[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 14]
[House]
[Pages 18785-18786]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




STENHOLM DEBT LIMIT AMENDMENT TO TREASURY TRANSPORTATION APPROPRIATIONS 
                                  BILL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 20, 2004, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm) is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.

[[Page 18786]]


  Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, 3\1/2\ years ago, there was a lot of talk 
around here about budget surpluses. Some folks actually claimed there 
was a danger that the government would pay off our debt held by the 
public too quickly. Today, projections of large budget surpluses have 
been replaced with projections of deficits as far as the eye can see, 
and the administration is asking Congress to approve another increase 
in the debt limit, the credit card limit, if you please, for the United 
States of America.
  Last year, the Republican leadership slipped through a $984 billion 
increase in the debt limit, the largest increase in history, without an 
up-or-down vote in the House of Representatives. This came less than 8 
months after we raised the Federal debt ceiling by $450 billion. To put 
that in proper perspective, it took our country 204 years to borrow the 
first $984 billion. The Treasury Department estimates that the national 
debt will exceed the statutory debt limit, which is currently $7.384 
trillion, sometime in late September or October, just before the 
election.
  But instead of taking responsibility to pass an increase in the debt 
limit to pay for our policies, the leadership is counting on the 
Treasury Department to rely on so-called extraordinary actions, such as 
dipping into retirement trust funds to avoid reaching the statutory 
debt limit until mid November and avoid a vote on legislation 
increasing the debt limit until a lame duck session after the election. 
These extraordinary actions should be a last resort to avoid a default 
during a crisis, not a routine action used for political convenience. 
It would be irresponsible to take funds from retirement trust funds 
simply to avoid a discussion of the fiscal problems highlighted by the 
need to increase the debt limit.
  When the House resumes consideration of the Treasury Transportation 
appropriations bill today, I will offer an amendment which would 
prohibit the Secretary of Treasury from dipping into retirement trust 
funds in order to circumvent the statutory debt limit. The effect of my 
amendment would be to force Congress to take responsibility for the 
increase in the national debt by approving an increase in the debt 
limit before adjourning in October instead of deferring action until a 
lame duck session. Congress should have a full and open debate on 
increasing our national debt limit above $8 trillion instead of relying 
on financial maneuvers to avoid a vote.
  There would be no risk of default if Congress met its responsibility 
to approve an increase in the debt limit before we adjourn for the 
election. If my Republican colleagues honestly believe that tax cuts 
with borrowed money is good economic policy, they should be willing to 
stand up and vote to increase the national debt to pay for their tax 
cuts instead of relying on financial maneuvers. Just like credit card 
spending limits serve as tools to force families to examine their 
household budgets, the debt limit reminds Congress and the President to 
evaluate our budget policies.
  The national debt has increased by $670 billion over the last 12 
months and $1.5 trillion over the last 3 years. The Congressional 
Budget Office projects that the national debt will exceed $10 trillion 
in just over 4 years under our current budget policies. As of the end 
of April, $1.813 trillion of our debt was held by foreign investors, 
more than $1 trillion of which is held by official institutions. Japan 
now holds $695 billion of our debt, and the Chinese another $217 
billion. Despite this, the leadership of this body is talking about 
bringing up legislation this week that would add another $130 billion 
to that debt.
  We should not pay for tax cuts or spending by borrowing money against 
our children's future. Congress should be required to sit down and 
figure out how to make things fit within a budget just like families do 
every day. The borrow-and-spend policies of the current majority will 
leave a crushing debt burden for future generations who do not have any 
say in what we are doing today and do not benefit from the tax cuts and 
spending programs for current generations.
  The one tax that cannot be repealed is the debt tax, the cost of 
paying interest on our national debt. The debt tax consumed 18 percent 
of all government revenues to pay interest on the national debt last 
year and 40 percent of every dime of income taxes is required to pay 
interest today at current interest rates. Congress should not grant the 
administration a blank check to continue on the path of deficit 
spending. Before we vote to increase the debt limit, we should 
reinstate the budget enforcement rules which make it harder to pass 
legislation which would put us further into debt, including pay-as-you-
go for all legislation.
  If the leadership were willing to work with us to add meaningful 
budget enforcement provisions to legislation increasing the debt limit, 
the Blue Dog Democrats would gladly supply bipartisan support for an 
increase in the debt limit. But if the majority wants to continue with 
their economic policies that have us on a path to running up more than 
$10 trillion in debt by the end of the decade, they should be willing 
to step up to the plate and approve the increase in the debt limit 
necessary to pay for their policies and not hide until after the 
elections to tell the people what the results are.

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