[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 170 (Tuesday, November 17, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S11424]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             National Debt

  Mr. LeMIEUX. Mr. President, the clock has struck 12 on a $12 trillion 
debt. Like Cinderella when she was revealed when the clock struck 12, 
this Congress is now revealed--revealed for the problem it has in 
spending more than we can afford. We are being a body and an 
institution that spends money without thinking about the future of this 
great country. It spends the money of our children and our 
grandchildren.
  It took this country 193 years to spend a trillion dollars and to get 
a trillion dollars into debt. We are now $12 trillion into debt as of 
today. That $12 trillion is the equivalent of $40,000 per person, 
$107,000 per household. This is what American families are now 
responsible for, because unlike American families who sit around their 
kitchen tables and try to make ends meet, and unlike the States that 
have to balance their budgets, this Congress spends more than it has. 
There is no evaluation in this Congress about how much money is being 
taken in versus how much money we spend.
  Instead, we raised this year $1.4 trillion in debt, more debt in a 
single year than the past 4 years combined.
  Outside this Chamber, outside the main entrance, is a clock, called 
the Ohio Clock--the fabled clock that has been in this institution for 
more than a hundred years. It stands there to tell the time. I suggest 
that standing next to that clock should be the debt clock to remind the 
Members of this Senate, and perhaps our friends in the House, that we 
are spending money we cannot afford to spend, and it is risking the 
future of our children and grandchildren.
  As you know, I have three small boys, Max, Taylor, and Chase, 6, 4, 
and 2, and a baby on the way. We worry for their future--just like 
Americans across this country and my fellow Floridians are worrying for 
the future of their children. How can we afford this and continue to 
spend more than we have?
  I have been coming to the floor weekly to talk about the various 
appropriation bills I have been voting on--and, frankly, voting 
against--because they spend more and more of the people's money and put 
this country further into debt.
  Today, we have marked this occasion with $12 trillion in debt--an 
amount of money that is hard to fathom, an amount of money that is so 
large it is hard to comprehend. But we know that every family in 
America is now responsible--every household--for $107,000. That debt 
now rides upon their shoulders.
  In a week--perhaps even this week--Democrats in the Chamber are going 
to introduce a health care reform bill that is estimated to spend 
another $1 trillion. This bill will raise taxes, cut Medicare, and 
increase premiums--another large governmental program, when we cannot 
afford the programs we have. We should focus on spending the money we 
have, spending it more efficiently and effectively, before we go on to 
create a new program, a new bureaucracy, and more obligations than we 
can afford.
  The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the health care plan 
being brought forth by the Democrats in this Chamber will spend 24.5 
percent of GDP, 19 percent in revenue only. So we have 19 percent in 
revenue, but 24.5 percent of GDP, which is a huge unsustainable gap. It 
was recently reported that the deficit for October alone is $176 
billion--$26 billion more than estimates by economists. In fact, the 
debt increased by $40 billion just over this past weekend.
  Our spending is out of control. The Federal Government does not 
recognize it. This Congress cannot afford the programs it has, let 
alone the programs it wants. So I am here to sound the alarm. I could 
not let this day pass as we hit this $12 trillion mark in national 
debt.
  I look forward to coming back to the floor to explain again and again 
to the American people that this is a problem that must be solved. We 
cannot continue to spend our children's and grandchildren's future.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Tester). The Senator from Delaware is 
recognized.
  Mr. KAUFMAN. Mr. President, I ask to speak as in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.