[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 129 (Tuesday, July 30, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5164-S5165]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Debt Ceiling

  Mr. TESTER. Madam President, as I travel across Montana, I hear from 
folks who work tirelessly every day to make ends meet.
  Many work long hours for too low wages, and they face ever-rising 
costs in housing and healthcare and other basic necessities, but folks 
in Montana are resilient, they are resourceful, they know how to live 
within their means, and they know how important it is to make the 
numbers add up at the end of the month.
  I rise because, as usual, Washington, DC, could learn a lot from 
Montana. This week, we will vote on a bill that swipes Washington's 
credit card to the tune of about $250 billion over the next 2 years--
dollars that will come out of the pockets of our kids and our 
grandkids. Now, this $250 billion comes on top of the $1 trillion the 
United States will add to the national deficit this year because our 
budget is that far out of whack. The previous year to this year was 
$800 billion that we added to the national debt.
  So to put that in perspective, that is about $2.2 trillion in just 2 
years. If you are sitting at home wondering, $2.2 trillion; how much is 
that, it is far more than $250 billion.
  With $250 billion, half the students going to college for 4 years 
would not have to pay anything to go to school in the United States. We 
are adding $2.2 trillion, and it is going to continue on until we get 
our budget in line.
  Unfortunately, this sort of reckless spending by both parties has 
shown a disregard for its impact on the national debt, and it is now 
the norm in Washington, DC.
  Folks on both sides of the aisle are calling for this agreement, and 
they are calling it a compromise, but in reality, the only thing it 
will compromise is our children and our grandchildren's future.
  Montanans expect me to hold Washington, DC, accountable and fight 
back against irresponsible spending and poor tax policy. This falls on 
the irresponsible spending side.
  The bipartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget projects 
that this administration's policies will add $4 trillion to the debt 
over the next 10 years. I am here to tell you that is too conservative 
a figure.
  At this point in time, we are going to be adding about $1.2 trillion 
to the debt every year if things don't change. Our debt is 
skyrocketing, and guess what. We are not fixing the healthcare problems 
that need to be fixed; we are not fixing the high cost of education; we 
are not investing in our infrastructure, but our debt continues to 
skyrocket because of irresponsible spending and, quite frankly, a 
Republican tax giveaway for the wealthy at the expense of our kids and 
our grandkids.
  I have listened to colleagues on both sides of the aisle during my 
tenure here

[[Page S5165]]

who warned of debt and how our national debt could damage our economy 
and our national security.
  Two years ago, my Republican colleagues passed a partisan tax 
giveaway, drafted behind closed doors, with no--with no--public input 
from Montanans or anyone else in this country. They promised that this 
tax giveaway would pay for itself, but it did not. Let me say that one 
more time. They promised the tax giveaway would pay for itself, but 
guess what. Just like the previous ones, it didn't.
  Instead, it tacked about $2 trillion onto our national debt, and it 
is another example of why we can't get our books in order--because we 
have a shortsighted fiscal approach that makes us the first generation 
to inherit from our parents and borrow from our kids.
  My colleagues made campaign promises to tackle this debt. As a 
Congressman--as a Congressman--Mick Mulvaney, who happens to be the 
President's Chief of Staff, pledged to eliminate it, but this White 
House has done just the opposite.
  As we stand here today, the debt has exploded to more than $22 
trillion, and it continues to climb higher every day, despite the 
country being in the middle of the longest period of economic expansion 
in our history.
  Now, I am going to tell you it is one thing to run a deficit when you 
are in a recession--it is necessary to bring the economy back--but when 
you are in the longest period of economic expansion in this country's 
history, we should be paying down that debt, and we are not. We are 
adding to it as if we were in a recession.
  Running trillion-dollar deficits during times of growth like this 
one, and everybody in this body knows it, puts the economy on a sugar 
high. It feels good now, but we all know it is not sustainable, and a 
crash is inevitable.
  The same folks who voted to pile $2 trillion onto the deficit now 
argue--some of them--that we cannot find the money to provide our 
veterans with the healthcare they have earned. They say we need deep 
cuts--deep cuts--into Medicaid and Social Security and other programs 
that many folks have paid into for their entire life, but yet we are 
going to cut them.
  I have known, and we all know, that budgets and spending are about 
priorities, and it is clear that Congress's priorities are out of 
whack.
  You wouldn't know it from watching C-SPAN, but it is possible to be 
fiscally conservative without cutting working folks off at the knees. I 
know this because, as president of the Montana Senate, I negotiated and 
passed a balanced budget because the State constitution requires it. 
Since coming to the U.S. Senate, I have led a push to add a 
constitutional amendment requiring that Congress pass a balanced 
budget.
  Now, look, we all know it can't be done overnight, but in a measured 
approach, with bipartisan cooperation, we can at least get headed in 
the right direction. There is no reason why we cannot make smart 
investments in working families, our kids' education, 21st century 
infrastructure, and the other needs across this country without 
bankrupting future generations. Folks in the Treasure State know that, 
and Washington, DC, needs to know that too. It is time for Congress to 
follow Montana's lead.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for 
as much time as I may require.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.