[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 26 (Monday, February 25, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H607]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      SEQUESTRATION BY THE NUMBERS

  (Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, we're hearing a lot about 
sequestration on the news, the American people are, and I just want to 
run down sequestration by the numbers.
  You know, it's been 290 days since I and my Republican colleagues 
voted for the first of two bills to replace the President's 
sequestration with smarter, more responsible spending cuts that total 
$1 trillion over 10 years. Now, why is that needed?
  Well, Mr. Speaker, the official debt today is $15.5 trillion. That's 
$50,000 for every man, woman and child in this country. And that's not 
the real debt. The real debt, when you look at what's due with every 
living individual today with Medicare and Social Security, that's 
somewhere between 71 and $72 trillion.
  Economists just a week or so ago estimated that by the year 2020, 
interest alone, interest alone on an annual basis will be $1 trillion. 
Sequestration, we're looking at $85 billion out of a $3 trillion 
budget.
  I'm going to call on the Senate Democrats and President Obama for 
smarter, more bipartisan ways to replace the Obama sequester and to 
address making sure we don't leave a legacy of debt for our children, 
grandchildren, and all future generations.

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