Establishing the congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2003 and setting forth appropriate budgetary levels for each of fiscal years 2004 through 2007.
Received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on the Budget.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 79 · Reported to House without amendment · Mar 15, 2002
Sets forth the congressional budget for the Government for FY 2003, including the appropriate budgetary levels for FY 2004 through 2007.Title I: Recommended Levels and Amounts - Lists recommended budgetary levels and amounts, for FY 2003 through 2007, with respect to: (1) Federal revenues; (2) new budget authority; (3) budget outlays; (4) on-budget deficits; (5) public debt; and (6) debt held by the public.(Sec. 102) Sets forth the appropriate levels of new budget authority and outlays for homeland security for FY 2003.(Sec. 103) Lists the appropriate levels of new budget authority and outlays for specified major functional categories for FY 2003 through 2007.Title II: Reserve and Contingency Funds - Subtitle A: Reserve Funds for Legislation Assumed in Aggregates - Creates a reserve fund for the war on terrorism that requires the Chairman of the House Budget Committee to adjust the allocation of budget authority to the Committee on Appropriations or the Committee on Armed Services for any measure that provides funding for such war for FY 2003, up to a specified level.(Sec. 202) Establishes reserve funds for: (1) medicare modernization, prescription drug coverage, and adjustments to the medicare program on a fee-for-service, capitated, or other basis for FY 2003 through 2012; (2) special education (grants to States under part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) for FY 2003 and for FY 2004 through 2007 (contingent upon reauthorization); and (3) the obligation limitation for FY 2003 for programs, projects, and activities within the highway category of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985. Authorizes the chairman of the House Budget Committee to revise applicable allocations in new budget authority and/or outlays for such funds, up to specified levels and subject to certain conditions, in response to subsequent House or conference committee action.Subtitle B: Additional Surpluses Reserved for Debt Reduction - Establishes a contingency fund for additional surpluses. Authorizes the chairman of the House Budget Committee to increase the surplus or reduce the deficit, as applicable, and reduce the level of the public debt and debt held by the public by the amount (if any) the estimated unified surplus for FY 2003 and for the period of FY 2003 through 2007, as set forth in the report Budget and Economic Outlook: Update (for FY 2003 through 2012), exceeds the estimated unified surplus for FY 2003 and for that period as set forth in the report for this resolution.Subtitle C: Contingency Funds for Accounting Changes - Establishes a contingency fund for accrual accounting of Federal retirement and health benefits charged to Federal agencies. Authorizes the chairman of the House Budget Committee to revise specified allocations for the House Committee on Appropriations if such legislation is enacted in the House and the House Appropriations Committee reports a measure providing new budget authority to carry out such legislation. Prohibits such amounts from exceeding the resulting reduction (offset) in mandatory budget authority estimated by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office.(Sec. 222) Establishes a contingency fund for reclassification of student accounts if the House enacts legislation amending the Higher Education Act to make student aid administration subject to annual appropriations. Requires an offsetting reduction in the allocation to the Committee on Education and the Workforce.Subtitle D: Implementation of Contingency and Reserve Funds - Permits adjustments of allocations and aggregates made pursuant to this resolution only during the interval that the legislation is under consideration, not to take effect until enactment. Gives such adjustments the same effect as if they had been part of the original levels.Sets forth committee enforcement instructions.Title III: Budget Enforcement - Limits advance appropriations to those programs identified in Accounts Identified for Advance Appropriations in the joint explanatory statement accompanying this resolution and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Provides enforcement mechanisms.(Sec. 302) Includes the administrative expenses related to Social Security in the allocation to the Appropriations Committees.(Sec. 303) Requires the Congressional Budget Office report to include: (1) a comparison of the differing impact between forecasted economic variables used to model a year's projections and what actually happened; (2) technical factors that contributed to forecasting inaccuracies; (3) a variance analysis between forecasted and actual budget results; and (4) recommendations for forecasting improvement.Title IV: Sense of Congress and Sense of House Provisions - Expresses the sense of Congress concerning: (1) combat of infectious diseases; (2) asset building for the working poor; and (3) Pacific Northwest salmon recovery.(Sec. 403) Expresses the sense of the House on: (1) federal employee pay; (2) Medicare+Choice regional disparities; and (3) border security and anti-terrorism.
The previous question was ordered pursuant to the rule.
The House rose from the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union to report H. Con. Res. 353.
GENERAL DEBATE - The Committee of the Whole proceeded with three hours of general debate on H. Con. Res. 353.
The Speaker designated the Honorable Michael K. Simpson to act as Chairman of the Committee.
House resolved itself into the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union pursuant to H. Res. 372 and Rule XXIII.
Rule provides for consideration of H. Con. Res. 353 with 3 hours of general debate. Rule provides three hours of general debate, with two hours confined to the congressional budget equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on the Budget, and one hour on the subject of economic goals and policies equally divided and controlled by Representative Saxton of New Jersey and Representative Stark of California or their designees. The rule waives all points of order against consideration of the concurrent resolution. The rule provides that the amendment in the nature of a substitute printed in the report of the Committee on Rules (H. Rept. 107-380) shall be considered as adopted in the House and in the Committee of the Whole. The rule permits the chairman of the Budget Committee to offer amendments in the House to achieve mathematical consistency. Provides that the concurrent resolution shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question of its adoption.
Considered under the provisions of rule H. Res. 372. (consideration: CR H1037-1072)
Rule H. Res. 372 passed House.
Rules Committee Resolution H. Res. 372 Reported to House. Rule provides for consideration of H. Con. Res. 353 with 3 hours of general debate. Rule provides three hours of general debate, with two hours confined to the congressional budget equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on the Budget, and one hour on the subject of economic goals and policies equally divided and controlled by Representative Saxton of New Jersey and Representative Stark of California or their designees. The rule waives all points of order against consideration of the concurrent resolution. rule provides that the amendment in the nature of a substitute printed in the report of the Committee on Rules (H. Rept. 107-380) shall be considered as adopted in the House and in the Committee of the Whole. The rule permits the chairman of the Budget Committee to offer amendments in the House to achieve mathematical consistency. Provides that the concurrent resolution shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question of its adoption.
Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 218.
The House Committee on The Budget reported an original measure, H. Rept. 107-376, by Mr. Nussle.
The House Committee on The Budget reported an original measure, H. Rept. 107-376, by Mr. Nussle.
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Bill text & related measures
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Explore the bill from different angles
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Neutral evidence review
Objective
Analyze H.Con.Res.353 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
View full prompt & sources
Fairness and public impact
Progressive lens
Examine H.Con.Res.353 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
View full prompt & sources
Institutions and government scope
Conservative lens
Examine H.Con.Res.353 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
View full prompt & sources
Individual rights and government power
Liberty lens
Examine H.Con.Res.353 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.