1、Congressional Research Service? ?The Library of CongressCRS Report for CongressReceived through the CRS WebOrder Code 98-453 GOVUpdated February 22, 2005Debt-Limit Legislation inthe Congressional Budget ProcessBill Heniff Jr.Analyst in American National GovernmentGovernment and Finance DivisionThe a
2、mount of money the federal government is allowed to borrow generally issubject to a statutory limit (31 U.S.C. 3101). From time to time, Congress considers andadopts legislation to change this limit. This report provides a brief overview of debt-limitlegislation within the congressional budget proce
3、ss.The gross federal debt, which represents the federal governments total outstandingdebt, consists of two types of debt: (1) the debt held by the public; and (2) the debt heldby government accounts. The debt held by the public represents the total net amountborrowed from the public to cover the fed
4、eral governments accumulated budget deficits.By contrast, the debt held by government accounts represents the total net amount offederal debt issued to specialized federal accounts, primarily trust funds (e.g., SocialSecurity). Trust fund surpluses by law must be invested in special federal governme
