
5 cation that act to restrict flexibility and innovative
6 teaching, particularly as it relates to non-traditional
7 models such as online coursework and competency-
8 based learning.
9 (c) FINDINGS ON WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT.—The
10 House finds the following:
11 (1) 8.7 million Americans are currently unem-
12 ployed.
13 (2) Despite billions of dollars in spending, those
14 looking for work are stymied by a broken workforce
15 development system that fails to connect workers
16 with assistance and employers with trained per-
17 sonnel.
18 (3) The House Education and Workforce Com-
19 mittee successfully consolidated 15 job training pro-
20 grams in the recently enacted Workforce Innovation
21 and Opportunity Act.
22 (d) POLICY ON WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT.—It is
23 the policy of this resolution to address the failings in the
24 current workforce development system, by:
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1 (1) Further streamlining and consolidating
2 Federal job training programs; and
3 (2) Empowering states with the flexibility to
4 tailor funding and programs to the specific needs of
5 their workforce, including the development of career
6 scholarships.
7 SEC. 812. POLICY STATEMENT ON DEPARTMENT OF VET-
8 ERANS AFFAIRS.
9 (a) FINDINGS.—The House finds the following:
10 (1) For years, there has been serious concern
11 regarding the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
12 bureaucratic mismanagement and continuous failure
13 to provide veterans timely access to health care and
14 benefits.
15 (2) In 2014, reports started breaking across the
16 Nation that VA medical centers were manipulating
17 wait-list documents to hide long delays veterans were
18 facing to receive health care. The VA hospital scan-
19 dal led to the immediate resignation of then-Sec-
20 retary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki.
21 (3) In 2015, for the first time ever, VA health
22 care was added to the ‘‘high-risk’’ list of the Govern-
23 ment Accountability Office (GAO), due to manage-
24 ment and oversight failures that have directly reVerDate
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1 sulted in risks to the timeliness, cost-effectiveness,
2 and quality of health care.
3 (4) In response to the scandal, the House Com-
4 mittee on Veterans’ Affairs held several oversight
5 hearings and ultimately enacted the Veterans’ Ac-
6 cess, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014
7 (VACAA) (Public Law 113–146) to address these
8 problems. VACAA provided $15 billion in emergency
9 resources to fund internal health care needs within
10 the department and provided veterans enhanced ac-
11 cess to private-sector health care under the new Vet-
12 erans Choice Program.
13 (b) POLICY ON THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF-
14 FAIRS.—This budget supports the continued oversight ef-
15 forts by the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs to en-
16 sure the VA is not only transparent and accountable, but
17 also successful in achieving its goals in providing timely
18 health care and benefits to America’s veterans. The Budg-
19 et Committee will continue to closely monitor the VA’s
20 progress to ensure resources provided by Congress are suf-
21 ficient and efficiently used to provide needed benefits and
22 services to veterans.
23 SEC. 813. POLICY STATEMENT ON FEDERAL ACCOUNTING
24 METHODOLOGIES.
25 (a) FINDINGS.—The House finds the following:
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1 (1) Given the thousands of Federal programs
2 and trillions of dollars the Federal Government
3 spends each year, assessing and accounting for Fed-
4 eral fiscal activities and liabilities is a complex un-
5 dertaking.
6 (2) Current methods of accounting leave much
7 to be desired in capturing the full scope of govern-
8 ment and in presenting information in a clear and
9 compelling way that illuminates the best options
10 going forward.
11 (3) Most fiscal analysis produced by the Con-
12 gressional Budget Office (CBO) is conducted over a
13 relatively short time horizon: 10 or 25 years. While
14 this time frame is useful for most purposes, it fails
15 to consider the fiscal consequences over the longer
16 term.
17 (4) Additionally, current accounting method-
18 ology does not provide an analysis of how the Fed-
19 eral Government’s fiscal situation over the long run
20 affects Americans of various age cohorts.
21 (5) Another consideration is how Federal pro-
22 grams should be accounted for. The ‘‘accrual meth-
23 od’’ of accounting records revenue when it is earned
24 and expenses when they are incurred, while the
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1 ‘‘cash method’’ records revenue and expenses when
2 cash is actually paid or received.
3 (6) The Federal budget accounts for most pro-
4 grams using cash accounting. Some programs, how-
5 ever, particularly loan and loan guarantee programs,
6 are accounted for using accrual methods.
7 (7) GAO has indicated that accrual accounting
8 may provide a more accurate estimation of the Fed-
9 eral Government’s liabilities than cash accounting
10 for some programs specifically those that provide
11 some form of insurance.
12 (8) Where accrual accounting is used, it is al-
13 most exclusively calculated by CBO according to the
14 methodology outlined in the Federal Credit Reform
15 Act of 1990 (FCRA). CBO uses fair value method-
16 ology instead of FCRA to measure the cost of
17 Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, for example.
18 (9) FCRA methodology, however, understates
19 the risk and thus the true cost of Federal programs.
20 An alternative is fair value methodology, which uses
21 discount rates that incorporate the risk inherent to
22 the type of liability being estimated in addition to
23 Treasury discount rates of the proper maturity
24 length.
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1 (10) The Congressional Budget Office has con-
2 cluded that ‘‘adopting a fair-value approach would
3 provide a more comprehensive way to measure the
4 costs of Federal credit programs and would permit
5 more level comparisons between those costs and the
6 costs of other forms of federal assistance’’ than the
7 current approach under FCRA.
8 (b) POLICY ON FEDERAL ACCOUNTING METHODOLO-
9 GIES.—It is the policy of this resolution that Congress
10 should, in consultation with the Congressional Budget Of-
11 fice and the public affected by Federal budgetary choices,
12 adopt government-wide reforms of budget and accounting
13 practices so the American people and their representatives
14 can more readily understand the fiscal situation of the
15 Government of the United States and the options best
16 suited to improving it. Such reforms may include but
17 should not be limited to the following:
18 (1) Providing additional metrics to enhance our
19 current analysis by considering our fiscal situation
20 comprehensively, over an extended time horizon, and
21 as it affects Americans of various age cohorts.
22 (2) Expanding the use of accrual accounting
23 where appropriate.
24 (3) Accounting for certain Federal credit pro-
25 grams using fair value accounting as opposed to the
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1 current approach under the Federal Credit Reform
2 Act of 1990.
3 SEC. 814. POLICY STATEMENT ON SCOREKEEPING FOR
4 OUTYEAR BUDGETARY EFFECTS IN APPRO-
5 PRIATIONS ACTS.
6 (a) FINDINGS.—The House finds the following:
7 (1) Section 302 of the Congressional Budget
8 Act of 1974 directs the Committee on the Budget to
9 provide an allocation of budgetary resources to the
10 Committee on Appropriations for the budget year
11 covered by a concurrent resolution on the budget.
12 (2) The allocation of budgetary resources pro-
13 vided by the Committee on the Budget to the Com-
14 mittee on Appropriations covers a period of one fis-
15 cal year only, which is effective for the budget year.
16 (3) An appropriations act, joint resolution,
17 amendment thereto or conference report thereon
18 may contain changes to programs that result in di-
19 rect budgetary effects that occur beyond the budget
20 year and beyond the period for which the allocation
21 of budgetary resources provided by the Committee
22 on the Budget is effective.
23 (4) The allocation of budgetary resources pro-
24 vided to the Committee on Appropriations does not
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1 currently anticipate or capture direct outyear budg-
2 etary effects to programs.
3 (5) Budget enforcement could be improved by
4 capturing the direct outyear budgetary effects
5 caused by appropriations acts and using this infor-
6 mation to determine the appropriate allocations of
7 budgetary resources to the Committee on Appropria-
8 tions when considering future concurrent resolutions
9 on the budget.
10 (b) POLICY STATEMENT.—It is the policy of the
11 House of Representatives to more effectively allocate
12 budgetary resources and accurately enforce budget targets
13 by agreeing to a procedure by which the Committee on
14 the Budget should consider the direct outyear budgetary
15 effects of changes to mandatory programs enacted in ap-
16 propriations bills, joint resolutions, amendments thereto
17 or conference reports thereon when setting the allocation
18 of budgetary resources for the Committee on Appropria-
19 tions in a concurrent resolution on the budget. The rel-
20 evant committees of jurisdiction are directed to consult on
21 a procedure during fiscal year 2016 and include rec-
22 ommendations for implementing such procedure in the fis-
23 cal year 2017 concurrent resolution on the budget.
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1 SEC. 815. POLICY STATEMENT ON REDUCING UNNECES-
2 SARY, WASTEFUL, AND UNAUTHORIZED
3 SPENDING.
4 (a) FINDINGS.—The House finds the following:
5 (1) The Government Accountability Office
6 (GAO) is required by law to identify examples of
7 waste, duplication, and overlap in Federal programs,
8 and has so identified dozens of such examples.
9 (2) In its report to Congress on Government
10 Efficiency and Effectiveness, the Comptroller Gen-
11 eral has stated that addressing the identified waste,
12 duplication, and overlap in Federal programs could
13 ‘‘lead to tens of billions of dollars of additional sav-
14 ings.’’
15 (3) In 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 the GAO
16 issued reports showing excessive duplication and re-
17 dundancy in Federal programs including –
18 (A) Two hundred nine Science, Tech-
19 nology, Engineering, and Mathematics edu-
20 cation programs in 13 different Federal agen-
21 cies at a cost of $3 billion annually;
22 (B) Two hundred separate Department of
23 Justice crime prevention and victim services
24 grant programs with an annual cost of $3.9 bil-
25 lion in 2010;
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1 (C) Twenty different Federal entities ad-
2 minister 160 housing programs and other forms
3 of Federal assistance for housing with a total
4 cost of $170 billion in 2010;
5 (D) Seventeen separate Homeland Security
6 preparedness grant programs that spent $37
7 billion between fiscal year 2011 and 2012;
8 (E) Fourteen grant and loan programs,
9 and three tax benefits to reduce diesel emis-
10 sions;
11 (F) Ninety-four different initiatives run by
12 11 different agencies to encourage ‘‘green build-
13 ing’’ in the private sector; and
14 (G) Twenty-three agencies implemented
15 approximately 670 renewable energy initiatives
16 in fiscal year 2010 at a cost of nearly $15 bil-
17 lion.
18 (4) The Federal Government spends more than
19 $80 billion each year for approximately 1,400 infor-
20 mation technology investments. GAO has identified
21 broad acquisition failures, waste, and unnecessary
22 duplication in the government’s information tech-
23 nology infrastructure. experts have estimated that
24 eliminating these problems could save 25 percent or
25 $20 billion.
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1 (5) GAO has identified strategic sourcing as a
2 potential source of spending reductions. In 2011
3 GAO estimated that saving 10 percent of the total
4 or all Federal procurement could generate more than
5 $50 billion in savings annually.
6 (6) Federal agencies reported an estimated
7 $106 billion in improper payments in fiscal year
8 2013.
9 (7) Under clause 2 of rule XI of the Rules of
10 the House of Representatives, each standing com-
11 mittee must hold at least one hearing during each
12 120 day period following its establishment on waste,
13 fraud, abuse, or mismanagement in Government pro-
14 grams.
15 (8) According to the Congressional Budget Of-
16 fice, by fiscal year 2015, 32 laws will expire, possibly
17 resulting in $693 billion in unauthorized appropria-
18 tions. Timely reauthorizations of these laws would
19 ensure assessments of program justification and ef-
20 fectiveness.
21 (9) The findings resulting from congressional
22 oversight of Federal Government programs should
23 result in programmatic changes in both authorizing
24 statutes and program funding levels.
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1 (b) POLICY ON REDUCING UNNECESSARY, WASTE-
2 FUL, AND UNAUTHORIZED SPENDING.—
3 (1) Each authorizing committee annually
4 should include in its Views and Estimates letter re-
5 quired under section 301(d) of the Congressional
6 Budget Act of 1974 recommendations to the Com-
7 mittee on the Budget of programs within the juris-
8 diction of such committee whose funding should be
9 reduced or eliminated.
10 (2) Committees of jurisdiction should review all
11 unauthorized programs funded through annual ap-
12 propriations to determine if the programs are oper-
13 ating efficiently and effectively.
14 (3) Committees should reauthorize those pro-
15 grams that in the committees’ judgment should con-
16 tinue to receive funding.
17 (4) For those programs not reauthorized by
18 committees, the House of Representatives should en-
19 force the limitations on funding such unauthorized
20 programs in the House Rules. If the strictures of the
21 Rules are deemed to be too rapid in prohibiting
22 spending on unauthorized programs, then milder
23 measures should be adopted and enforced until a re-
24 turn to the full prohibition of Clause 2(a)(1) of Rule
25 21 of the Rules of the House.
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1 SEC. 816. POLICY STATEMENT ON DEFICIT REDUCTION
2 THROUGH THE CANCELLATION OF UNOBLI-
3 GATED BALANCES.
4 (a) FINDINGS.—The House finds the following:
5 (1) According to the most recent estimate from
6 the Office of Management and Budget, Federal
7 agencies were expected to hold $844 billion in unob-
8 ligated balances at the close of fiscal year 2015.
9 (2) These funds represent direct and discre-
10 tionary spending previously made available by Con-
11 gress that remains available for expenditure.
12 (3) In some cases, agencies are granted funding
13 and it remains available for obligation indefinitely.
14 (4) The Congressional Budget and Impound-
15 ment Control Act of 1974 requires the Office of
16 Management and Budget to make funds available to
17 agencies for obligation and prohibits the Administra-
18 tion from withholding or cancelling unobligated
19 funds unless approved by an act of Congress.
20 (5) Greater congressional oversight is required
21 to review and identify potential savings from can-
22 celing unobligated balances of funds that are no
23 longer needed.
24 (b) POLICY ON DEFICIT REDUCTION THROUGH THE
25 CANCELLATION OF UNOBLIGATED BALANCES.—Congres-
26 sional committees should through their oversight activities
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1 identify and achieve savings through the cancellation or
2 rescission of unobligated balances that neither abrogate
3 contractual obligations of the Government nor reduce or
4 disrupt Federal commitments under programs such as So-
5 cial Security, veterans’ affairs, national security, and
6 Treasury authority to finance the national debt.
7 (c) DEFICIT REDUCTION.—Congress, with the assist-
8 ance of the Government Accountability Office, the Inspec-
9 tors General, and other appropriate agencies should con-
10 tinue to make it a high priority to review unobligated bal-
11 ances and identify savings for deficit reduction.
12 SEC. 817. POLICY STATEMENT ON AGENCY FEES AND
13 SPENDING.
14 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:
15 (1) A number of Federal agencies and organiza-
16 tions have permanent authority to collect fees and
17 other offsetting collections and to spend these col-
18 lected funds.
19 (2) The total amount of offsetting fees and off-
20 setting collections is estimated by the Office of Man-
21 agement and Budget to be $525 billion in fiscal year
22 2016.
23 (3) Agency budget justifications are, in some
24 cases, not fully transparent about the amount of
25 program activity funded through offsetting collecVerDate
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1 tions or fees. This lack of transparency prevents ef-
2 fective and accountable government.
3 (b) POLICY ON AGENCY FEES AND SPENDING.—It
4 is the policy of this resolution that Congress must reassert
5 its constitutional prerogative to control spending and con-
6 duct oversight. To do so, Congress should enact legislation
7 requiring programs that are funded through fees, offset-
8 ting receipts, or offsetting collections to be allocated new
9 budget authority annually. Such allocation may arise
10 from:
11 (1) Legislation originating from the authorizing
12 committee of jurisdiction for the agency or program;
13 or,
14 (2) Fee and account specific allocations in-
15 cluded in annual appropriations acts.
16 SEC. 818. POLICY STATEMENT ON RESPONSIBLE STEWARD-
17 SHIP OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS.
18 (a) FINDINGS.— The House finds the following:
19 (1) The budget for the House of Representa-
20 tives is $188 million less than it was when Repub-
21 licans became the majority in 2011.
22 (2) The House of Representatives has achieved
23 significant savings by consolidating operations and
24 renegotiating contracts.
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1 (b) POLICY ON RESPONSIBLE STEWARDSHIP OF
2 TAXPAYER DOLLARS.—It is the policy of this resolution
3 that:
4 (1) The House of Representatives must be a
5 model for the responsible stewardship of taxpayer re-
6 sources and therefore must identify any savings that
7 can be achieved through greater productivity and ef-
8 ficiency gains in the operation and maintenance of
9 House services and resources like printing, con-
10 ferences, utilities, telecommunications, furniture,
11 grounds maintenance, postage, and rent. This should
12 include a review of policies and procedures for acqui-
13 sition of goods and services to eliminate any unnec-
14 essary spending. The Committee on House Adminis-
15 tration should review the policies pertaining to the
16 services provided to Members and committees of the
17 House, and should identify ways to reduce any sub-
18 sidies paid for the operation of the House gym, bar-
19 ber shop, salon, and the House dining room.
20 (2) No taxpayer funds may be used to purchase
21 first class airfare or to lease corporate jets for Mem-
22 bers of Congress.
23 (3) Retirement benefits for Members of Con-
24 gress should not include free, taxpayer-funded health
25 care for life.
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1 SEC. 819. POLICY STATEMENT ON ‘‘NO BUDGET, NO PAY’’.
2 It is the policy of this resolution that Congress should
3 agree to a concurrent resolution on the budget every year
4 pursuant to section 301 of the Congressional Budget Act
5 of 1974. If by April 15, a House of Congress has not
6 agreed to a concurrent resolution on the budget, the pay-
7 roll administrator of that House should carry out this pol-
8 icy in the same manner as the provisions of Public Law
9 113–3, the No Budget, No Pay Act of 2013, and should
10 place in an escrow account all compensation otherwise re-
11 quired to be made for Members of that House of Congress.
12 Withheld compensation should be released to Members of
13 that House of Congress the earlier of the day on which
14 that House of Congress agrees to a concurrent resolution
15 on the budget, pursuant to section 301 of the Congres-
16 sional Budget Act of 1974, or the last day of that Con-
17 gress.
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