H.R. 5454 — Reduce Unnecessary Spending Act of 2010

[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5454 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5454

To provide an optional fast-track procedure the President may use when 
        submitting rescission requests, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 28, 2010

Mr. Spratt (for himself, Mr. Minnick, Ms. Bean, Mr. Boyd, Mr. Braley of 
Iowa, Mr. Connolly of Virginia, Mr. Cooper, Mr. Cuellar, Mr. Ellsworth, 
  Ms. Giffords, Mr. Larsen of Washington, Mr. Matheson, Mr. Moore of 
Kansas, Mr. Murphy of New York, Mr. Owens, Mr. Peters, Mr. Pomeroy, Mr. 
   Quigley, Mr. Ruppersberger, Mr. Schrader, and Mr. Welch) (all by 
  request): introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Budget, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, for 
a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide an optional fast-track procedure the President may use when 
        submitting rescission requests, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. TITLE AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Reduce Unnecessary 
Spending Act of 2010''.
    (b) Purpose.--This Act creates an optional fast-track procedure the 
President may use when submitting rescission requests, which would lead 
to an up-or-down vote by Congress on the President's package of 
rescissions, without amendment.

SEC. 2. RESCISSIONS OF FUNDING.

    (a) In General.--Part C of the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is 
amended to read as follows:

       ``PART C--EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION OF PROPOSED RESCISSIONS

``SEC. 1021. APPLICABILITY AND DISCLAIMER.

    ``The rules, procedures, requirements, and definitions in this part 
apply only to executive and legislative actions explicitly taken under 
this part. They do not apply to actions taken under part B or to other 
executive and legislative actions not taken under this part.

``SEC. 1022. DEFINITIONS.

    ``As used in this part--
            ``(1) the terms `appropriation Act', `budget authority', 
        and `new budget authority' have the same meanings as in section 
        3 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974;
            ``(2) the terms `account', `current year', `CBO', and `OMB' 
        have the same meanings as in section 250 of the Balanced Budget 
        and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 as in effect on 
        September 30, 2002;
            ``(3) the term `days of session' shall be calculated by 
        excluding weekends and national holidays; and any day during 
        which a chamber of Congress is not in session shall not be 
        counted as a day of session of that chamber; and any day during 
        which neither chamber is in session shall not be counted as a 
        day of session of Congress;
            ``(4) the term `entitlement law' means the statutory 
        mandate or requirement of the United States to incur a 
        financial obligation unless that obligation is explicitly 
        conditioned on the appropriation in subsequent legislation of 
        sufficient funds for that purpose, and the Supplemental 
        Nutrition Assistance Program;
            ``(5) the term `funding' refers to new budget authority and 
        obligation limits except to the extent that the funding is 
        provided for entitlement law;
            ``(6) the term `rescind' means to eliminate or reduce the 
        amount of enacted funding; and
            ``(7) the terms `withhold' and `withholding' apply to any 
        executive action or inaction that precludes the obligation of 
        funding at a time when it would otherwise have been available 
        to an agency for obligation; and the term does not include 
        administrative or preparatory actions undertaken prior to 
        obligation in the normal course of implementing budget laws.

``SEC. 1023. TIMING AND PACKAGING OF RESCISSION REQUESTS.

    ``(a) Timing.--Whenever the President proposes that Congress 
rescind funding under the procedures in this part, OMB shall transmit a 
message to Congress containing the information specified in section 
1024, and the message transmitting the proposal shall be sent to 
Congress no later than 45 days of session of Congress after the date of 
enactment of the funding.
    ``(b) Packaging and Transmittal of Requested Rescissions.--Except 
as provided in subsection (c), for each piece of legislation that 
provides funding, the President shall request at most one package of 
rescissions and the rescissions in that package shall apply only to 
funding contained in that legislation. OMB shall deliver each message 
requesting a package of rescissions to the Clerk of the House of 
Representatives if the House is not in session and to the Secretary of 
the Senate if the Senate is not in session. OMB shall make a copy of 
the transmittal message publicly available, and shall publish in the 
Federal Register a notice of the message and information on how it can 
be obtained.
    ``(c) Special Packaging Rules.--After enactment of--
            ``(1) a joint resolution making continuing appropriations;
            ``(2) a supplemental appropriation bill; or
            ``(3) an omnibus appropriation bill,
covering some or all of the activities customarily funded in more than 
one regular appropriation bill, the President may propose as many as 
two packages rescinding funding contained in that legislation, each 
within the 45-day period specified in subsection (a). OMB shall not 
include the same rescission in both packages, and, if the President 
requests the rescission of more than one discrete amount of funding 
under the jurisdiction of a single subcommittee, OMB shall include each 
of those discrete amounts in the same package.

``SEC. 1024. REQUESTS TO RESCIND FUNDING.

    ``For each request to rescind funding, the transmittal message 
shall specify--
            ``(1) the dollar amount to be rescinded;
            ``(2) the agency, bureau, and account from which the 
        rescission shall occur;
            ``(3) the program, project, or activity within the account 
        (if applicable) from which the rescission shall occur;
            ``(4) the amount of funding, if any, that would remain for 
        the account, program, project, or activity if the rescission 
        request is enacted; and
            ``(5) the reasons the President requests the rescission.
In addition, OMB shall designate each separate rescission request by 
number and shall include proposed legislative language to accomplish 
the requested rescission. The proposed legislative language shall not 
include any changes in existing law other than the rescission of 
funding, and shall not include any supplemental appropriations, 
transfers, or reprogrammings.

``SEC. 1025. GRANTS OF AND LIMITATIONS ON PRESIDENTIAL AUTHORITY.

    ``(a) Presidential Authority To Withhold Funding.--If the President 
proposes a rescission of funding under this part, then notwithstanding 
any other provision of law, OMB is hereby authorized, subject to the 
time limits of subsection (c), to temporarily withhold that funding 
from obligation.
    ``(b) Expedited Procedures Available Only Once Per Bill.--The 
President may not invoke the procedures of this part, or the authority 
to withhold funding granted by subsection (a), on more than one 
occasion for any Act providing funding.
    ``(c) Time Limits.--OMB shall make available for obligation any 
funding withheld under subsection (a) on the earliest of--
            ``(1) the day on which the President determines that the 
        continued withholding or reduction no longer advances the 
        purpose of legislative consideration of the rescission request;
            ``(2) starting from the day on which OMB transmitted a 
        message to Congress requesting the rescission of funding, 25 
        calendar days in which the House of Representatives has been in 
        session or 25 calendar days in which the Senate has been in 
        session, whichever occurs second; or
            ``(3) the last day after which the obligation of the 
        funding in question can no longer be fully accomplished in a 
        prudent manner before its expiration.

``SEC. 1026. CONGRESSIONAL CONSIDERATION OF RESCISSION REQUESTS.

    ``(a) Preparation of Legislation To Consider a Package of Expedited 
Rescission Requests.--When the House of Representatives receives a 
package of expedited rescission requests, the Clerk shall prepare a 
House bill that only rescinds the amounts requested. The bill shall 
read as follows:
            ```There is hereby enacted the rescissions numbered [insert 
        number or numbers] as set forth in the Presidential message of 
        [insert date] transmitted under part C of the Impoundment 
        Control Act of 1974 as amended.'.
The Clerk shall include in the bill each numbered rescission request 
listed in the Presidential package in question, except that the Clerk 
shall omit a numbered rescission request if the Chairman of the House 
Budget Committee, after consulting with the Senate Budget Committee, 
CBO, GAO, and the House and Senate committees that have jurisdiction 
over the funding, determines that the numbered rescission does not 
refer to funding or includes matter not permitted under a request to 
rescind funding.
    ``(b) Introduction and Referral of Legislation To Enact a Package 
of Expedited Rescissions.--The majority leader or the minority leader 
of the House of Representatives, or a designee, shall (by request) 
introduce each bill prepared under subsection (a) not later than 4 days 
of session of the House after its transmittal, or, if no such bill is 
introduced within that period, any member of the House may introduce 
the required bill in the required form on the fifth or sixth day of 
session of the House after its transmittal. When such an expedited 
rescission bill is introduced in accordance with the prior sentence, it 
shall be referred to the House committee of jurisdiction. A copy of the 
introduced House bill shall be transmitted to the Secretary of the 
Senate, who shall provide it to the Senate committee of jurisdiction.
    ``(c) House Report and Consideration of Legislation To Enact a 
Package of Expedited Rescissions.--The House committee of jurisdiction 
shall report without amendment the bill referred to it under subsection 
(b) not more than 5 days of session of the House after the referral. 
The Committee may order the bill reported favorably, unfavorably, or 
without recommendation. If the Committee has not reported the bill by 
the end of the 5-day period, the Committee shall be automatically 
discharged from further consideration of the bill and it shall be 
placed on the appropriate calendar.
    ``(d) House Motion To Proceed.--After a bill to enact an expedited 
rescission package has been reported or the committee of jurisdiction 
has been discharged under subsection (c), it shall be in order to move 
to proceed to consider the bill in the House. A Member who wishes to 
move to proceed to consideration of the bill must announce that fact, 
and the motion to proceed shall be in order only during a time 
designated by the Speaker within the legislative schedule for the next 
calendar day of legislative session or the one immediately following 
it. If the Speaker does not designate such a time, then 3 or more 
calendar days of legislative session after the bill has been reported 
or discharged, it shall be in order for any Member to move to proceed 
to consider the bill. A motion to proceed shall not be in order after 
the House has disposed of a prior motion to proceed with respect to 
that package of expedited rescissions. The previous question shall be 
considered as ordered on the motion to proceed, without intervening 
motion. A motion to reconsider the vote by which the motion to proceed 
has been disposed of shall not be in order. If 5 calendar days of 
legislative session have passed since the bill was reported or 
discharged under this subsection and no Member has made a motion to 
proceed, the bill shall be removed from the calendar.
    ``(e) House Consideration.--A bill consisting of a package of 
rescissions shall be considered as read. All points of order against 
the bill are waived, except that a point of order may be made that one 
or more numbered rescissions included in the bill would enact language 
containing matter not requested by the President or not permitted under 
this Act as part of that package. If the Presiding Officer sustains 
such a point of order, the numbered rescission or rescissions that 
would enact such language are deemed to be automatically stripped from 
the bill and consideration proceeds on the bill as modified. The 
previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill to its 
passage without intervening motion, except that 4 hours of debate 
equally divided and controlled by a proponent and an opponent are 
allowed, as well as one motion to further limit debate on the bill. A 
motion to reconsider the vote on passage of the bill shall not be in 
order.
    ``(f) Senate Consideration.--If the House of Representatives 
approves a House bill enacting a package of rescissions, that bill as 
passed by the House shall be sent to the Senate and referred to the 
Senate committee of jurisdiction. That committee shall report without 
amendment the bill referred to it under this subsection not later than 
3 days of session of the Senate after the referral. The committee may 
order the bill reported favorably, unfavorably, or without 
recommendation. If the committee has not reported the bill by the end 
of the 3-day period, the committee shall be automatically discharged 
from further consideration of the bill and it shall be placed on the 
appropriate calendar. On the following day and for 3 subsequent 
calendar days in which the Senate is in session, it shall be in order 
for any Senator to move to proceed to consider the bill in the Senate. 
Upon such a motion being made, it shall be deemed to have been agreed 
to and the motion to reconsider shall be deemed to have been laid on 
the table. Debate on the bill in the Senate under this subsection, and 
all debatable motions and appeals in connection therewith, shall not 
exceed 10 hours, equally divided and controlled in the usual form. 
Debate in the Senate on any debatable motion or appeal in connection 
with such a bill shall be limited to not more than 1 hour, to be 
equally divided and controlled in the usual form. A motion to further 
limit debate on such a bill is not debatable. A motion to amend such a 
bill or strike a provision from it is not in order. A motion to 
recommit such a bill is not in order.
    ``(g) Senate Point of Order.--It shall not be in order for the 
Senate to employ the procedures in this part while considering a bill 
approved by the House enacting a package of rescissions under this part 
if any numbered rescission in the bill would enact matter not requested 
by the President or not permitted under this Act as part of that 
package. If a point of order under this section is sustained, 
consideration of the bill shall no longer be governed by subsection 
(f); instead, consideration shall be governed by the Standing Rules of 
the Senate and any other rules applicable to Senate consideration of 
legislation.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--The table of contents set forth in 
section 1(b) of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 
1974 is amended by striking the items relating to part C of title 10 
and inserting the following new items:

       ``Part C--Expedited Consideration of Proposed Rescissions

``Sec. 1021. Applicability and disclaimer.
``Sec. 1022. Definitions.
``Sec. 1023. Timing and packaging of rescission requests.
``Sec. 1024. Requests to rescind funding.
``Sec. 1025. Grants of and limitations on presidential authority.
``Sec. 1026. Congressional consideration of rescission requests.''.

SEC. 3. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

    (a) Temporary Withholding.--In section 1013(c) of the Impoundment 
Control Act of 1974, strike ``section 1012.'' and insert ``section 1012 
or section 1025.''
    (b) Rulemaking.--Section 904(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974 is amended by striking ``and 1017'' and inserting ``1017, and 
1026'' and section 904(d)(1) is amended by striking ``or section 1017'' 
and inserting ``or section 1017 or 1026''.

SEC. 4. EXPIRATION.

    Part C of the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (as amended by this 
Act) shall expire on December 31, 2014.

SEC. 5. AMENDMENTS TO PART A OF THE IMPOUNDMENT CONTROL ACT.

    Immediately after section 1001 of the Impoundment Control Act of 
1974, insert the following:

``SEC. 1002. RESCINDED FUNDS.

    ``If budget authority is rescinded under part B or funding is 
rescinded under part C, the amount so rescinded shall revert to the 
fund whence it came (general fund, trust fund, special fund, revolving 
fund, and so on as applicable), except to the extent legislation 
specifies otherwise.

``SEC. 1003. SEVERABILITY.

    ``If the judicial branch of the United States finally determines 
that one or more of the provisions of parts B or C violate the 
Constitution of the United States, the remaining provisions of those 
parts shall continue in effect.''.
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