{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://brat.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=271", "Rep. Brat Earns \"A\" Rating from National Taxpayers Union", "2016-10-24", "2016", "2016-10", "Republican", "House", "VA", "David Brat", "B001290", "brat.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Rep. Brat (R-Va.) issued the following statement after receiving an \"A\"\u00a0rating from the National Taxpayers Union (NTU):\"I am proud to receive the National Taxpayers Union 'Taxpayers' Friend Award.' Standing up for the American taxpayer has been my top priority in Congress, and I am committed to reigning in our out-of-control spending and creating a budget that actually balances.\"We must begin practicing real fiscal restraint and implementing specific spending reductions now, so it will be possible to balance the budget in reality. Congress is\u00a0breaking\u00a0its pledge to the American people on the budget caps; we\u2019ve lost fiscal discipline, and we\u2019re throwing it all on the next generation to pay for. It's a disaster, and we need to find the courage to restore fiscal responsibility, opportunity, and security to this great country. I will continue to work towards these objectives, because they are the priority of the American people.\"Representative Brat has\u00a0introduced H.J.Res. 55, a bipartisan Joint Resolution to add a Balanced Budget Amendment to our Constitution. This legislation would require federal expenditures and receipts to be balanced, excluding expenditures for payment of debt and receipts derived from borrowing. This requirement may be met over more than one year to accommodate economic conditions.\"This legislation is absolutely critical to\u00a0ensuring fiscal responsibility in Congress.\u00a0We cannot continue to legislate-by-crisis where common sense is thrown out the window,\" said Rep. Brat.\"Winning the Taxpayers\u2019 Friend award is no easy feat,\" said\u00a0Pete Sepp, President of NTU. \"It takes a daily commitment to cast principled votes that put the Americans who pay government\u2019s bills first. Representative Brat\u00a0has proven he has what it takes to help make Washington work for taxpayers again.\u201d\u201cRepresentative Brat's\u00a0pro- taxpayer score of\u00a084 percent was one of the best on all of Capitol Hill,\" said Sepp.\u00a0\"Through his consistent voting record,\u00a0Representative Brat\u00a0showed his colleagues\u00a0the way to lower deficits, less burdensome taxes, and a stronger economy. If every Member of Congress had voted as conscientiously as Representative Brat\u00a0did last year, taxpayers could have looked forward to a much more prosperous future,\u201d Sepp concluded.Rep. Brat has also voted against unnecessary spending in the appropriations process, and has voted against legislation that is fiscally irresponsible.Rep. Brat was the only Virginian to receive the \"Taxpayers' Friend Award.\" To see how other representatives from Virginia scored, click here.", 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": ["http://brat.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=271"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.018664799630642, "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"}