George Bush photo

Statement of Administration Policy: S. 1699 - Government Securities Offering Enforcement Act of 1991

September 15, 1992

STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY

(House)
(Dodd (D) Connecticut and 12 others)

The Administration supports S. 1699, as passed by the Senate on September 25, 1991. The Administration also supports S. 1247, which would extend permanently Treasury's rulemaking authority under the Government Securities Act.

H.R. 3927, the "Government Securities Reform Act of 1992," may be offered as a substitute for S. 1699. H.R. 3927 contains a five- year reauthorization of Treasury's rulemaking authority under the Government Securities Act, which would be a positive step. However, the Administration strongly objects to a number of its provisions, as listed below. The Administration will work in conference to achieve an acceptable bill which ensures that the taxpayers get the most efficient and effective regulation and supervision of the government securities market.

The Administration strongly objects to the following provisions of H.R. 3927:

—   New authority to dictate the specifics of the dissemination of market quotation data ("transparency" provisions), which could prove counterproductive by impeding the market-based initiatives already being implemented.

—   New recordkeeping authority granted to the Securities and Exchange Commission. This would create overlapping lines of authority in the market, largely duplicating Treasury's responsibilities under the Government Securities Act.

H.R. 3927, in its current form, would grant unwarranted and potentially harmful new regulatory authority. It would risk impairing the efficiency and liquidity of the government securities market and raising the taxpayer's cost of financing the Federal debt.

The Administration supports the Ways and Means Committee amendments to H.R. 3927.

Pay-As-You-Go Scoring

S. 1699 as passed by the Senate is not subject to the pay-as-you- go requirement of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (OBRA). However, H.R. 3927 would reduce receipts; therefore, it is subject to the pay-as-you-go requirement of OBRA. No offsets to the loss in receipts are provided in the bill. A budget point of order applies in both the House and Senate against any bill that is not fully offset under CBO scoring. If, contrary to the Administration's recommendation, the House waives any such point of order that applies against H.R. 3927, the effects of enactment of this legislation would be included in a look back pay-as-you- go sequester report at the end of the congressional session.

OMB's preliminary scoring estimates of this bill are presented in the table below. Final scoring of this legislation may deviate from these estimates. If H.R. 3927 were enacted, final OMB scoring estimates would be published within five days of enactment, as required by OBRA. The cumulative effects of all enacted legislation on direct spending will be issued in monthly reports transmitted to the Congress.

ESTIMATES FOR PAY-AS-YOU-GO
($ in millions)

  1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1992-97
Receipts -- -1.8 -1.8 -1.8 -1.8 -1.8 -9

George Bush, Statement of Administration Policy: S. 1699 - Government Securities Offering Enforcement Act of 1991 Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/330492

Simple Search of Our Archives