[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 66 (Monday, May 13, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4958-S4959]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       THE VERY BAD DEBT BOXSCORE

  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, it was on Friday, February 23, 1996, that 
the 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 1976 Federal debt, I repeat, stood at $629 
billion.
  Then the big spenders really went to work and the 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 Friday, May 10, 1996, 
the Federal debt stood--down-to-the-penny--at $5,092,815,215,705.75. On 
a per capita basis, every man, woman, and child in America owes 
$19,230.19 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

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must make our election between economy and liberty, or profusion and 
servitude.'' Isn't it about time that Congress heeded the wise words of 
the author of the Declaration of Independence?

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