PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.House Committee on The Budget Granted an extension for further consideration ending not later than Dec. 10, 2004.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Feb 11, 2004
Family Budget Protection Act of 2004 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to eliminate the May 15 deadline for consideration of annual appropriations measures. Requires annual joint (currently, concurrent) budget resolutions signed by the President.
Provides for an amendment to change the statutory limit on the public debt.
Requires consideration of budget-related legislation before the budget resolution becomes law.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Sets forth provisions regarding the establishment of a reserve fund for emergencies.
Requires: (1) biennial (currently, annual) budget resolutions; (2) biennial appropriations Acts; and (3) biennial Government strategic and performance plans.
Provides spending caps on the growth of entitlements and mandatory budget outlays. Excludes benefits payable under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act (SSA), Tier 1 railroad retirement benefits, and benefits payable under part A of title XVIII (relating to part A Medicare hospital insurance benefits) of SSA and part C of such title (relating to the Medicare Advantage program) from required reductions under the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act, along with specified Government accounts and activities. Provides other exceptions, limitations, and special rules with respect to sequestration exemptions.
Directs the Chairman to maintain the Family Budget Protection Mandatory Account and the Family Budget Protection Discretionary Account.
Freezes at current levels spending authority for each unearned entitlement, high-cost discretionary spending program, and authorized and unauthorized discretionary spending programs.
Establishes the Commission to Eliminate Waste, Fraud, and Abuse.
Provides for accrual funding of the: (1) Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund; (2) Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System; and (3) Foreign Service Retirement and Disability System.
Establishes in the Treasury: (1) the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps Retirement Fund; (2) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps Retirement System; and (3) the Coast Guard Military Retirement Fund.
Changes the name of the Department of Defense Medicare-Eligible Retiree Health Care Fund to Uniformed Services Health Care Fund (thus, providing health care programs for all uniformed service retirees, under certain conditions). (Currently, such programs are for Department of Defense Medicare-eligible beneficiaries.)
Decreases the limit on the public debt from $6.4 trillion to $4.393 trillion.
Prohibits consideration of extraneous appropriations in omnibus appropriations measures.
People & committees
Rep. Hensarling, Jeb [R-TX-5] · R–TX
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
House Committee on The Budget Granted an extension for further consideration ending not later than Dec. 10, 2004.
House Committee on The Budget Granted an extension for further consideration ending not later than Nov. 22, 2004.
House Committee on The Budget Granted an extension for further consideration ending not later than Nov. 19, 2004.
House Committee on The Budget Granted an extension for further consideration ending not later than Oct. 1, 2004.
House Committee on The Budget Granted an extension for further consideration ending not later than July 23, 2004.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Government Efficiency and Financial Management.
Referred to the Committee on the Budget, and in addition to the Committees on Rules, Ways and Means, Appropriations, and Government Reform, 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 Committees on Rules, Ways and Means, Appropriations, and Government Reform, 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 Committees on Rules, Ways and Means, Appropriations, and Government Reform, 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 Committees on Rules, Ways and Means, Appropriations, and Government Reform, 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 Committees on Rules, Ways and Means, Appropriations, and Government Reform, 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 Committees on Rules, Ways and Means, Appropriations, and Government Reform, 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.
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.3800 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.3800 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.3800 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.3800 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.