[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 124 (Friday, July 28, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S10873]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


          WAS CONGRESS IRRESPONSIBLE? CONSIDER THE ARITHMETIC

  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, the skyrocketing Federal debt, which long 
ago soared into the stratosphere, is sort of like the weather--
everybody talks about it but almost nobody had done much about it until 
immediately after the elections last November.
  But when the new 104th Congress convened in January, the U.S. House 
of Representatives quickly approved a balanced budget amendment to the 
U.S. Constitution. In the Senate all but one of the 54 Republicans 
supported the balanced budget amendment; only 13 Democrats supported 
it. Since a two-third-vote--67 Senators--is necessary to approve a 
constitutional amendment, the proposed Senate amendment failed by one 
vote. There will be another vote later this year or next year.
  Mr. President, as of the close of business Thursday, July 27, the 
Federal debt--down to the penny--stood at exactly $4,948,216,665,542.90 
or $18,783.51 for every man, woman, and child on a per capita basis.


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