[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 71 (Tuesday, April 29, 2025)]
[House]
[Page H1714]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             UNITED STATES HAS $36 TRILLION IN FEDERAL DEBT

  (Mr. HARRIS of Maryland asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HARRIS of Maryland. Mr. Speaker, the United States has $36 
trillion in Federal debt. Our debt-to-GDP ratio is greater than Greece 
and Italy when they had their debt crisis, and we are incurring a 
deficit of $2 trillion a year.
  The most rapidly growing part of the Federal budget is Medicaid. You 
will have people come to the floor and they will talk about Medicaid 
cuts, but Mr. Speaker, only in Washington is a slight decrease in the 
increase in a program called a cut or slashing because that is not the 
way anybody's budget works at home, but that is the way it works in 
Washington.
  The Medicaid budget has increased 40 percent over the last 5 years 
and is out of control. We have to control the growth in it to preserve 
it for the future. A little known fact is that in many States, 
providers are paid more to take care of a Medicaid patient than a 
Medicare patient. That ought to scare every senior in this country when 
Medicare is going to be crowded out by an out-of-control Medicaid 
budget.

                          ____________________