PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.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.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Sep 19, 2013
Pay Down the Debt Act of 2013 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to establish a budget target for: (1) FY2016 that is a ratio of debt held by the public to the estimated gross domestic product (GDP) that is lower than the ratio in FY2015, and (2) a fiscal year after FY2016 that is a ratio of such debt to the GDP that does not exceed the ratio in the prior fiscal year.
Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to report each year to the President and the Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to report to Congress whether the projected debt-to-GDP ratio will exceed the prior fiscal year's ratio in any of the five ensuing fiscal years. Requires the President's budget submission to Congress to include recommendations to achieve the budget targets set by this Act if the OMB report indicates that ratios of debt to GDP will be exceeded in any of FY2016-FY2024. Requires a concurrent resolution on the budget, if the CBO report indicates that for any of such fiscal years the ratios will be exceeded, to include stabilization instructions directing congressional committees to determine and recommend changes in laws within their jurisdictions that achieve the budget targets set forth in this Act.
Makes it out of order in the House of Representatives or the Senate to: (1) consider any concurrent resolution on the budget that fails to include directions sufficient to achieve budget targets set by this Act, or (2) consider any legislation that provides a net increase in mandatory budget authority or a net decrease in revenues.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Suspends the requirements of this Act for any fiscal year: (1) if the Secretary of the Treasury notifies the President and each chamber of Congress and publishes in the Federal Register that the estimated real GDP in a fiscal year would exceed the real GDP of the prior year by less than 1%; or (2) upon enactment of a joint resolution stating that the stabilization legislation would cause or exacerbate an economic downturn.
Allows any Member of the House of Representatives or the Senate to introduce a bill to achieve the applicable budget target if Congress has not agreed to a concurrent resolution on the budget by June 15 of a calendar year in which the debt stabilization process has been triggered by a report by the Director of CBO. Requires such Director to prepare and submit to Congress a cost estimate for the bill. Provides for expedited congressional consideration of the bill if it has at least 50 cosponsors in the House of Representatives or 10 in the Senate.
People & committees
Rep. Peters, Scott H. [D-CA-52] · D–CA
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
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.
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.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
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.
Analyze H.R.3149 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.
Examine H.R.3149 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.
Examine H.R.3149 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.
Examine H.R.3149 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.