{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://boebert.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-lauren-boebert-introduces-balanced-budget-amendment-us-constitution", "Rep. Lauren Boebert Introduces Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution", "2022-03-21", "2022", "2022-03", "Republican", "House", "CO", "Lauren Boebert", "B000825", "boebert.house.gov", "boebert", "https://boebert.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Image\n\nMarch 21, 2022\n\nToday, Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (CO-03) introduced a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to eliminate waste and rein in federal spending.\n\nCongresswoman Boebert said, \u201cEveryday Americans are faced with tough decisions on how to balance their checkbooks. Unfortunately, the government shows no such restraint, pummeling all of us with record-setting spending and runaway inflation. Nancy Pelosi and the Biden regime continue to spend like drunken sailors, and their spending addiction has fueled the highest inflation increase in more than 40 years. They have already passed bills into law to spend more than $4.5 trillion and are trying to spend at least another $5 trillion this year alone. Every few months, it seems like Congress comes up with another manufactured spending crisis so they can spend more of your hard-earned money. With annual deficits exceeding a trillion dollars and total debt surpassing $30 trillion, now is the time to take action to rein in wasteful government spending. We need a Balanced Budget Amendment to get our fiscal house in order and help tame inflation, not $1.5 trillion bills that are more than 2,700 pages that Members have less than 22 hours to read.\u201d\n\nRep. Norman stated, \u201cRunaway spending will be the demise of this country if we don't deal with it now. We've eclipsed $30 trillion of debt this year and will double that before we know it at the rate we are used to spending. There is no excuse not to pass a balanced budget amendment.\u201d\n\nBackground:\n\nThe national debt exceeds $30 trillion. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), that national debt held by the public ($23 trillion) has already exceeded the size of the entire economy. Our debt is fueled by endless deficit spending. In the first five months of this fiscal year, we borrowed an average of $3 billion a day.\n\nCongress has waived existing budget rules time after time and has proved unwilling to do alter its course. We need a Constitutional Amendment to force a Balanced Budget. Congress cannot waive the Constitution to fit its political whims. Congresswoman Boebert\u2019s Balanced Budget Amendment creates constitutional requirements for:\n\nSpending not to exceed revenue for a fiscal year;\n\nThe debt limit not being increased;\n\nThe president submitting a balanced budget to Congress;\n\nAll tax increases being supported by two-thirds of both Houses of Congress.\n\nRep. Boebert\u2019s Balanced Budget Amendment additionally contains an exception that these requirements can only be waived for a short period of time for emergency circumstances if two-thirds of both Houses approve.\n\nCo-sponsors of Congresswoman Boebert\u2019s Balanced Budget Amendment include Reps. Ralph Norman (SC-05), Jeff Duncan (SC-03), and Thomas Massie (KY-04).\n\nThe full text of Rep. Boebert\u2019s Balanced Budget Amendment is available here.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T02:06:17Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://boebert.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-lauren-boebert-introduces-balanced-budget-amendment-us-constitution"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0884120129048824, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}