[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 63 (Wednesday, May 8, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S4849]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       THE VERY BAD DEBT BOXSCORE

  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, on Friday, February 23, 1996, the U.S. 
Federal debt broke the $5 trillion sound barrier for the first time in 
history. The records show that on that day, at the close of business, 
the debt stood at $5,017,056,630,040.53.
  Twenty years earlier, in 1976, the Federal debt stood at $629 
billion, after the first 200 years of America's history, including two 
world wars. The total Federal debt in 1976, I repeat, stood at $629 
billion.
  Then the big spenders went to work and the compounded interest on the 
Federal debt really began to take off--and, presto, during the past two 
decades the Federal debt has soared into the stratosphere, increasing 
by more than $4 trillion in two decades, from 1976 to 1996.
  So, Mr. President, as of the close of business yesterday, Tuesday, 
May 7, the Federal debt stood--down-to-the-penny--at 
$5,093,910,014,740.64. On a per capita basis, every man, woman, and 
child in America owes $19,236.90 as his or her share of that debt.
  This enormous debt is a festering, escalating burden on all citizens 
and especially it is jeopardizing the liberty of our children and 
grandchildren. As Jefferson once warned, ``to preserve [our] 
independence, we must not let our leaders load us with perpetual debt. 
We must make our election between economy and liberty, or profusion and 
servitude.'' Isn't it about time that Congress heeded the wise words of 
my hero, Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of 
Independence?

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