{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.enzi.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ContentRecord_id=1B1D2A91-0F82-4237-AE7C-D3D74B3903E7", "Enzi says Congress needs to get to the bottom of federal PR spending mystery", "2016-11-17", "2016", "2016-11", "Republican", "House", "WY", "Michael Enzi", "E000285", "www.enzi.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, says you can lie about the numbers, but the numbers tell their own tale and they are saying that federal spending on advertising and public relations is a black hole.\r\n\u201cNo one really knows how much these agencies spend on trying to influence the American public about what a great job government is doing,\u201d Enzi said on the Senate floor today.\u00a0 \u201cAs Lewis Carroll famously wrote in Alice and Wonderland \u2013 \u2018How far down does the rabbit hole go?\u2019 The reason this is so important is that federal law prohibits the use of appropriated federal funds for publicity or propaganda purposes.\u201d\r\nEnzi requested a Congressional Research Report that found the Obama Administration spends at least $1.5 Billion annually on public relations and advertising. President Obama added hundreds of PR staffers between 2009 and 2011 to the thousands that already worked in these agencies, which cost taxpayers more than $500 million a year. These employees have an average salary of $90,000. The average household income in America about $54,000.\r\nEnzi requested the report in pursuit of fiscal transparency and he said it shows how little Congress actually understands about what the federal government spends its money on.\r\n\u201cThis information is crucial for policy makers because America\u2019s overspending problem has created a mammoth national debt,\u201d Enzi said.\u00a0 \u201cNext year, I look forward to holding additional hearings on this oversight issue and others, in order to help American families understand where their taxes are being spent and what they are getting for their money.\u00a0 It is time for the federal government to become more efficient, effective and accountable. If government programs are not delivering results, they should be improved, and if they are not needed, they should be eliminated.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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://www.enzi.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ContentRecord_id=1B1D2A91-0F82-4237-AE7C-D3D74B3903E7"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4376649633049965, "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"}