[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 15 (Wednesday, February 25, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H585]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          TIME TO PAY OFF BALANCE ON NATIONAL CREDIT CARD DEBT

  (Mr. McINNIS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. McINNIS. Madam Speaker, the national credit card now carries a 
balance of $5.5 trillion. Now, just in case those listening thought 
they heard me wrong, let me say that again. It is a trillion, $5.4 to 
$5.5 trillion, not billion, dollars in debt.
  While the deficit this year may very well be zero, and that is of 
some question because of the Social Security issue and whether or not 
the Social Security funds create an artificial surplus, the last 60 
years of government living beyond its means has brought us a debt that 
will not be zero for many, many more years when we consider the overall 
debt, not the annual deficit.
  With a hundred billion dollar a year deficit year after year when the 
liberals controlled the United States Congress, the taxpayers now face 
a national debt that threatens our children's future. It is the time, 
the appropriate time, to start reducing that debt on the credit card 
that has been used by years and years of abuse in the United States 
Congress.
  I would like to invite fiscal conservatives on both sides of the 
aisle, both Republicans and Democrats, to work together on a bipartisan 
method to control spending, to cut wasteful programs, and to make 
government smaller. It is time to start paying off the balance on our 
national credit card debt.

                          ____________________