[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 46 (Monday, March 13, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S3830]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          IS CONGRESS IRRESPONSIBLE? THE VOTERS HAVE SAID YES!

  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, the impression will not go away: The 
enormous Federal debt greatly resembles the well-known energizer bunny 
we see, and see, and see on television. The Federal debt keeps going 
and going and going--always at the expense, of course, of the American 
taxpayer.
  A lot of politicians talk a good game--when they are back home--about 
bringing Federal deficits and the Federal debt under control. But so 
many of these same politicians regularly voted in support of bloated 
spending bills during the 103d Congress--which may have been one factor 
in the new configuration of U.S. Senators for the 104th Congress.
  There is a rather distressing fact as the 104th Congress moves along: 
As of
 Friday, March 10, 1995, the Federal debt stood--down to the penny--at 
exactly $4,847,327,170.23 or $18,400.54 per person.

  Mr. President, my hope is that the 104th Congress can bring under 
control the outrageous spending that created this outrageous debt. If 
the party now controlling both Houses of Congress, as a result of the 
November elections last year, does not do a better job of getting a 
handle on this enormous debt, the American people are not likely to 
overlook it in 1996.

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