[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Page 2439]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



      RECOGNIZING THE FIRST BUY BACK OF NATIONAL DEBT IN 70 YEARS

  Mr. ROBB. Mr. President, I take a moment to recognize a milestone we 
reached today that was simply unthinkable eight short years ago. While 
it has gone largely unnoticed, in my view it represents real hope for 
our children's future.
  Today, for the first time in 70 years, we bought back part of our 
Nation's debt. It was a relatively small amount--$1 billion--compared 
to our $5.7 trillion debt. But at least it shows that we are willing to 
pay down the mortgage the federal government took out on our children's 
future over the last 30 years.
  We hear a great deal about wasteful spending, and we need to remain 
vigilant to root out wasted taxpayer dollars. But in my view, the most 
wasteful federal spending is the money we are forced to spend on 
interest to support our publicly held debt--debt which represents all 
the tough choices we did not make. Last year, we spent nearly $230 
billion on interest payments on the debt. That compares with the 
roughly $38 billion the federal government spent last year on 
education.
  Those of us who care deeply about keeping government from spending 
more than it takes in need to continue to make fiscally responsible 
choices so we can remove the millstone of debt from the necks of our 
children as quickly and responsibly as possible.

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