[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 81 (Tuesday, May 16, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H4964]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


             AN ABSENCE OF LEADERSHIP FROM THE WHITE HOUSE

  (Mr. HOKE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. HOKE. Mr. Speaker, Thomas Jefferson said, ``We should consider 
ourselves unauthorized to saddle posterity with our debts, and morally 
bound to pay them ourselves.'' And yet----
  At the end of Friday, the national debt stood at $4,859,130,968,274 
and 89 cents, an increase of roughly $2.3 billion from the day before.
  The debt burden for each individual American, including those babies 
born over the weekend, now stands at $18,537 and 2 cents.
  In the time it takes me to finish this short 1-minute speech, the 
national debt will have increased by another $1,597,222 and 20 cents.
  Despite the financial and moral imperative to act, President Clinton 
has failed to demonstrate even the slightest interest in this matter.
  It has been 75 days since we challenged the President to present his 
plan to balance the budget and 19 days since we asked him to help us 
help fix Medicare.
  In the absence of leadership from the White House, Republicans have 
offered a blueprint to balance the budget by 2002 so that our children 
will have a future free from debt and a standard of living better than 
our own.
  Mr. President, where is your plan. We are still waiting.

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