(a) INTRODUCTION AND REFERRAL OF PRESIDENT'S LEGISLATIVE
PROPOSAL-
(1) INTRODUCTION- In the case of a legislative proposal
submitted by the President pursuant to section 1105(h) of title 31, United
States Code, within the 15-day period specified in paragraph (1) of such section,
the Majority Leader and Minority Leader of the Senate (or their designees)
shall introduce such proposal (by request), the title of which is as follows:
`A bill to respond to a medicare funding warning.' Such bill shall be introduced
within 3 days of session after Congress receives such proposal.
(2) REFERRAL- Any legislation introduced pursuant to paragraph
(1) shall be referred to the Committee on Finance.
(b) MEDICARE FUNDING LEGISLATION- For purposes of this section,
the term `medicare funding legislation' means--
(1) legislation introduced pursuant to subsection (a)(1),
but only if the legislative proposal upon which the legislation is based was
submitted within the 15-day period referred to in such subsection; or
(2) any bill the title of which is as follows: `A bill
to respond to a medicare funding warning.'.
(c) QUALIFICATION FOR SPECIAL PROCEDURES-
(1) IN GENERAL- The special procedures set forth in subsections
(d) and (e) shall apply to medicare funding legislation, as described in subsection
(b), only if the legislation--
(A) is medicare funding legislation that is passed
by the House of Representatives; or
(B) contains matter within the jurisdiction of the
Committee on Finance in the Senate.
(2) FAILURE TO QUALIFY FOR SPECIAL PROCEDURES- If the
medicare funding legislation does not satisfy paragraph (1), then the legislation
shall be considered under the ordinary procedures of the Standing Rules of
the Senate.
(d) DISCHARGE-
(1) IN GENERAL- If the Committee on Finance has not reported
medicare funding legislation described in subsection (c)(1) by June 30 of
a year in which the President is required to submit medicare funding legislation
to Congress under section 1105(h) of title 31, United States Code, then any
Senator may move to discharge the Committee of any single medicare funding
legislation measure. Only one such motion shall be in order in any session
of Congress.
(2) DEBATE LIMITS- Debate in the Senate on any such motion
to discharge, and all appeals in connection therewith, shall be limited to
not more than 2 hours. The time shall be equally divided between, and controlled
by, the maker of the motion and the Majority Leader, or their designees, except
that in the event the Majority Leader is in favor of such motion, the time
in opposition thereto shall be controlled by the Minority Leader or the Minority
Leader's designee. A point of order under this subsection may be made at any
time. It is not in order to move to proceed to another measure or matter while
such motion (or the motion to reconsider such motion) is pending.
(3) AMENDMENTS- No amendment to the motion to discharge
shall be in order.
(4) EXCEPTION IF CERTIFIED LEGISLATION
ENACTED- Notwithstanding paragraph (1), it shall not be in order to discharge
the Committee from further consideration of medicare funding legislation pursuant
to this subsection during a session of a Congress if the chairman of the Committee
on the Budget of the Senate certifies that medicare funding legislation has
been enacted that eliminates excess general revenue medicare funding (as defined
in section 801(c)) for each fiscal year in the 7-fiscal-year reporting period.
(e) CONSIDERATION- After the date on which the Committee
on Finance has reported medicare funding legislation described in subsection
(c)(1), or has been discharged (under subsection (d)) from further consideration
of, such legislation, it is in order (even though a previous motion to the same
effect has been disagreed to) for any Member of the Senate to move to proceed
to the consideration of such legislation.
(f) RULES OF THE SENATE- This section is enacted by the Senate--
(1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of the Senate
and as such it is deemed a part of the rules of the Senate, but applicable
only with respect to the procedure to be followed in the Senate in the case
of a bill described in this paragraph, and it supersedes other rules only
to the extent that it is inconsistent with such rules; and
(2) with full recognition of the constitutional right
of the Senate to change the rules (so far as relating to the procedure of
the Senate) at any time, in the same manner, and to the same extent as in
the case of any other rule of the Senate.
