[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 32 (Tuesday, March 2, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H836-H837]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               REDUCING THE DEBT IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO

  (Mr. HILL of Indiana asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HILL of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, $17 billion is just a drop in the 
bucket here in Washington, but back in Indiana it is serious money.
  Seventeen billion dollars is enough to operate all eight Indiana 
university

[[Page H837]]

campuses for 10 years. Seventeen billion dollars almost equals the 
entire 2-year budget of the State of Indiana.
  The government projects that this year we will spend $17 billion less 
on interest payments than we did last year. When we reduce the 
government's debt, we are given billions of dollars back to the private 
sector to invest, create jobs and strengthen our economy. By reducing 
the debt, we are also improving our ability to honor the promises we 
have made to our seniors through the Social Security and Medicare 
programs.
  Other arguments aside, reducing the debt we pass on to our children 
is just the right thing to do. Not only do we owe it to our American 
seniors to reduce the debt, but we owe it to future generations as 
well.

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