[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 72 (Tuesday, May 21, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S5443]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       THE VERY BAD DEBT BOXSCORE

  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, the impression will not go away: The $5 
trillion Federal debt stands today as an increasingly grotesque 
parallel to the energizer bunny in the T.V. commercial that keeps 
moving and moving and moving--precisely in the same manner and to the 
same extent that the President is sitting on his hands while the 
Federal debt keeps going up and up and up into the stratosphere.
  Same old story. Some politicians talk a good game (``talk'' is the 
operative word here) about cutting Federal spending and thereby 
bringing the Federal debt under control. (But watch what they do when 
efforts are made to balance the Federal budget.)
  Mr. President, as of the close of business yesterday, Monday, May 20, 
the Federal debt stood at exactly $5,114,232,705,195.00 (which amounts 
to $19,306.97 per man, woman, child on a per capita basis).

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