[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.J. Res. 20 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. J. RES. 20

  Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to 
  provide that appropriations shall not exceed revenues of the United 
          States, except in time of war or national emergency.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 4, 1995

 Mr. de la Garza introduced the following joint resolution; which was 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                            JOINT RESOLUTION


 
  Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to 
  provide that appropriations shall not exceed revenues of the United 
          States, except in time of war or national emergency.

    Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House 
concurring therein), That the following article is proposed as an 
amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and shall be valid 
to all intents and purposes of the Constitution when ratified by the 
legislatures of three-fourths of the several States:

                              ``Article--

    ``Section 1. Except as provided in section 4, the Congress shall 
not authorize the withdrawal of funds from the Treasury of the United 
States during any fiscal year in an amount which exceeds in the 
aggregate the total amount of the revenues of the United States 
(exclusive of borrowed sums) for that fiscal year (as determined in 
accordance with the latest estimates of the President and proclaimed 
under section 2).
    ``Section 2. As soon as practicable after the end of each calendar 
year, the President shall determine and proclaim the amount which he 
estimates will be the total revenues of the United States (exclusive of 
borrowed sums) for the next fiscal year. Such estimated amount shall be 
revised at least quarterly, and as so revised shall be proclaimed by 
the President.
    ``Section 3. The President shall annually submit to the Congress a 
budget which shall be prepared in such a manner as to insure compliance 
with the first section of this article.
    ``Section 4. In time of war declared by the Congress, or in time of 
grave national emergency requiring expenditures in excess of receipts 
proclaimed by the President, the application of this article may be 
suspended by a con-current resolution which has passed each House by 
the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the authorized 
membership of that House and which contains a section substantially as 
follows:
    ``Section   . It being now a time of war declared by the Congress 
(or, a time of grave national emergency proclaimed by the President, as 
the case may be), it is the sense of the Congress that the provisions 
of 
article        of the Constitution of the United States be suspended 
until             .''
    ``No concurrent resolution shall suspend the application of this 
article beyond the end of the fiscal year following the fiscal year in 
which such resolution is adopted.
    ``Section 5. This article shall apply only with respect to fiscal 
years which begin more than two years after the date on which this 
article was ratified.
    ``Section 6. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have 
been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution within seven years 
from the date of its submission.''.
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