[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 183 (Friday, November 17, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S17332]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         THE BAD DEBT BOXSCORE

  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, on that evening in 1972 when I first was 
elected to the Senate, I made a commitment to myself that I would never 
fail to see a young person, or a 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 total Federal debt which 
is slightly in excess of $11 billion shy of $5 trillion (which will be 
exceeded later this year). Of course, Congress is responsible for 
creating this monstrosity for which the coming generations will have to 
pay.
  The young people and I almost 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 25, 1992. I wanted to make a matter of daily record the 
precise size of the Federal debt which, at the close of business 
yesterday, Thursday, November 16, stood at $4,989,792,104,452.15 or 
$18,941.34 for every man, woman, and child in America on a per capita 
basis.
  The increase in the national debt since my report yesterday (which 
identified the total Federal debt as of close of business on Wednesday, 
November 15, 1995) shows an increase of $1,452,054,077.58. That 
increase is equivalent to the amount of money needed by 215,311 
students to pay their college tuitions for 4 years.

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