[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 18 (Thursday, February 24, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S784-S787]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PUBLIC DEBT
Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, the reason I asked for the extra time
is, in addressing the Senate with respect to the Education Savings Act,
I was going to make the point that we weren't saving and we had no
money for this particular act. The act will cost the government $2
billion. But the distinguished Senator from New Mexico, the chairman of
our Budget Committee, says the Senator from South Carolina sees the
surplus differently than he sees a surplus. Let me go right to the
minute here on 2/23, the public debt to the penny.
You can go to the Internet and, under the law, find that the
Department of Treasury lists to the penny and by the minute the exact
amount of the public debt. It isn't what the Senator from New Mexico
calls a debt or surplus. It isn't what the Senator from South Carolina
calls a debt or surplus. It is what we call a debt under the Public
Law. The public debt to the minute right now--I just took it off the
Internet two minutes ago--is $5,744,135,736,409.24
I ask unanimous consent to print this in the Record at this point.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
THE PUBLIC DEBT TO THE PENNY
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amount
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Current Month:
02/23/2000.................................. $5,744,135,736,409.24
02/22/2000.................................. 5,742,317,374,668.82
02/18/2000.................................. 5,739,814,030,329.64
02/17/2000.................................. 5,708,609,026,361.46
02/16/2000.................................. 5,704,636,239,474.18
02/15/2000.................................. 5,705,355,135,074.08
02/14/2000.................................. 5,693,874,593,019.53
02/11/2000.................................. 5,692,488,848,706.09
02/10/2000.................................. 5,692,476,887,663.77
02/09/2000.................................. 5,690,617,208,881.34
02/08/2000.................................. 5,694,611,209,189.87
02/07/2000.................................. 5,693,618,340,748.18
02/04/2000.................................. 5,691,096,297,325.05
02/03/2000.................................. 5,690,372,687,653.89
02/02/2000.................................. 5,702,134,559,981.88
02/01/2000.................................. 5,702,651,446,667.03
Prior Months:
01/31/2000.................................. 5,711,285,168,951.46
12/31/1999.................................. 5,776,091,314,225.33
11/30/1999.................................. 5,693,600,157,029.08
10/29/1999.................................. 5,679,726,662,904.06
Prior Fiscal Years:
09/30/1999.................................. 5,656,270,901,615.43
09/30/1998.................................. 5,526,193,008,897.62
09/30/1997.................................. 5,413,146,011,397.34
09/30/1996.................................. 5,224,810,939,135.73
09/29/1995.................................. 4,973,982,900,709.39
09/30/1994.................................. 4,692,749,910,013.32
09/30/1993.................................. 4,411,488,883,139.38
09/30/1992.................................. 4,064,620,655,521.66
09/30/1991.................................. 3,665,303,351,697.03
09/28/1990.................................. 3,233,313,451,777.25
09/29/1989.................................. 2,857,430,960,187.32
09/30/1988.................................. 2,602,337,712,041.16
09/30/1987.................................. 2,350,276,890,953.00
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Bureau of the Public Debt.
Mr. President, The Department of Treasury said we began the 1999
fiscal year with a debt of $5,478,704,000,000, and we ended it, not
with a surplus, but with a deficit of $5,606,486,000,000.
Now, it is not any monkeyshine on this Senator's part. It is the
monkeyshine on the part of the majority of this body, all running
around calling surplus, surplus, surplus, when there isn't any surplus.
Let's go directly to yesterday's release by the Department of
Treasury. We find, on table 6, page 20 that they began the year with a
debt, as I have just reported, of $5,606,486,000,000. Now, at the close
of the month, as of January, it was $5,660,780,000,000. The Treasury
Department, beginning October 1 of last year, fiscal year 2000, has
already borrowed $54 billion. Please, let's tell the Secretary of the
Treasury that if we have surpluses, quit borrowing money. What is he
borrowing money for? It is time this charade stops.
I will ask unanimous consent to print in the Record Hollings' budget
realities.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
HOLLINGS' BUDGET REALITIES
[In billions]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Annual
U.S. budget Borrowed trust Unified Actual deficit increases in
President and years (outlays) funds deficit with without trust National debt spending for
trust funds funds interest
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Truman:
1946................................................ 55.2 -5.0 -15.9 -10.9 271.0 ..............
1947................................................ 34.5 -9.9 4.0 +13.9 257.1 ..............
1948................................................ 29.8 6.7 11.8 +5.1 252.0 ..............
1949................................................ 38.8 1.2 0.6 -0.6 252.6 ..............
1950................................................ 42.6 1.2 -3.1 -4.3 256.9 ..............
1951................................................ 45.5 4.5 6.1 +1.6 255.3 ..............
1952................................................ 67.7 2.3 -1.5 -3.8 259.1 ..............
1953................................................ 76.1 0.4 -6.5 -6.9 266.0 ..............
1954................................................ 70.9 3.6 -1.2 -4.8 270.8 ..............
Eisenhower:
1955................................................ 68.4 0.6 -3.0 -3.6 274.4 ..............
1956................................................ 70.6 2.2 3.9 +1.7 272.7 ..............
1957................................................ 76.6 3.0 3.4 +0.4 272.3 ..............
1958................................................ 82.4 4.6 -2.8 -7.4 279.7 ..............
1959................................................ 92.1 -5.0 -12.8 -7.8 287.5 ..............
1960................................................ 92.2 3.3 0.3 -3.0 290.5 ..............
1961................................................ 97.7 -1.2 -3.3 -2.1 292.6 ..............
1962................................................ 106.8 3.2 -7.1 -10.3 302.9 9.1
Kennedy:
1963................................................ 111.3 2.6 -4.8 -7.4 310.3 9.9
1964................................................ 118.5 -0.1 -5.9 -5.8 316.1 10.7
Johnson:
1965................................................ 118.2 4.8 -1.4 -6.2 322.3 11.3
1966................................................ 134.5 2.5 -3.7 -6.2 328.5 12.0
1967................................................ 157.5 3.3 -8.6 -11.9 340.4 13.4
1968................................................ 178.1 3.1 -25.2 -28.3 368.7 14.6
1969................................................ 183.6 0.3 3.2 +2.9 365.8 16.6
1970................................................ 195.6 12.3 -2.8 -15.1 380.9 19.3
Nixon:
1971................................................ 210.2 4.3 -23.0 -27.3 408.2 21.0
1972................................................ 230.7 4.3 -23.4 -27.7 435.9 21.8
1973................................................ 245.7 15.5 -14.9 -30.4 466.3 24.2
1974................................................ 269.4 11.5 -6.1 -17.6 483.9 29.3
1975................................................ 332.3 4.8 -53.2 -58.0 541.9 32.7
Ford:
1976................................................ 371.8 13.4 -73.7 -87.1 629.0 37.1
1977................................................ 409.2 23.7 -53.7 -77.4 706.4 41.9
Carter:
1978................................................ 458.7 11.0 -59.2 -70.2 776.6 48.7
1979................................................ 504.0 12.2 -40.7 -52.9 829.5 59.9
1980................................................ 590.9 5.8 -73.8 -79.6 909.1 74.8
1981................................................ 678.2 6.7 -79.0 -85.7 994.8 95.5
Reagan:
1982................................................ 745.8 14.5 -128.0 -142.5 1,137.3 117.2
[[Page S785]]
1983................................................ 808.4 26.6 -207.8 -234.4 1,371.7 128.7
1984................................................ 851.9 7.6 -185.4 -193.0 1,564.7 153.9
1985................................................ 946.4 40.5 -212.3 -252.8 1,817.5 178.9
1986................................................ 990.5 81.9 -221.2 -303.1 2,120.6 190.3
1987................................................ 1,004.1 75.7 -149.8 -225.5 2,346.1 195.3
1988................................................ 1,064.5 100.0 -155.2 -255.2 2,601.3 214.1
1989................................................ 1,143.7 114.2 -152.5 -266.7 2,868.3 240.9
Bush:
1990................................................ 1,253.2 117.4 -221.2 -338.6 3,206.6 264.7
1991................................................ 1,324.4 122.5 -269.4 -391.9 3,598.5 285.5
1992................................................ 1,381.7 113.2 -290.4 -403.6 4,002.1 292.3
1993................................................ 1,409.5 94.2 -255.1 -349.3 4,351.4 292.5
Clinton:
1994................................................ 1,461.9 89.0 -203.3 -292.3 4,643.7 296.3
1995................................................ 1,515.8 113.3 -164.0 -277.3 4,921.0 332.4
1996................................................ 1,560.6 153.4 -107.5 -260.9 5,181.9 344.0
1997................................................ 1,601.3 165.8 -22.0 -187.8 5,369.7 355.8
1998................................................ 1,652.6 178.2 69.2 -109.0 5,478.7 363.8
1999................................................ 1,703.0 251.8 124.4 -127.4 5,606.1 353.5
2000................................................ 1,769.0 234.9 176.0 -58.9 5,665.0 362.0
2001................................................ 1,839.0 262.0 177.0 -85.0 5,750.0 371.0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Historical Tables, Budget of the US Government FY 1998; Beginning in 1962 CBO's 2001 Economic and Budget Outlook.
Mr. President, the distinguished Senator, chairman of the Budget
Committee, says we ended 1998 with a surplus of almost $70 billion (it
was $69.2). But in order to state that figure, he had to borrow $178.2
billion from the trust funds: Social Security, highway, airport,
military retirees, civil service retirees, etc.--even Medicare. And
then he says that we ended last year with a surplus of $124.4 billion,
but he had to borrow $251.8 billion from the trust funds. So the actual
deficit for the fiscal year 1998 was $109 billion, and 127.4 billion
for 1999. Here are the numbers so everyone can see. Yes, we reduced the
deficit each year in that 4- to 5-year period--until last year. The
debt went from $109 billion to $127.4 billion. So that was an increase.
Mr. President, let me state very clearly what has been going on. They
used to talk of a unified budget and a unified deficit. Now, they talk
about off-budget and on-budget, and public debt. This misleads the
public because it is the U.S. Department of Treasury--not the CBO,
Senator Hollings or Senator Domenici--that keeps the official records.
They have actual accountants. You know, economists can lie, but
accountants can't. They have to keep the actual record and give you the
truth.
Let me get the borrowed trust funds chart and show you exactly what
is going on. They thought they could borrow enough from the other trust
funds to say they are not going into Social Security but, of course,
they are. At the end of the fiscal year, we already owe $855 billion to
Social Security, $181 to Medicare, $141 to military retirees, and $492
billion to civilian retirement. You can go right on down. We owe $1.869
trillion to the trust funds.
Now, you can talk about the wonderful record, but this is what the
Senator from South Carolina is looking at because that is the actual
debt. Just in 2000, we will owe $1 trillion to Social Security, but by
2013, that figure jumps to nearly $4 trillion. Think of the
inflationary pressure when the Baby Boomers start to retire and we have
to redeem these bonds.
Now, what I have done is I have gone to each one of the trust funds.
I won't take the time to go through all of them. ``But there is hereby
created on the books of the Treasury of the United States a trust fund
to be known as the Federal Old-Age and Survivors . . .''--and so forth
and so on. Mr. President, on page 2 of the act, section (b), ``there is
hereby created on the books of the Treasury of the United States a
trust fund to be known as the Federal Disability Insurance Trust
Fund.''
Mr. President, what we did in 1983 was gradually raise the Social
Security payroll tax to 6.25 for employees and 6.25 for employers, for
12\1/2\ percent. In 1983, if you had said we are going to vote for
increased taxes for food stamps or for Kosovo or for courthouses or for
dredging or for ships that the Department of Defense said they don't
need, and those kinds of things, you could not have gotten a vote on
the floor of the Senate. We passed the increase assuming the money
would be put in trust. But they have been spending it.
We have a way so they won't spend it--what we call the lockbox--and
they won't let us vote on it. Anytime, anywhere they want to vote on a
real lockbox, call this Senator up. I have had it drawn up by the
Administrator of Social Security, Ken Apfel. I worked with him when he
was on the Budget Committee, together with the Senator from New Mexico,
the present chairman of the Budget Committee.
I tried for some time to take Social Security off budget and it was
blocked in the Budget Committee. But I finally got it passed, with one
dissenting vote from the Senator from Texas. That is the best way I
could do it.
Section 13301. I ask unanimous consent to have this one-page summary
printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
Subtitle C--Social Security
SEC. 13301. OFF-BUDGET STATUS OF OASDI TRUST FUNDS.
(a) Exclusion of Social Security from all Budgets.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the receipts and
disbursements of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance
Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund
shall not be counted as new budget authority, outlays,
receipts, or deficit or surplus for purposes of--
(1) the budget of the United States Government as submitted
by the President,
(2) the congressional budget, or
(3) the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act
of 1985.
(b) Exclusion of Social Security From Congressional
Budget.--Section 301(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of
1974 is amended by adding at the end the following: ``The
concurrent resolution shall not include the outlays and
revenue totals of the old age, survivors, and disability
insurance program established under title II of the Social
Security Act or the related provisions of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 in the surplus or deficit totals
required by this subsection or in any . . .
So it is against the real trust and against the law itself. But we
continue to violate that law. Everybody knows the practice in the
Government under the 1994 Pension Reform Act is that you can't use
pension money to pay off the company debt. We all know Denny McLain,
the famous pitcher formerly with the Detroit Tigers. He did that and
was charged with a felony. If you can find him, tell him to, instead of
paying off the company debt, run for the Senate. Instead of a jail
term, you will get the good government award.
You can say the public debt is down, but it is like paying off the
MasterCard with the Visa card. You still owe the same amount of money.
That is what we have been doing. We play a shabby game up here talking
about surpluses. Yesterday, the Secretary of Commerce came to my office
wanting to talk about surplus. I said: Mr. Secretary, we don't have any
surplus. I said: Look at the President's budget itself.
Here it is right here on page 420. You can see it. I ask unanimous
consent that this one page be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[[Page S786]]
TABLE S-14.--FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FINANCING AND DEBT
[In billions of dollars]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimate
1999 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
actual 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Financing:
Surplus or deficit (-)............................... 124 167 184 186 185 195 215 256 292 314 329 363 403 443 479
(Social Security solvency lock-box: Off-budget).. 124 148 160 172 184 195 214 224 239 250 260 272 280 295 309
(Social Security interest savings transfer)...... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... 100 118 138
(Medicare solvency debt reduction reserve)....... ....... ....... 15 13 ....... ....... ....... 30 52 64 69 91 22 30 32
(On-budget)...................................... 1 19 9 1 * * 2 1 1 * * * * * *
Means of financing other than borrowing from the
public:
Changes in:
Treasury operating cash balance.............. -18 16 ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... .......
Checks outstanding, deposit funds, etc....... -6 1 2 ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... .......
Seigniorage on coins............................. 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Less Social Security equity purchases............ ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... -52 -66 -83
Less: Net financing disbursements:
Direct loan financing accounts............... -19 -29 -18 -18 -17 -16 -16 -16 -16 -15 -15 -15 -16 -16 -16
Guranteed loan financing accounts............ 5 * 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total, means of financing other than -36 -9 -13 -15 -14 -12 -12 -12 -12 -12 -11 -11 -63 -78 -95
borrowing from the public.................
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total, repayment of publicly held debt....... 89 157 171 171 170 183 203 243 280 302 318 352 340 365 384
Change in debt held by the public.................... -89 -157 -171 -171 -170 -183 -203 -243 -280 -302 -318 -352 -340 -365 -384
======================================================================================================================================
Debt Subject to Statutory Limitation, End of Year:
Debt issued by Treasury.............................. 5,578 5,658 5,742 5,828 5,921 6,009 6,096 6,185 6,268 6,347 6,424 6,502 6,595 6,693 6,794
Adjustment for Treasury debt not subject to -15 -15 -15 -15 -15 -15 -15 -15 -15 -15 -15 -15 -15 -15 -15
limitation and agency debt subject to limitation....
Adjustment for discount and premium.................. 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total, debt subject to statutory limitation........ 5,568 5,648 5,732 5,819 5,912 5,999 6,086 6,175 6,258 6,337 6,414 6,492 6,585 6,683 6,785
======================================================================================================================================
Debt Outstanding, End of Year:
Gross Federal debt:
Debt issued by Treasury.......................... 5,578 5,658 5,742 5,828 5,921 6,009 6,096 6,185 6,268 6,347 6,424 6,502 6,595 6,693 6,794
Debt issued by other agencies.................... 29 28 27 27 25 24 23 22 20 20 20 20 20 20 20
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total, gross Federal debt.................... 5,606 5,686 5,769 5,855 5,974 6,034 6,118 6,206 6,288 6,367 6,444 6,522 6,615 6,713 6,815
======================================================================================================================================
Held by:
Debt securities held as assets by Government 1,973 2,210 2,464 2,721 2,984 3,253 3,541 3,872 4,234 4,615 5,010 5,440 5,873 6,335 6,821
accounts........................................
Social Security.................................. 855 1,004 1,164 1,338 1,522 1,717 1,930 2,154 2,392 2,641 2,899 3,170 3,498 3,843 4,206
Federal employee retirement...................... 643 681 717 754 789 824 858 891 922 952 980 1,006 1,034 1,063 1,093
Other............................................ 475 525 582 630 672 712 752 828 920 1,023 1,131 1,263 1,341 1,429 1,523
Debt securities held as assets by the public..... 3,633 3,476 3,305 3,134 2,963 2,781 2,578 2,334 2,054 1,752 1,434 1,082 742 377
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* $500 million or less
Mr. President, there are not any surpluses as far as the eye can see,
as the chairman of the Budget Committee just said, but deficits as far
as the eye can see. The total gross Federal debt starts off in the year
2000 at $5.606 trillion. The next year, it goes to $5.686 trillion, so
it goes up $80 billion. It ends up at $6.815 trillion. So it goes up
$1.2 trillion over this period until 2013--as far as the eye can see.
The debt is up, up, up, and away. There is no, no, no surplus.
Every year since President Clinton has been in office, we have spent
more in Congress than the President's budget, which I have in my hand.
Both sides are now calling for a tax cut. The Democratic side is
talking about $350 billion; the Republican side is talking about $750
billion. I will never forget when the President was going to give his
State of the Union Address, and the distinguished majority leader, the
Senator from Mississippi, said: Good gosh, that is going to cost us a
billion dollars a minute.
Well, the distinguished President talked for an hour and a half, so
that is $90 billion. George W. Bush has a $90 billion a year tax cut,
which is $900 billion over the next 10 years.
We are spending that kind of money right now; 90 and 90--that is $180
billion-plus. If we weren't paying $365 billion in interest costs on
the national debt, I could give you the Republican program and the
Democratic program and have $185 billion to pay down the debt. We may
not have a Senate session tomorrow, Saturday, Sunday, or Monday, but
the first thing at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning, the Treasurer is going
to borrow a billion dollars and add it to the debt--on Sunday,
Christmas Day, each day of the year of 2000. The actual fact is there
is no surplus.
It is time that the media and we in the Congress and Government tell
the American people the truth. There is no surplus. I wish there were
some.
Now you have this particular bill coming along. I have each one of
these particular trust funds. I could go down the entire list of them--
not only the Social Security, but I could go down the Medicare. The
Medicare trust fund is hereby created. Again, the Federal supplementary
medical insurance trust fund--report immediately to Congress whenever
the board is of the opinion that the amount of the trust fund is unduly
small.
We were very careful in the legislation, but not in the actual fact
and the actual treatment.
We have each one of these trust funds--the particular language on
military retirement, civil service retirement, and unemployment
compensation. The employers of America are paying in their particular
amounts to the trust fund--and the employees for unemployment
compensation.
There isn't any question. I can show you exactly the language of the
court and how they treat these trust funds when they get involved--not
in a political discussion but in the legality of it.
I quote from the court:
State unemployment funds deposited in the Federal
unemployment trust fund are a continuing appropriations for a
specific purpose and the Federal Government does not obtain
title to the money by depositing it in trust for the State
Unemployment Reserve Commission which is bound to administer
the money in accordance . . . with the law.
That is exactly the way the Treasurer of the United States is bound
to adhere. But that isn't what we do. We keep talking about a surplus
and the public debt, which I put in the Record as reported by the
minute.
It goes up. It is an astounding figure--$894,000 every minute. That
is how much the debt, that is how much the deficit goes up every
minute, not a surplus--$894,000.
That is the tragedy of this particular charade that goes on. We
brought up a tax bill in the Senate, and everybody knows under the
Constitution that it has to resonate in the House. So it is not going
anywhere. We put that up to debate it. We don't fund it. Then we put
cloture on as if we are delaying something. We are delaying the
nonsense. We ought to pull the bill down. The bill is nothing. It is
not going anywhere, and everybody knows that. But we are supposed to
fool the press upstairs. They report that we are going to have a
cloture vote, and we are working, and everything else like that. The
game plan here is the Presidential race. Don't do anything to upset the
applecart. We have our candidate. We have given him the $70 million. We
have another $70 million, and we are headed for the brass ring, and
just do not have anything happen in Washington in the Congress to upset
our pell-mell for the White House.
[[Page S787]]
It is a tragic thing. We have these trust funds. They talk about
Social Security. These are just in trust for Social Security.
In fact, the ``other'' is on here. The Senator from Alaska is here.
He knows good and well that we pay in there under ``other'' for nuclear
storage and the waste storage fund. The private power companies have
been paying into that over the years. We have $19 billion in there. But
we can't spend it. We are supposed to spend it in trust only for that.
We haven't put it at Yucca Mountain. So we have to hold up. That is
part of this $59 billion ``other.'' We have the Federal Financing Bank
held in trust.
When the day of reckoning comes when we can stop increasing the
debt--everybody is talking about paying down the debt--if we can just
stop increasing it, oh, boy, then we would have set a record in this
particular Congress because the debt has been going up, up, and away
with the consequent interest costs, which is like taxes. When I pay
gasoline taxes, I get a highway. I pay a sales tax, and I can go ahead
and get a school, or whatever it is. When I pay interest costs, or
interest taxes, I get absolutely nothing. The Government and the
economy thereby is in real trouble.
That is the state of the Union.
I thank the distinguished Chair for his indulgence.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Roberts). The time of the distinguished
Senator has expired.
The distinguished Senator from Alaska is recognized.
Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I listened to my colleague from South
Carolina outline the state of the budget. I concur with his pointed
criticism of whether or not we have a sound surplus, or whether it is
somewhat realistic.
He points out the $19 billion that has been paid by the ratepayers
into the nuclear waste fund, as an example. He and I both know that
money has gone into the general fund. It is basically not in escrow. It
is not in a reserve account.
When the administration or the Government ever addresses that
responsibility, we will have to appropriate that money someplace
because it has been spent. As an old banker, I can tell you that
interest is like a horse that eats while you sleep. It goes on Saturday
night, Sunday morning, and Sunday night. As a consequence, we often
find ourselves in the position where the interest exceeds the
principal. When that happens, you are broke.
I am certainly sympathetic to the points raised by my colleague.
(The remarks of Mr. Murkowski pertaining to the introduction of S.
2098 are located in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced
Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The distinguished Senator from Oregon.
____________________