[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 1499-1502]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                              PUBLIC DEBT

  Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, the reason I asked for the extra time 
is, in addressing the Senate with respect to the Education Savings Act, 
I was going to make the point that we weren't saving and we had no 
money for this particular act. The act will cost the government $2 
billion. But the distinguished Senator from New Mexico, the chairman of 
our Budget Committee, says the Senator from South Carolina sees the 
surplus differently than he sees a surplus. Let me go right to the 
minute here on 2/23, the public debt to the penny.
  You can go to the Internet and, under the law, find that the 
Department of Treasury lists to the penny and by the minute the exact 
amount of the public debt. It isn't what the Senator from New Mexico 
calls a debt or surplus. It isn't what the Senator from South Carolina 
calls a debt or surplus. It is what we call a debt under the Public 
Law. The public debt to the minute right now--I just took it off the 
Internet two minutes ago--is $5,744,135,736,409.24
  I ask unanimous consent to print this in the Record at this point.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                      THE PUBLIC DEBT TO THE PENNY
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                         Amount
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Current Month:
  02/23/2000..................................     $5,744,135,736,409.24
  02/22/2000..................................      5,742,317,374,668.82
  02/18/2000..................................      5,739,814,030,329.64
  02/17/2000..................................      5,708,609,026,361.46
  02/16/2000..................................      5,704,636,239,474.18
  02/15/2000..................................      5,705,355,135,074.08
  02/14/2000..................................      5,693,874,593,019.53
  02/11/2000..................................      5,692,488,848,706.09
  02/10/2000..................................      5,692,476,887,663.77
  02/09/2000..................................      5,690,617,208,881.34
  02/08/2000..................................      5,694,611,209,189.87
  02/07/2000..................................      5,693,618,340,748.18
  02/04/2000..................................      5,691,096,297,325.05
  02/03/2000..................................      5,690,372,687,653.89
  02/02/2000..................................      5,702,134,559,981.88
  02/01/2000..................................      5,702,651,446,667.03
Prior Months:
  01/31/2000..................................      5,711,285,168,951.46
  12/31/1999..................................      5,776,091,314,225.33
  11/30/1999..................................      5,693,600,157,029.08
  10/29/1999..................................      5,679,726,662,904.06
Prior Fiscal Years:
  09/30/1999..................................      5,656,270,901,615.43
  09/30/1998..................................      5,526,193,008,897.62
  09/30/1997..................................      5,413,146,011,397.34
  09/30/1996..................................      5,224,810,939,135.73
  09/29/1995..................................      4,973,982,900,709.39
  09/30/1994..................................      4,692,749,910,013.32
  09/30/1993..................................      4,411,488,883,139.38
  09/30/1992..................................      4,064,620,655,521.66
  09/30/1991..................................      3,665,303,351,697.03
  09/28/1990..................................      3,233,313,451,777.25
  09/29/1989..................................      2,857,430,960,187.32
  09/30/1988..................................      2,602,337,712,041.16
  09/30/1987..................................      2,350,276,890,953.00
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Bureau of the Public Debt.

  Mr. President, The Department of Treasury said we began the 1999 
fiscal year with a debt of $5,478,704,000,000, and we ended it, not 
with a surplus, but with a deficit of $5,606,486,000,000.
  Now, it is not any monkeyshine on this Senator's part. It is the 
monkeyshine on the part of the majority of this body, all running 
around calling surplus, surplus, surplus, when there isn't any surplus.
  Let's go directly to yesterday's release by the Department of 
Treasury. We find, on table 6, page 20 that they began the year with a 
debt, as I have just reported, of $5,606,486,000,000. Now, at the close 
of the month, as of January, it was $5,660,780,000,000. The Treasury 
Department, beginning October 1 of last year, fiscal year 2000, has 
already borrowed $54 billion. Please, let's tell the Secretary of the 
Treasury that if we have surpluses, quit borrowing money. What is he 
borrowing money for? It is time this charade stops.
  I will ask unanimous consent to print in the Record Hollings' budget 
realities.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                                               HOLLINGS' BUDGET REALITIES
                                                                      [In billions]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                                                              Annual
                                                            U.S. budget   Borrowed trust      Unified     Actual deficit                   increases in
                   President and years                       (outlays)         funds       deficit with    without trust   National debt   spending for
                                                                                            trust funds        funds                         interest
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Truman:
    1946................................................            55.2            -5.0           -15.9           -10.9           271.0  ..............
    1947................................................            34.5            -9.9             4.0           +13.9           257.1  ..............
    1948................................................            29.8             6.7            11.8            +5.1           252.0  ..............
    1949................................................            38.8             1.2             0.6            -0.6           252.6  ..............
    1950................................................            42.6             1.2            -3.1            -4.3           256.9  ..............
    1951................................................            45.5             4.5             6.1            +1.6           255.3  ..............
    1952................................................            67.7             2.3            -1.5            -3.8           259.1  ..............
    1953................................................            76.1             0.4            -6.5            -6.9           266.0  ..............
    1954................................................            70.9             3.6            -1.2            -4.8           270.8  ..............
Eisenhower:
    1955................................................            68.4             0.6            -3.0            -3.6           274.4  ..............
    1956................................................            70.6             2.2             3.9            +1.7           272.7  ..............
    1957................................................            76.6             3.0             3.4            +0.4           272.3  ..............
    1958................................................            82.4             4.6            -2.8            -7.4           279.7  ..............
    1959................................................            92.1            -5.0           -12.8            -7.8           287.5  ..............
    1960................................................            92.2             3.3             0.3            -3.0           290.5  ..............
    1961................................................            97.7            -1.2            -3.3            -2.1           292.6  ..............
    1962................................................           106.8             3.2            -7.1           -10.3           302.9             9.1
Kennedy:
    1963................................................           111.3             2.6            -4.8            -7.4           310.3             9.9
    1964................................................           118.5            -0.1            -5.9            -5.8           316.1            10.7
Johnson:
    1965................................................           118.2             4.8            -1.4            -6.2           322.3            11.3
    1966................................................           134.5             2.5            -3.7            -6.2           328.5            12.0
    1967................................................           157.5             3.3            -8.6           -11.9           340.4            13.4
    1968................................................           178.1             3.1           -25.2           -28.3           368.7            14.6
    1969................................................           183.6             0.3             3.2            +2.9           365.8            16.6
    1970................................................           195.6            12.3            -2.8           -15.1           380.9            19.3
Nixon:
    1971................................................           210.2             4.3           -23.0           -27.3           408.2            21.0
    1972................................................           230.7             4.3           -23.4           -27.7           435.9            21.8
    1973................................................           245.7            15.5           -14.9           -30.4           466.3            24.2
    1974................................................           269.4            11.5            -6.1           -17.6           483.9            29.3
    1975................................................           332.3             4.8           -53.2           -58.0           541.9            32.7
Ford:
    1976................................................           371.8            13.4           -73.7           -87.1           629.0            37.1
    1977................................................           409.2            23.7           -53.7           -77.4           706.4            41.9
Carter:
    1978................................................           458.7            11.0           -59.2           -70.2           776.6            48.7
    1979................................................           504.0            12.2           -40.7           -52.9           829.5            59.9
    1980................................................           590.9             5.8           -73.8           -79.6           909.1            74.8
    1981................................................           678.2             6.7           -79.0           -85.7           994.8            95.5
Reagan:
    1982................................................           745.8            14.5          -128.0          -142.5         1,137.3           117.2
    1983................................................           808.4            26.6          -207.8          -234.4         1,371.7           128.7

[[Page 1500]]

 
    1984................................................           851.9             7.6          -185.4          -193.0         1,564.7           153.9
    1985................................................           946.4            40.5          -212.3          -252.8         1,817.5           178.9
    1986................................................           990.5            81.9          -221.2          -303.1         2,120.6           190.3
    1987................................................         1,004.1            75.7          -149.8          -225.5         2,346.1           195.3
    1988................................................         1,064.5           100.0          -155.2          -255.2         2,601.3           214.1
    1989................................................         1,143.7           114.2          -152.5          -266.7         2,868.3           240.9
Bush:
    1990................................................         1,253.2           117.4          -221.2          -338.6         3,206.6           264.7
    1991................................................         1,324.4           122.5          -269.4          -391.9         3,598.5           285.5
    1992................................................         1,381.7           113.2          -290.4          -403.6         4,002.1           292.3
    1993................................................         1,409.5            94.2          -255.1          -349.3         4,351.4           292.5
Clinton:
    1994................................................         1,461.9            89.0          -203.3          -292.3         4,643.7           296.3
    1995................................................         1,515.8           113.3          -164.0          -277.3         4,921.0           332.4
    1996................................................         1,560.6           153.4          -107.5          -260.9         5,181.9           344.0
    1997................................................         1,601.3           165.8           -22.0          -187.8         5,369.7           355.8
    1998................................................         1,652.6           178.2            69.2          -109.0         5,478.7           363.8
    1999................................................         1,703.0           251.8           124.4          -127.4         5,606.1           353.5
    2000................................................         1,769.0           234.9           176.0           -58.9         5,665.0           362.0
    2001................................................         1,839.0           262.0           177.0           -85.0         5,750.0           371.0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Historical Tables, Budget of the US Government FY 1998; Beginning in 1962 CBO's 2001 Economic and Budget Outlook.

  Mr. President, the distinguished Senator, chairman of the Budget 
Committee, says we ended 1998 with a surplus of almost $70 billion (it 
was $69.2). But in order to state that figure, he had to borrow $178.2 
billion from the trust funds: Social Security, highway, airport, 
military retirees, civil service retirees, etc.--even Medicare. And 
then he says that we ended last year with a surplus of $124.4 billion, 
but he had to borrow $251.8 billion from the trust funds. So the actual 
deficit for the fiscal year 1998 was $109 billion, and 127.4 billion 
for 1999. Here are the numbers so everyone can see. Yes, we reduced the 
deficit each year in that 4- to 5-year period--until last year. The 
debt went from $109 billion to $127.4 billion. So that was an increase.
  Mr. President, let me state very clearly what has been going on. They 
used to talk of a unified budget and a unified deficit. Now, they talk 
about off-budget and on-budget, and public debt. This misleads the 
public because it is the U.S. Department of Treasury--not the CBO, 
Senator Hollings or Senator Domenici--that keeps the official records. 
They have actual accountants. You know, economists can lie, but 
accountants can't. They have to keep the actual record and give you the 
truth.
  Let me get the borrowed trust funds chart and show you exactly what 
is going on. They thought they could borrow enough from the other trust 
funds to say they are not going into Social Security but, of course, 
they are. At the end of the fiscal year, we already owe $855 billion to 
Social Security, $181 to Medicare, $141 to military retirees, and $492 
billion to civilian retirement. You can go right on down. We owe $1.869 
trillion to the trust funds.
  Now, you can talk about the wonderful record, but this is what the 
Senator from South Carolina is looking at because that is the actual 
debt. Just in 2000, we will owe $1 trillion to Social Security, but by 
2013, that figure jumps to nearly $4 trillion. Think of the 
inflationary pressure when the Baby Boomers start to retire and we have 
to redeem these bonds.
  Now, what I have done is I have gone to each one of the trust funds. 
I won't take the time to go through all of them. ``But there is hereby 
created on the books of the Treasury of the United States a trust fund 
to be known as the Federal Old-Age and Survivors . . .''--and so forth 
and so on. Mr. President, on page 2 of the act, section (b), ``there is 
hereby created on the books of the Treasury of the United States a 
trust fund to be known as the Federal Disability Insurance Trust 
Fund.''
  Mr. President, what we did in 1983 was gradually raise the Social 
Security payroll tax to 6.25 for employees and 6.25 for employers, for 
12\1/2\ percent. In 1983, if you had said we are going to vote for 
increased taxes for food stamps or for Kosovo or for courthouses or for 
dredging or for ships that the Department of Defense said they don't 
need, and those kinds of things, you could not have gotten a vote on 
the floor of the Senate. We passed the increase assuming the money 
would be put in trust. But they have been spending it.
  We have a way so they won't spend it--what we call the lockbox--and 
they won't let us vote on it. Anytime, anywhere they want to vote on a 
real lockbox, call this Senator up. I have had it drawn up by the 
Administrator of Social Security, Ken Apfel. I worked with him when he 
was on the Budget Committee, together with the Senator from New Mexico, 
the present chairman of the Budget Committee.
  I tried for some time to take Social Security off budget and it was 
blocked in the Budget Committee. But I finally got it passed, with one 
dissenting vote from the Senator from Texas. That is the best way I 
could do it.
  Section 13301. I ask unanimous consent to have this one-page summary 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:
                      Subtitle C--Social Security

     SEC. 13301. OFF-BUDGET STATUS OF OASDI TRUST FUNDS.

       (a) Exclusion of Social Security from all Budgets.--
     Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the receipts and 
     disbursements of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance 
     Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund 
     shall not be counted as new budget authority, outlays, 
     receipts, or deficit or surplus for purposes of--
       (1) the budget of the United States Government as submitted 
     by the President,
       (2) the congressional budget, or
       (3) the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act 
     of 1985.
       (b) Exclusion of Social Security From Congressional 
     Budget.--Section 301(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 
     1974 is amended by adding at the end the following: ``The 
     concurrent resolution shall not include the outlays and 
     revenue totals of the old age, survivors, and disability 
     insurance program established under title II of the Social 
     Security Act or the related provisions of the Internal 
     Revenue Code of 1986 in the surplus or deficit totals 
     required by this subsection or in any . . .

  So it is against the real trust and against the law itself. But we 
continue to violate that law. Everybody knows the practice in the 
Government under the 1994 Pension Reform Act is that you can't use 
pension money to pay off the company debt. We all know Denny McLain, 
the famous pitcher formerly with the Detroit Tigers. He did that and 
was charged with a felony. If you can find him, tell him to, instead of 
paying off the company debt, run for the Senate. Instead of a jail 
term, you will get the good government award.
  You can say the public debt is down, but it is like paying off the 
MasterCard with the Visa card. You still owe the same amount of money. 
That is what we have been doing. We play a shabby game up here talking 
about surpluses. Yesterday, the Secretary of Commerce came to my office 
wanting to talk about surplus. I said: Mr. Secretary, we don't have any 
surplus. I said: Look at the President's budget itself.
  Here it is right here on page 420. You can see it. I ask unanimous 
consent

[[Page 1501]]

that this one page be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                                                       TABLE S-14.--FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FINANCING AND DEBT
                                                                                    [In billions of dollars]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                                              Estimate
                                                             1999  -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                            actual    2000     2001     2002     2003     2004     2005     2006     2007     2008     2009     2010     2011     2012     2013
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Financing:
    Surplus or deficit (-)...............................      124      167      184      186      185      195      215      256      292      314      329      363      403      443      479
        (Social Security solvency lock-box: Off-budget)..      124      148      160      172      184      195      214      224      239      250      260      272      280      295      309
        (Social Security interest savings transfer)......  .......  .......  .......  .......  .......  .......  .......  .......  .......  .......  .......  .......      100      118      138
        (Medicare solvency debt reduction reserve).......  .......  .......       15       13  .......  .......  .......       30       52       64       69       91       22       30       32
        (On-budget)......................................        1       19        9        1        *        *        2        1        1        *        *        *        *        *        *
    Means of financing other than borrowing from the
     public:
        Changes in:
            Treasury operating cash balance..............      -18       16  .......  .......  .......  .......  .......  .......  .......  .......  .......  .......  .......  .......  .......
            Checks outstanding, deposit funds, etc.......       -6        1        2  .......  .......  .......  .......  .......  .......  .......  .......  .......  .......  .......  .......
        Seigniorage on coins.............................        1        1        2        2        2        2        2        2        2        2        2        2        2        2        2
        Less Social Security equity purchases............  .......  .......  .......  .......  .......  .......  .......  .......  .......  .......  .......  .......      -52      -66      -83
        Less: Net financing disbursements:
            Direct loan financing accounts...............      -19      -29      -18      -18      -17      -16      -16      -16      -16      -15      -15      -15      -16      -16      -16
            Guranteed loan financing accounts............        5        *        1        1        1        2        2        2        2        2        2        2        3        3        3
                                                          --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Total, means of financing other than           -36       -9      -13      -15      -14      -12      -12      -12      -12      -12      -11      -11      -63      -78      -95
               borrowing from the public.................
                                                          --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Total, repayment of publicly held debt.......       89      157      171      171      170      183      203      243      280      302      318      352      340      365      384
    Change in debt held by the public....................      -89     -157     -171     -171     -170     -183     -203     -243     -280     -302     -318     -352     -340     -365     -384
                                                          ======================================================================================================================================
Debt Subject to Statutory Limitation, End of Year:
    Debt issued by Treasury..............................    5,578    5,658    5,742    5,828    5,921    6,009    6,096    6,185    6,268    6,347    6,424    6,502    6,595    6,693    6,794
    Adjustment for Treasury debt not subject to                -15      -15      -15      -15      -15      -15      -15      -15      -15      -15      -15      -15      -15      -15      -15
     limitation and agency debt subject to limitation....
    Adjustment for discount and premium..................        6        6        6        6        6        6        6        6        6        6        6        6        6        6        6
                                                          --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Total, debt subject to statutory limitation........    5,568    5,648    5,732    5,819    5,912    5,999    6,086    6,175    6,258    6,337    6,414    6,492    6,585    6,683    6,785
                                                          ======================================================================================================================================
Debt Outstanding, End of Year:
    Gross Federal debt:
        Debt issued by Treasury..........................    5,578    5,658    5,742    5,828    5,921    6,009    6,096    6,185    6,268    6,347    6,424    6,502    6,595    6,693    6,794
        Debt issued by other agencies....................       29       28       27       27       25       24       23       22       20       20       20       20       20       20       20
                                                          --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Total, gross Federal debt....................    5,606    5,686    5,769    5,855    5,974    6,034    6,118    6,206    6,288    6,367    6,444    6,522    6,615    6,713    6,815
                                                          ======================================================================================================================================
    Held by:
        Debt securities held as assets by Government         1,973    2,210    2,464    2,721    2,984    3,253    3,541    3,872    4,234    4,615    5,010    5,440    5,873    6,335    6,821
         accounts........................................
        Social Security..................................      855    1,004    1,164    1,338    1,522    1,717    1,930    2,154    2,392    2,641    2,899    3,170    3,498    3,843    4,206
        Federal employee retirement......................      643      681      717      754      789      824      858      891      922      952      980    1,006    1,034    1,063    1,093
        Other............................................      475      525      582      630      672      712      752      828      920    1,023    1,131    1,263    1,341    1,429    1,523
        Debt securities held as assets by the public.....    3,633    3,476    3,305    3,134    2,963    2,781    2,578    2,334    2,054    1,752    1,434    1,082      742      377
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* $500 million or less

  Mr. President, there are not any surpluses as far as the eye can see, 
as the chairman of the Budget Committee just said, but deficits as far 
as the eye can see. The total gross Federal debt starts off in the year 
2000 at $5.606 trillion. The next year, it goes to $5.686 trillion, so 
it goes up $80 billion. It ends up at $6.815 trillion. So it goes up 
$1.2 trillion over this period until 2013--as far as the eye can see. 
The debt is up, up, up, and away. There is no, no, no surplus.
  Every year since President Clinton has been in office, we have spent 
more in Congress than the President's budget, which I have in my hand. 
Both sides are now calling for a tax cut. The Democratic side is 
talking about $350 billion; the Republican side is talking about $750 
billion. I will never forget when the President was going to give his 
State of the Union Address, and the distinguished majority leader, the 
Senator from Mississippi, said: Good gosh, that is going to cost us a 
billion dollars a minute.
  Well, the distinguished President talked for an hour and a half, so 
that is $90 billion. George W. Bush has a $90 billion a year tax cut, 
which is $900 billion over the next 10 years.
  We are spending that kind of money right now; 90 and 90--that is $180 
billion-plus. If we weren't paying $365 billion in interest costs on 
the national debt, I could give you the Republican program and the 
Democratic program and have $185 billion to pay down the debt. We may 
not have a Senate session tomorrow, Saturday, Sunday, or Monday, but 
the first thing at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning, the Treasurer is going 
to borrow a billion dollars and add it to the debt--on Sunday, 
Christmas Day, each day of the year of 2000. The actual fact is there 
is no surplus.
  It is time that the media and we in the Congress and Government tell 
the American people the truth. There is no surplus. I wish there were 
some.
  Now you have this particular bill coming along. I have each one of 
these particular trust funds. I could go down the entire list of them--
not only the Social Security, but I could go down the Medicare. The 
Medicare trust fund is hereby created. Again, the Federal supplementary 
medical insurance trust fund--report immediately to Congress whenever 
the board is of the opinion that the amount of the trust fund is unduly 
small.
  We were very careful in the legislation, but not in the actual fact 
and the actual treatment.
  We have each one of these trust funds--the particular language on 
military retirement, civil service retirement, and unemployment 
compensation. The employers of America are paying in their particular 
amounts to the trust fund--and the employees for unemployment 
compensation.
  There isn't any question. I can show you exactly the language of the 
court and how they treat these trust funds when they get involved--not 
in a political discussion but in the legality of it.
  I quote from the court:

       State unemployment funds deposited in the Federal 
     unemployment trust fund are a continuing appropriations for a 
     specific purpose and the Federal Government does not obtain 
     title to the money by depositing it in trust for the State 
     Unemployment Reserve Commission which is bound to administer 
     the money in accordance . . . with the law.

  That is exactly the way the Treasurer of the United States is bound 
to adhere. But that isn't what we do. We keep talking about a surplus 
and the public debt, which I put in the Record as reported by the 
minute.
  It goes up. It is an astounding figure--$894,000 every minute. That 
is how much the debt, that is how much the deficit goes up every 
minute, not a surplus--$894,000.
  That is the tragedy of this particular charade that goes on. We 
brought up a tax bill in the Senate, and everybody knows under the 
Constitution that it has to resonate in the House. So it is

[[Page 1502]]

not going anywhere. We put that up to debate it. We don't fund it. Then 
we put cloture on as if we are delaying something. We are delaying the 
nonsense. We ought to pull the bill down. The bill is nothing. It is 
not going anywhere, and everybody knows that. But we are supposed to 
fool the press upstairs. They report that we are going to have a 
cloture vote, and we are working, and everything else like that. The 
game plan here is the Presidential race. Don't do anything to upset the 
applecart. We have our candidate. We have given him the $70 million. We 
have another $70 million, and we are headed for the brass ring, and 
just do not have anything happen in Washington in the Congress to upset 
our pell-mell for the White House.
  It is a tragic thing. We have these trust funds. They talk about 
Social Security. These are just in trust for Social Security.
  In fact, the ``other'' is on here. The Senator from Alaska is here. 
He knows good and well that we pay in there under ``other'' for nuclear 
storage and the waste storage fund. The private power companies have 
been paying into that over the years. We have $19 billion in there. But 
we can't spend it. We are supposed to spend it in trust only for that. 
We haven't put it at Yucca Mountain. So we have to hold up. That is 
part of this $59 billion ``other.'' We have the Federal Financing Bank 
held in trust.
  When the day of reckoning comes when we can stop increasing the 
debt--everybody is talking about paying down the debt--if we can just 
stop increasing it, oh, boy, then we would have set a record in this 
particular Congress because the debt has been going up, up, and away 
with the consequent interest costs, which is like taxes. When I pay 
gasoline taxes, I get a highway. I pay a sales tax, and I can go ahead 
and get a school, or whatever it is. When I pay interest costs, or 
interest taxes, I get absolutely nothing. The Government and the 
economy thereby is in real trouble.
  That is the state of the Union.
  I thank the distinguished Chair for his indulgence.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Roberts). The time of the distinguished 
Senator has expired.
  The distinguished Senator from Alaska is recognized.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I listened to my colleague from South 
Carolina outline the state of the budget. I concur with his pointed 
criticism of whether or not we have a sound surplus, or whether it is 
somewhat realistic.
  He points out the $19 billion that has been paid by the ratepayers 
into the nuclear waste fund, as an example. He and I both know that 
money has gone into the general fund. It is basically not in escrow. It 
is not in a reserve account.
  When the administration or the Government ever addresses that 
responsibility, we will have to appropriate that money someplace 
because it has been spent. As an old banker, I can tell you that 
interest is like a horse that eats while you sleep. It goes on Saturday 
night, Sunday morning, and Sunday night. As a consequence, we often 
find ourselves in the position where the interest exceeds the 
principal. When that happens, you are broke.
  I am certainly sympathetic to the points raised by my colleague.
  (The remarks of Mr. Murkowski pertaining to the introduction of S. 
2098 are located in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced 
Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The distinguished Senator from Oregon.

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