[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 12 (Tuesday, January 30, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S544-S545]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      INCREASE IN THE DEBT CEILING

  Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I would like to talk briefly about 
another matter that this body is going to be asked to address in the 
very near future, and that is to increase the debt ceiling.
  As the President and my colleagues know, the authorization to issue 
debt is limited with a cap. And that cap is $4.9 trillion. It is a debt 
so inconceivable that no one can comprehend how large $4.9 trillion is.
  Currently, Mr. President, we are looking in the fiscal year just 
ended at a deficit of about $165 billion. That is a significant figure. 
But we cannot stop there because there is a further application of 
interest, and the interest cost on the $4.9 trillion is about $235 
billion. And it should be noted that currently interest rates are 
relatively low. The effective rate of interest is probably somewhere in 
the area of 5.5 to 6.5 percent on this $4.9 trillion.
  Back in December 1980, the prime rate in the United States was 20.5 
percent. One can only visualize what the interest cost would be. And 
this interest has to be paid because the individuals who hold Treasury 
notes, instruments of debt issued by the Government, have to be paid 
not only principal but interest. But to suggest that we are currently 
paying an effective rate of somewhere between 5 or 6 or 6.5, or 
thereabout--the fact is that interest rates could rise as they have in 
the past, which would have a disastrous effect on the economic vitality 
of this Nation.
  So, if we look at the accumulated debt that we are carrying, the $4.9 
trillion, recognizing that each year we spend more than we generate in 
revenues, and add to that, we are faced with the reality that within a 
relatively short period of time we are going to have to increase that 
the debt ceiling. We are going to have to increase that authorization 
somewhere, we are told, of up to $5.3, or $5.4, or $5.5, or $5.6 
trillion for a term of perhaps 18 months, and then we are going to have 
to do it again.
  So my point is we are continuing to increase the indebtedness of this 
Nation. I am told that for a person being born today, his or her share 
of the debt is somewhere in the area of $150,000, to $175,000. That is 
going to increase unless we do something drastic and turn it around.
  We have been talking for a long time about a balanced budget. 
Everybody, including the White House, supports a balanced budget, a 
mandatory balanced budget, a process that will get us there. And we 
have talked about a 7-year ascension. We have had, I think, five 
proposals from the administration. The first one did not get one vote 
in the U.S. Senate. The last one really makes the lion's share of the 
cuts in the sixth and seventh years. That is pretty hard to accept 
because we know that Congress is not going to have the self-discipline 
in 6 or 7 years to make those draconian cuts. We know that President 
Clinton, even if he were to be reelected is not going to be in office 
in 2001 and 2002 when reality will hit.
  So we are going into this period of debate on increasing the debt 
from $4.9 trillion at a time when we are adding $165 billion in 
deficits each year, and we do not have a way out. When I say ``a way 
out,'' we do not have a commitment to a real balanced budget in 7 years 
because the last proposal by the White House was not real. The press 
and the public do not seem to accept that it was not real in terms of 
all the cuts in the sixth or seventh year as opposed to proportional 
reductions in each of the 7 years.

  It is like taking medicine, Mr. President. You have to take it 
anyway. If you take it up front and get it over with through the 
process, why, hopefully, you can reach a cure. If you have to take it 
when you get too sick, sometimes it might not cure you.
  Furthermore, I think it is fair to say that during the extended 
debate to try to reach a balanced budget, the Republicans were blamed 
for shutting down 

[[Page S545]]
the Government. For reasons that I find a little hard to understand, 
there was not a recognition that this was a shared responsibility. It 
was as much the responsibility of the White House as it was Members of 
Congress because the President vetoed the reconciliation package which 
would have basically kept the Government going. He vetoed about six of 
the appropriations bills and signed the others. Those would have funded 
the Government.
  So the responsibility is very much that of the executive branch--the 
President and the White House--as we reflect on the last attempt at a 
fiscally responsible effort to try to address what the public wants, 
what we know is good for the country, and that is the realistic 
balanced budget process. Unfortunately, that process, in the opinion of 
the Senator from Alaska, has failed as a consequence of the inability 
of the administration to recognize that we simply have to reduce the 
rate of growth of Government. That does not mean we have to cut 
programs. We simply reduce the rate of growth.
  That was so evident in the debate over Medicare. We are not cutting 
Medicare payments. Medicare payments would increase each year. But the 
rate of growth would be reduced from nearly 10 percent to somewhere in 
the area of 6 percent.
  So, Mr. President, again as we reflect on where we are, and the 
coming crisis with the debt ceiling, it is a responsibility of the 
administration and the President to recognize that it is not in the 
interest of the country to proceed with a debt ceiling increase without 
a realistic way to address a process that will achieve a balanced 
budget in 7 years.
  So I urge my colleagues to reflect on just where we are going and the 
significance that. If we all believe in a balanced budget and we still 
do not have the self-discipline in the process to recognize that 
somehow we are going to have to achieve a balanced budget in a 
meaningful way and we have at the same time the obligation to increase 
the debt authorization of this country--there is a direct connection 
between the two. If we believe in a balanced budget, we should know 
that to increase the debt authorization without a realistic way of 
balancing the budget is basically irresponsible in the long-term for 
the fiscal and monetary policy of this country.
  Our debt has to be brought under control and the spiral of its 
increase has to be reversed. And we run the risk of increased interest 
rates on that debt. So, Mr. President, we should make the necessary 
corrections now by having as part of the debt ceiling increase a 
realistic accord on a balanced budget process that is meaningful and 
achievable.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that all quorum calls during 
the designated period for morning business be equally divided.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Does the Senator from Alaska suggest the 
absence of a quorum?
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I ask that I be recognized to speak as 
if in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is advised that we are currently 
in morning business until 1 o'clock with the time divided between the 
two leaders.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. I thank the Chair.
  (The remarks of Mrs. Feinstein and Mr. D'Amato pertaining to the 
introduction of S. 1547 and S. 1548 are located in today's Record under 
``Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Thomas). The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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