[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.J. Res. 74 Introduced in House (IH)]


109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. J. RES. 74

Proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United 
                                States.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 14, 2005

   Mr. Jenkins introduced the following joint resolution; which was 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

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                            JOINT RESOLUTION


 
Proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United 
                                States.

    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, which shall be 
valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when 
ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States 
within seven years after the date of its submission for ratification:

                              ``Article--

    ``Section 1. Total expenditures for any fiscal year shall not 
exceed total revenues for that fiscal year, unless three-fifths of the 
whole number of each House of Congress shall provide by law for a 
specific excess of expenditures over revenues by a rollcall vote.
    ``Section 2. The Congress may waive the provisions of this article 
for any fiscal year in which a declaration of war is in effect. The 
provisions of this article may be waived for any fiscal year in which 
the United States is engaged in military conflict which causes an 
imminent and serious military threat to national security and is so 
declared by a joint resolution, adopted by a majority of the whole 
number of each House, which becomes law.
    ``Section 3. The Congress shall enforce and implement this article 
by appropriate legislation, which may rely on estimates of outlays and 
receipts.
    ``Section 4. Total revenues shall include all receipts of the 
United States Government except those derived from borrowing. Total 
expenditures shall include all outlays of the United States Government 
except for those for repayment of debt principal.''.
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