[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 1 (Wednesday, January 3, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H9]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
AMERICA NEEDS A BALANCED BUDGET
(Mr. ROYCE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I just want to take a minute, as we commence
the second session of the 104th Congress, to focus on the necessity of
reaching the goal of a balanced Federal budget.
Four years from now we will enter upon the third millennium and the
225th year of our Nation and, ironically, although the American
revolution was mostly about taxes, an American child born today will
inherit a tax bill of $186,000 just to cover his or her share of the
interest on the national debt. That is the direct per capita cost of
financing $5 trillion. That is not the cost of paying it off. That is
that child's cost in taxes during his or her lifetime.
That is not the only cost of this enormous debt. That same child born
today will have to pay higher monthly mortgage payments, higher car
payments, higher college loan payments, all because of a $5 trillion
debt. That is because the Federal Government will be sopping up over
half of the available credit in the markets as it continually
refinances the debt, causing interest rates to remain arbitrarily high.
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