[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 82 (Wednesday, May 17, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S6802]
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, the skyrocketing Federal debt which long 
ago soared into the stratosphere is in a category like the weather--
everybody talks about it but almost nobody had undertaken the 
responsibility of trying to do anything about it until immediately 
following the elections last November.
  When the 104th Congress convened in January, the House of 
Representatives approved a balanced budget amendment. In the Senate 
only 1 of the Senate's 54 Republicans opposed the balanced budget 
amendment; only 13 Democrats supported it. Thus, the balanced budget 
amendment failed by just one vote. There will be another vote later 
this year or next year.
  As of the close of business yesterday, Tuesday, May 16, the Federal 
debt stood--down to the penny--at exactly $4,882,765,436,860.06 or 
$18,535.06 for every man, woman, and child on a per capita basis.


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