[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 97 (Wednesday, June 14, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S8304]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          WAS CONGRESS IRRESPONSIBLE? THE VOTERS HAVE SAID YES

  Mr. HELMS. Madam President, one does not have to be a rocket 
scientist to realize that the U.S. Constitution forbids any President's 
spending even 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.
  So when you hear a politician or an editor or a commentator declare 
that ``Reagan ran up the Federal debt'' or that ``Bush ran it up,'' 
bear in mind that the Founding Fathers, two centuries before the Reagan 
and Bush Presidencies, made it very clear that it is the constitutional 
duty of Congress--a duty Congress cannot escape--to control Federal 
spending. They have not for the past 50 years.
  It is the fiscal irresponsibility of Congress--of Congress!--that ran 
up the Federal debt that stood at $4,903,284,242,955.00 as of the close 
of business Tuesday, June 13. This debt, which will, of 
course, be passed on to our children and grandchildren, averages out to 
$18,612.95 on a per capita basis.


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