[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 26 (Thursday, February 29, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S1466]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         THE BAD DEBT BOXSCORE

 Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, a lot of folks don't have the 
slightest idea about the enormity of the Federal debt. Ever so often, I 
ask groups of friends, how many millions of dollars are there in a 
trillion? They think about it, voice some estimates, most of them 
wrong.
  One thing they do know is that it was the U.S. Congress that ran up 
the enormous Federal debt that is now over $5 trillion. To be exact, as 
of the close of business Tuesday, February 27, the total Federal debt--
down to the penny--stood at $5,016,697,045,327.39. Another sad 
statistic is that on a per capita basis, every man, woman, and child in 
America now owes $19,041.81.

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