[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 108 (Tuesday, July 19, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H5156]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            THE DEBT CEILING

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Missouri (Mr. Long) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LONG. Mr. Speaker, our debt ceiling is currently $14.3 trillion--
or more than $45,000 for every American man, woman, and child. By the 
end of the year, our debt will be larger than the size of our entire 
economy, a significant amount of that owed to foreign countries. Oddly 
enough, even though we're driving faster and faster towards a cliff, 
instead of slowing down, President Obama is hitting the gas.
  After President Bush's second term, the national debt was $10 
trillion. This was accrued over 43 Presidents. In just 2\1/2\ years, 
President Obama has managed to increase our Federal deficit by over 
$4.3 trillion, 40 percent since he was sworn into office January 20 of 
2009.
  Let me say that again. In 2 years our government has borrowed nearly 
40 percent of the debt that it took 200 years to accumulate. There is 
no word in the English language for this kind of recklessness.
  At the turn of the 20th century, the Federal Government consumed 
about 6 to 8 percent of the gross domestic product. Back then America 
became the greatest industrial power and the wealthiest economy in the 
history of the world when the Federal Government spent just between 6 
and 8 percent of GDP. Today, the Federal Government spends no less than 
25 percent of GDP. And on top of that, the rest of the government, 
State and local, spends even more. Total, around 40 percent of GDP is 
consumed by government at all levels.
  What have we gotten for this unprecedented level of Federal spending? 
Our infrastructure is crumbling, our economy is weak, and jobs are not 
being created. If government spending stimulated anything, then 
business should be booming. It turns out the only stimulus going on is 
the debt.
  And despite all of that, despite common sense, the President is 
asking for even more credit. The President wants us to trust that 
government will live within its means this time. Giving a blank check 
to the government makes as much sense as investing with Bernie Madoff.
  Democratic leaders think they can continue to spend as much money as 
they want whenever they want to. They are upset that Republicans are 
making a big deal about the debt ceiling increase because they want to 
be able to spend taxpayer dollars without ever having a check or 
balance to ask if that spending is necessary.
  Enough is enough. It's time to end this irresponsible spending. 
Families in southwest Missouri cannot spend 42 percent more than they 
take in, and neither should the Federal Government.
  I came to Washington to stop the spending and abuse of government. 
That's why I will fight this debt ceiling increase without a serious 
plan to reduce our debt. And the people of southwest Missouri agree 
with me.
  I have had hundreds of phone calls and emails and messages in my 
office about the debt ceiling. It is something that the people of the 
Seventh District feel very strongly about, and I want to share a few of 
their thoughts with you:
  Fifty-one percent of the calls and letters to my office say don't 
raise the debt ceiling under any circumstances; 26 percent say raise it 
with substantial cuts; 10 percent are okay to raise it whatever; and 10 
percent say you can raise it but do not increase taxes. The people have 
spoken.
  There's an old saying that if you owe the bank a thousand dollars, 
that's your problem; but if you owe the bank a million dollars, that's 
the bank's problem. We're at a point where the financial community, our 
bank, is starting to fear that our problem is becoming their problem. 
Two major rating agencies, Moody's and Standard & Poor's, have publicly 
announced that they are going to reassess America's AAA credit rating.
  The people have spoken. The business community has spoken. When will 
the President and the Democrats listen?
  Every dollar we spend on political preferences is one more dollar 
American families cannot spend on their children, one more dollar that 
small business cannot spend hiring an employee, one more dollar that a 
worker can't save for his retirement. This time it's serious.
  Cut, Cap, and Balance is the first step but by no means the last. We 
have to make immediate cuts to show the financial community that we're 
serious about being good on our promise to repay our debts. And the 
President needs to get serious. He refused to put his plan in writing 
but vows to veto our Cut, Cap, and Balance. A speech or a framework is 
not a plan.
  Well, the first thing to do when you dig yourself into a hole is to 
stop digging. We need commonsense reforms that will make sure this will 
not happen again. We need spending caps, a balanced budget amendment, 
spending cuts which will balance our budget. But most of all, we need 
something that's not very common: common sense.
  I would like to close with one of the hundreds of letters from one of 
my constituents:
  ``Dear Congressman Long, do not budge. We put you in office to stop 
these big spenders. Go ahead and call his bluff. I am in tornado-
ravaged Joplin and rebuilding my house. I'm glad you are covering my 
wallet in Washington.''

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