[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 112 (Friday, August 12, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 12, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
          IS CONGRESS IRRESPONSIBLE? YOU BE THE JUDGE OF THAT

  Mr. HELMS. Madam President, the incredibly enormous Federal debt is 
like the weather--everybody talks about it but nobody does anything 
about it. Many Senators talk a good game when they are back home about 
bringing Federal deficits and the Federal debt under control, but look 
how they vote on bloated spending bills passing the Senate.
  As of Thursday, August 11, at the close of business, the Federal debt 
stood--down to the penny--at exactly $4,645,161,184,155.52. The debt, 
do not forget, was run up by the Congress of the United States. The 
big-spending bureaucrats in the executive branch of the U.S. Government 
cannot spend a dime unless and until it has been authorized and 
appropriated by the U.S. Congress. The U.S. Constitution is quite 
specific about that, as every school boy is supposed to know.
  And do not be misled by declarations by politicians that the Federal 
debt was run up by one President or another, depending on party 
affiliation. Sometimes they say Ronald Reagan ran it up; sometimes they 
say George Bush. These buck-passing declarations are false because the 
Congress of the United States is the culprit.
  Most people cannot conceive of a billion of anything, let alone a 
trillion. It may provide a bit of perspective to bear in mind that a 
billion seconds ago, Mr. President, the Cuban Missile Crisis was going 
on. A billion minutes ago, not many years had elapsed since the 
crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
  That sort of puts it in perspective, does it not, that Congress has 
run up a Federal debt of 4,645 of those billions--of dollars. In other 
words, the Federal debt, as I said earlier, stands today at 
$4,645,161,184,155.52.

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