[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 5 (Tuesday, January 9, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H23-H24]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                THE NATIONAL DEBT AND OUR SHARED FUTURE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Costa) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about the national debt 
and our shared future. Our country has been on an unsustainable fiscal 
path, regardless of which party has been in power, and we all know 
this. As a result, our national debt is the largest it has ever been.
  As of this week, the national debt is in excess of $20 trillion. This 
works out to be an average of $62,670 debt for every man, woman, and 
child in the United States. It is outrageous. It is a completely 
unacceptable amount of debt, and we have it because of irresponsible 
governing and a lack of political courage here in our Nation's Capital.
  Sadly, this Congress has chosen to continue this irresponsible and 
unsustainable fiscal course. The tax cut legislation that Republicans 
rammed through the Congress last month will add $1.45 billion to our 
deficit over 10 years, estimated, and over $2.2 trillion to our 
national debt. We are going in the wrong direction.
  But there is something I think that I have learned about this tax 
legislation last month, and that is that it seems that deficits matter 
under Democratic administrations, but under Republican administrations, 
deficits don't matter at all.
  So when it comes to lifting our debt ceiling later this year, I would 
expect or hope to see every Republican who voted for the tax bill that 
adds $2.2 trillion to our deficit--our debt to vote to increase the 
debt ceiling, seeing as deficits no longer matter.
  Let's think about this $2.2 trillion tax bill that will add to our 
debt. That is $2.2 trillion in additional moneys that our children will 
have to pay for unless we do something. We can be fiscally responsible, 
and we must be fiscally responsible. But to act to change this course, 
we must stop digging this hole bigger.
  I had a farmer friend who once told me: Jim, I've got a theory about 
holes, and that is, once you find yourself in one, just stop digging. 
Sometimes you think if you dig harder and faster, you're going to get 
out of it. Just stop.
  Mr. Speaker, this will be difficult, especially considering the 
opportunity we missed to put the Nation back on a fiscally responsible 
path with the tax reform effort last year. Yet there are important 
steps that we can take--and Congress should--to balance our budget and 
to keep it from getting worse, like the amendment proposed by 
Representative Stephanie Murphy from Florida, a balanced budget 
amendment.

  We should also move to implement targeted reforms on government 
spending, both mandatory and discretionary spending, in ways that 
contribute to economic growth and invest in our future. It is tough 
work. It requires political courage and the willingness to reach across 
the aisle, for Democrats and Republicans to join hands and jump, in 
essence, on these tough decisions.
  The last time we had such an opportunity to address the challenge was 
in March of 2012, when Congressman Jim Cooper from Tennessee presented 
a budget resolution similar to the recommendations under Simpson-
Bowles. That plan would have reduced the deficit over $4 trillion over 
a 10-year period.
  Sadly, the political courage was in short supply then on that day, as 
it is now. There were 38 of us who were willing to support the plan. I 
was attacked by political groups on the left and on the right for 
taking such a vote, but that vote was the right thing to do and I was 
proud to take it.
  Congress has a chance to do the right thing now. Congress has to come 
together. We need Democrats and Republicans to put our Nation's fiscal 
house back in order for the sake of all Americans.
  The Blue Dog Coalition, of which I am a co-chair, has a long history 
of standing for fiscal responsibility, even when it was hard. Bridging 
the divide between Republicans and Democrats, both in Congress and this 
administration, is what we must do.
  So as we are debating today how to put together the votes for the 
concurrent resolution to fund our Nation's budget for the rest of this 
year, let's think about this. Let's work together. What a novel 
concept.
  As I stand here today, as a Blue Dog, as a proud Representative of 
California's 16th Congressional District, and as a concerned American, 
ready to reach across the aisle to create the bipartisan, long-term 
policy solutions that will help us tackle our national debt and our 
deficit, and that will help put us back on a fiscally sustainable path, 
I invite my colleagues and my fellow Americans to join me.
  This is what good governance is really all about. This is where 
responsible leadership is necessary. It is what

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Americans want and need, and it is what we should be doing.

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