[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 113 (Thursday, July 13, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9832-S9833]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


           WAS CONGRESS IRRESPONSIBLE? LOOK AT THE ARITHMETIC

  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, on that evening in 1972 when I learned that 
I had been elected to the Senate, I made a commitment to myself that I 
would never fail to see any young person, or any group of young people, 
who wanted to see me.
  It has proved enormously beneficial to me because I have been 
inspired by the estimated 60,000 young people with whom I have visited 
during the nearly 23 years I have been in the Senate.
  Most of them have been concerned about the magnitude of the Federal 
debt that Congress has run up for the coming generations to pay. The 
young people and I always discuss the fact that under the U.S. 
Constitution, no President can spend a dime of Federal money that has 
not first been authorized and appropriated by both the House and Senate 
of the United States.
  That is why I began making these daily reports to the Senate on 
February 22, 1992. I wanted to make a matter of daily record of the 
precise size of the Federal debt which as of yesterday, Wednesday, July 
12, stood at $4,927,810,673,266.79 or $18,706.05 for every man, woman, 
and child in America on a per capita basis.
  Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Under the previous order, the Senator from Pennsylvania, [Mr. 
Specter] 

[[Page S 9833]]
is recognized to speak for up to 15 minutes.

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