[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 111 (Thursday, July 25, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S8864]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       THE VERY BAD DEBT BOXSCORE

  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, I think so often of that November evening 
long ago, in 1972, when the television networks reported that I had 
been elected as a U.S. Senator from North Carolina. I remember well the 
exact time that the announcement was made and how stunned I was.
  It had never really occurred to me that I would be the first 
Republican in history to be elected by the people of North Carolina to 
the U.S. Senate. When I got over my astonishment, I thought about a lot 
of things. And I made some commitments to myself one of which was that 
I would never fail to see a young person, or a group of young people, 
who wanted to see me.
  I have kept that commitment and it has proved enormously meaningful 
to me because I have been inspired by the estimated 66,000 young people 
with whom I have visited during the 23 years I have been in the Senate.
  A large percentage of them are greatly concerned about the total 
Federal debt which back in February exceeded $5 trillion for the first 
time in history. Congress created this monstrous debt which coming 
generations will have to pay.
  Mr. President, the young people who visit with me almost always like 
to discuss the fact that under the U.S. Constitution, no President can 
spend a dime of Federal money that has not first been authorized and 
appropriated by both the House and Senate of the United States.
  That is why I began making these daily reports to the Senate on 
February 25, 1992. I decided that it was important that a daily record 
be made of the precise size of the Federal debt which, at the close of 
business yesterday, Wednesday, July 24, stood at $5,173,226,283,802.71. 
On a per capita basis, the existing Federal debt amounts to $19,494.49 
for every man, woman, and child in America on a per capita basis.
  The increase in the national debt in the 24 hours since my report 
yesterday shows an increase of more than one billion dollars 
($1,562,134,965.80, to be exact). That one-day Federal debt increase 
involves enough money to pay the college tuitions for 231,633 students 
for 4 years.

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