[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 15 (Wednesday, January 25, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H605]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


          THE NATIONAL DEBT AND THE BALANCED BUDGET AMENDMENT

  (Mr. DeFAZIO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. DeFAZIO. Madam Speaker, we cannot go on as a nation piling debt 
on debt year after year. The national debt is nearly five times higher 
today than it was when Ronald Reagan became President in 1981. That is 
a disgraceful, bipartisan legacy of irresponsible spending and tax 
giveaways.
  The total debt of the Federal Government totals more than $4.6 
trillion, more than $16,000 for every man, woman, and child in America. 
Interest alone will total more than $225 billion, more than 10 times 
all the Federal funds spent on all education programs and assistance by 
the Federal Government.
  Some oppose the balanced budget amendment over genuine concern for 
the fate of Social Security, child nutrition, education funding, or 
other meritorious programs. An honest assessment of these programs 
shows us they have not done well while we accumulated $4 trillion in 
debt these last 12 years.
  There is not a penny in the Social Security trust fund. It has all 
been borrowed and spent, replaced by a pile of IOU's.
  Twenty percent of my State's children live in poverty and go to bed 
hungry every night.
  We all know the shortfall in education funding. It is time to balance 
the Federal budget.

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