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This bill would require the Secretary of the Treasury to provide a report to the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee before any date on which the Secretary believes the U.S. will reach the statutory debt limit.

Within the report, the Secretary must address the following:

The historic, current, and project levels of the debt;
The drivers and composition of future debt;
How the U.S. will meet debt obligations if the debt limit is raised.

The Secretary would also be required to provide both of the committees with a detailed explanation of:

Proposals of the President to reduce the debt in the short-, medium-, and long-term in addition to a progress report on implementing them;
The impact an increased debt limit will have on future government spending, debt service, and the position of the U.S. dollar as the international reserve currency;
Projections of the fiscal health and sustainability of major entitlement programs including Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

All information provided by the Secretary during their appearances before congressional committees and any written materials must be made publicly available on the Dept. of the Treasury’s website.

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Not raising it means not paying and debating how to pay (by cutting the budget) means delaying payments and lowering our rating. ","show_argument_for":false,"show_argument_against":true,"upvote_count":0,"upvotes_for_count":null,"upvotes_against_count":0,"has_upvoted":false,"endorsement_count":0,"links":{"self":"https://www.causes.com/positions/7968616e-6764-442c-8e40-58cda1984289"},"body":"Raising the debt limit pays debts already incurred. Not raising it means not paying and debating how to pay (by cutting the budget) means delaying payments and lowering our rating. ","stance":"nay","created_at":"2017-02-21T22:16:26.925Z","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/positions/7968616e-6764-442c-8e40-58cda1984289.png","note_color":null,"note_text":null,"bill_id":"hr523-115","user_id":"AmpOev6Z","endorser_ids":[]}}

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Should the Treasury Have a Plan for Reducing the National Debt Before Raising the Debt Limit?