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BillIntroduced

Proposing a Federal debt limit amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

H.R. 37January 3, 2025Rep. Yakym, Rudy [R-IN-2]View Original
Economics and Public FinanceBudget deficits and national debtBudget processConstitution and constitutional amendments

Full Text

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 37 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 37 Proposing a Federal debt limit amendment to the Constitution of the United States. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 3, 2025 Mr. Yakym introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL Proposing a Federal debt limit amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the following article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within 7 years after the date of its submission for ratification: ``Article-- ``

Section 1. Total amount of debt, including debt held by the

public and intragovernmental debt, of the United States Government may not be greater than 130 percent of the Gross Domestic Product of the United States during the first fiscal year this article is in effect. Each subsequent fiscal year the limitation in the previous sentence shall be reduced by 1 percent until such limitation is equal to 120 percent, which shall then be the limitation for purposes of this section for each subsequent fiscal year. ``

Section 2. Total Federal debt, including debt held by the public

and intragovernmental debt, may not exceed the levels prescribed under

section 1 unless three-fifths of the whole number of each House of

Congress shall provide by law for a specific excess of such debt for specified reasons by a rollcall vote each fiscal year. ``

Section 3. Prior to each fiscal year, the President shall

transmit to the Congress a proposed budget for the United States Government for that fiscal year, and the subsequent 5-year period, in which total debt does not exceed the limit set forth in

section 1.

``

Section 4. The Congress may waive the provisions of this article

in connection with defense spending for any fiscal year in which a declaration of war is in effect. The provisions of this article may be waived for any fiscal year in which the United States is directly engaged in military conflict which causes an imminent and serious military threat to national security and is so declared by a joint resolution, adopted by a majority of the whole number of each House, which becomes law. Any such waiver must identify and be limited to the specific excess or increase for that fiscal year made necessary by the identified military conflict. ``

Section 5. The Congress shall implement and enforce this article

by appropriate legislation, which may rely on estimates of outlays and receipts. ``

Section 6. For purposes of this article, Gross Domestic Product

shall be the sum of personal consumption expenditures, investment, government spending, and net exports, and shall be determined by the Bureau of Economic Analysis or any successor agency. ``

Section 7. This article shall take effect beginning with the

third fiscal year beginning after its ratification.''. <all>