[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 193 (Wednesday, December 6, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S18098]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         THE BAD DEBT BOXSCORE

  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, on that November evening in 1972 when I was 
first 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 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, Tuesday, December 5, stood at $4,988,766,009,862.29 or 
$18,937.44 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 Monday, 
December 4, 1995--shows an increase of $125,665,418.83. That increase, 
I'm told, is equivalent to the amount of money needed by 215,311 
students to pay their college tuitions for 4 years.

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