Politics in Action: H.R. 3442 & H.R. 3293

STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY

 H.R. 3442 – Debt Management and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2015

(Rep. Marchant, R-TX, and 35 cosponsors)

The Administration strongly opposes H.R. 3442, the Debt Management and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2015, which would impose needless, redundant burdens on the U.S. Department of the Treasury in the event that the Congress allows the Nation to come close to reaching the statutory debt limit.

The Administration already provides the information requested in H.R. 3442 in the form of the President's Budget, the Mid-Session Review, the Daily Treasury Statement, the Monthly Treasury Statement, the Monthly Statement of Public Debt, the Schedule of Federal Debt, and the Financial Report of the United States Government.  All of these reports are publicly available on the Internet.  In addition, Administration officials regularly make themselves available to testify before the Congress on the President's fiscal proposals and, in recent years, the Treasury Secretary has also gone before the Congress to urge it to fulfill its responsibility to raise the debt limit and underscore the potentially catastrophic consequences of failing to do so.  H.R. 3442 would provide no additional information for the Congress as it exercises its responsibility to raise the debt limit when necessary to avoid defaulting on the Nation's obligations.  The bill's reporting requirements are duplicative and redundant. 

The Congress's decisions on spending and revenue policies (subject to the presidential veto) ultimately determine the level of debt and when the debt limit is reached.  It is the Congress's responsibility to raise the debt limit when needed to enable Treasury to meet obligations already incurred pursuant to legislation enacted by the Congress.  As the Administration has emphasized, the Congress should exercise that responsibility judiciously to avoid putting the Nation's creditworthiness at risk and endangering the economy.

If the President were presented with H.R. 3442, his senior advisors would recommend he veto the bill.

H.R. 3293 – Scientific Research in the National Interest Act

(Rep. Smith, R-TX, and 22 cosponsors)

The Administration strongly opposes House passage of H.R. 3293, the Scientific Research in the National Interest Act. 

The scientific‑peer‑based, merit‑review process that the National Science Foundation (NSF) has in place is widely regarded as the "gold standard" for funding scientific research.  In the interest of transparency and accountability, moreover, the NSF publishes online the abstracts of every one of the more than 10,000 research grants it makes every year. 

Contrary to its stated purpose, H.R. 3293 would add nothing to accountability in Federal funding for scientific research, while needlessly adding to bureaucratic burdens and overhead at the NSF.  And, far from promoting the progress of science in the United States, it would replace the clarity of the National Science Foundation Act of 1950 with confusing language that could cast a shadow over the value of basic research which, by its nature, will have outcomes with contributions to national interests other than the progress of science which cannot be predicted in advance. 

If the President were presented with H.R. 3293, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill. 

Source: The Executive Office of the President, Office off Management and Budget