[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 154 (Wednesday, October 21, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H7034-H7035]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         OUR NATION'S DEBT TAX

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Olson) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. OLSON. Mr. Speaker, in a mere 14 days, America will hit the limit 
for our national debt; but rather than working with Congress to address 
the causes of our debt, President Obama is demanding we dump more debt 
on our kids and grandkids.
  President Obama is very different from Senator Obama. Here is a photo 
of Senator Obama speaking on the Senate floor, and here is what he said 
on our national debt on the Senate floor on March 16, 2006:
  ``The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt 
limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. 
Government can't pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on 
ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our 
government's reckless fiscal policies.
  ``Over the past 5 years, our Federal debt has increased by $3.5 
trillion to $8.6 trillion. That is `trillion' with a `T.' That is money 
that we have borrowed from the Social Security trust fund, borrowed 
from China and Japan, borrowed from American taxpayers.
  ``Numbers that large are sometimes hard to understand. Some people 
may wonder why they matter. Here is why: This year the Federal 
Government will spend $220 billion on interest.''
  The $8.6 trillion that horrified Senator Obama in 2006 has exploded 
to $18.1 trillion on President Obama's watch. ``That is `trillion' with 
a `T,' '' to quote Senator Obama.
  Senator Obama later explained:
  ``Every dollar we pay in interest is a dollar that is not going to 
investment

[[Page H7035]]

in America's priorities. Instead, interest payments are a significant 
tax on all Americans, a debt tax that Washington doesn't want to talk 
about.''
  Senator Obama abhorred a debt tax that Washington didn't want to talk 
about, and now he refuses to talk about his new debt tax.
  Senator Obama closed by saying:
  ``Increasing America's debt weakens us domestically and 
internationally. Leadership means that `the buck stops here.' Instead, 
Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs 
of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a 
failure of leadership. Americans deserve better. I, therefore, intend 
to oppose the effort to increase America's debt limit.''
  If Senator Obama thought that a national debt of $8.6 trillion with a 
T is a ``failure of leadership,'' what has changed? Why is President 
Obama okay with a new debt tax of over $20 trillion, trillion with a T?
  Clearly, President Obama has forgotten Senator Obama's words, but the 
American people remember. On their behalf and on behalf of all young 
Americans who will be crushed by this new debt, I ask President Obama 
to decrease our debt by working with Congress to stop his new debt tax.

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