[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 3 (Thursday, January 27, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: January 27, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
            IRRESPONSIBLE CONGRESS? HERE IS TODAY'S BOXSCORE

  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, the Federal debt run up by the Congress of 
the United States stood at $4,511,229,509,376.83 as of close of 
business yesterday afternoon, January 26. Averaged out, every man, 
woman, and child in America owes a part of this massive debt run up by 
the Congress of the United States, and that per capita share stands at 
$17,303.56.
  I might add, parenthetically, that the national debt at the close of 
business on January 26 a year ago, 1993, stood at 
$4,171,137,611,859.33. I did a little bit of mathematical computation, 
and I discovered that the national debt increased during the past year 
by $340,091,897,517.50 in this 1-year period.
  I would further add, parenthetically, that although you hear a 
cacophony of political voices in the arena claiming that this debt was 
run up by this President or that President, the truth of the matter is 
that the dead cat lies on the doorstep of the Congress of the United 
States, the Senate and the House. Because no President, not Ronald 
Reagan, not George Bush, not Bill Clinton, can spend a dime that has 
not first been authorized and appropriated by the Congress of the 
United States. Anybody knowing anything about the Constitution is bound 
to realize that. All appropriations begin in the House of 
Representatives, and they must be approved by the Senate as well.
  That is the fiscal situation down to the penny. I have been making 
this report daily, every day that the Senate has been in session, for 3 
years now. I will continue as long as Congress fails to do something to 
correct the error of its ways.

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