[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 37 (Tuesday, February 28, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S3282]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


          WAS CONGRESS IRRESPONSIBLE? THE VOTERS HAVE SAID YES

  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, as I pointed out yesterday in this daily 
report--which I began 3 years ago--Federal debt has risen to 
astronomical proportions. As of the close of business yesterday, 
Monday, February 27, the Federal debt stood at $4,839,489,402,270.31--
or $18,370.79 on a per capita basis.
  Mr. President, anyone even remotely familiar with the U.S. 
Constitution knows that no President can spend a dime of Federal tax 
money that has not first been authorized and appropriated by Congress--
both the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.
  Mr. President, I am convinced today, as I was back in 1973, that it 
is the absolute responsibility and duty of Congress to control Federal 
spending. The U.S. Senate has a momentous challenge later today in 
lowering this enormous debt by approving a balanced budget amendment to 
the U.S. Constitution and sending it to the 50 States for ratification.


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