Congressional leadership would appoint members toRescue Committees. (Photo: Shutterstock)

A bipartisan, bicameral bill has been introduced that wouldestablish congressional committees tasked with advancinglegislation to rescue federal trust funds headed towardinsolvency.

The Time to Rescue United States' Trusts, or Trust Act, wouldcreate three separate bipartisan committees for Social Security,Medicare, and the Highway Trust Fund.

"It's irresponsible for Congress to keep ignoring a preventablecrisis," said Senator Mitt Romney, R-UT, in a statement.

"We must put in place a responsible process now to preventdramatic cuts to programs like Social Security and Medicare or beforced to enact massive tax hikes down the road, both of whichwould be devastating to middle class Americans. We have a duty towork to secure these programs that provide a safety net formillions of Americans," added Romney.

Senators Joe Manchin, D-WV, Todd Young, R-IN, Doug Jones, D-AL,and Krysten Sinema, D-AZ, are co-sponsors of the Senate bill.Representatives Mike Gallagher, R-WI, Ed Case, D-HI, WilliamTimmons, R-SC, and Ben McAdams, D-UT, are cosponsors in theHouse.

Upon enactment of the bill, the Treasury Department would have30 days to report to Congress on the trust funds.

Congressional leadership would appoint members to RescueCommittees. Two members of each party would be responsible forreporting legislation. Qualifying bills would be expedited in bothchambers of Congress. In the Senate, only a simple majority wouldbe needed for a motion to proceed, but 60 votes would ultimately berequired for passage.

The Social Security Administration projects the program's twotrust funds will be exhausted by 2035, at which timeacross-the-board cuts to scheduled benefits of more than 20 percentwould be required. The Congressional Budget Office says the programwill be insolvent by 2032.

"These programs were all created on a bipartisan basis, and ourleaders must come together on a bipartisan basis to save them, saidMaya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a ResponsibleFederal Budget, a non-partisan think tank that advocates for fiscalresponsibility.

The last time Social Security was reformed in 1983, theso-called Greenspan Commission, named after former Federal Reservechairman Alan Greenspan, reported reform proposals to Congress. The15-member commission was comprised of lawmakers and members of theprivate sector.