[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 24 (Tuesday, February 27, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1320-S1321]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      IT FINALLY HAPPENED: FEDERAL DEBT BURDEN EXCEEDS $5 TRILLION

  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, on January 8, 1835, in the 58th year of our 
Republic, a distinguished native of North Carolina, Andrew Jackson, 
hosted a banquet to celebrate the Nation's deliverance from economic 
bondage. The national debt had been paid. There was cause for great 
celebration, because the payment of the national debt was considered to 
be a triumph of republican government.
  President Jackson delivered the following toast: ``The Payment of the 
Public Debt--Let us commemorate it as an event which gives us increased 
power as a nation, and reflects luster on our Federal Union, of whose 
justice, fidelity and wisdom it is a glorious illustration.''
  Fast-forward 161 years, Mr. President: Today it is my sad duty to 
report that on this past Friday, February 23, 1996, the Federal debt 
passed the $5 trillion mark--a new world record. Never before in 
history had a nation encumbered itself with a debt so enormous.
  The sheer arithmetic of the Federal debt is so immense that it 
boggles the mind. Consider these figures: As of the close of business 
this past Friday, February 23, 1996, the Federal debt stood at 
$5,017,056,630,040.53.
  Let me run that by once more a bit more slowly--5 trillion, 17 
billion, 56 million, 630 thousand, 40 dollars and 53 cents. The 
enormity becomes more clearly in focus when one bears in mind 

[[Page S1321]]
that there are a million million dollars in a trillion--so the Federal 
debt of the United States has now passed five million million dollars.
  Let's look back 23 years. The day I was first sworn in as a U.S. 
Senator, on January 3, 1973, the Federal debt stood at less than one-
tenth of today's total Federal debt. On April 18, 1973, for example, 
the April 15 tax deadline had just passed; the taxpayers' money was 
flowing into the Internal Revenue Service; and the Federal debt stood 
at 455 billion, 570 million, 163 thousand, 323 dollars and 85 cents. I 
should add that the Federal budget deficit that year was about $15 
billion--one-tenth of the present Federal deficit.
  Mr. President, one of the first pieces of legislation I offered in 
early 1973 was a resolution to require the Senate to balance the 
Federal budget. I did that several times in the weeks and months to 
follow. I lost every time. Then I offered a resolution stipulating that 
the salaries of Senators and Congressmen be reduced by the same 
percentage that Congress failed to balance the budget. As I recall, I 
got seven votes for that proposition and a lot of angry expressions.
  Since then, the Federal debt has exploded tenfold.
  I recently reviewed a publication entitled ``Historical Tables of the 
Fiscal Year l995 Budget.'' Guess what this document revealed about one 
significant aspect of the Federal debt. It showed that the interest on 
the money borrowed and spent by the Congress of the United States, over 
and above income, during the fiscal years l973 through l993, cost the 
American taxpayers $3,006,417,000,000.00.
  Three trillion dollars just to pay the interest on excessive spending 
authorized and appropriated by the Congress of the United States over a 
period of a couple of decades.
  Just suppose Congress had agreed back in 1973 to discipline itself 
and hold fast to a balanced Federal budget. We would be on Easy Street 
today.
  But, Mr. President, it is so easy to spend somebody else's money. As 
a result of all this Federal deficit spending, the share of every man, 
woman and child in America averages out to be roughly $19,043. Every 
child born today will be taxed $187,000 during his or her lifetime to 
pay just the interest on the Federal debt.
  Think of what has been done to our children and grandchildren. The 
burden of a $5 trillion debt is a weight on the shoulders of future 
generations, as well as on our economy today. The Federal Government 
annually spends approximately 15 percent of its budget paying the 
interest on the Federal Government's debt.
  Last year the Federal Government spent approximately $1.5 trillion, 
much of it entirely unnecessary, duplicative, or just plain wasteful. 
We must return fiscal sanity to the Federal Government and discard the 
foolish notion that all problems can be solved by more intrusive 
Government programs and yet more spending. It's time, Mr. President, to 
make some hard choices. We can make the tough decisions now, or leave 
them for someone else to make later, when they'll be even tougher. The 
honorable, sensible policy is to cut spending and cut it now. Only when 
we reign in the out-of-control spending of the taxpayers' money can we, 
like President Andrew Jackson, who was born in Union County, NC, get 
about the business of returning the luster to our Federal Union which 
has become so dim.
  Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. JEFFORDS. 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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