[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 19]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 25398]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF S. 2986, INCREASING THE PUBLIC DEBT 
                                 LIMIT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. JAMES R. LANGEVIN

                            of rhode island

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 18, 2004

  Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to S. 2986, 
which would increase our Nation's debt limit by $800 billion. This 
irresponsible legislation shortsightedly gives Congress carte blanche 
to run up the deficit with no plan to get our budget back in balance. 
If this measure is signed into law, the real losers are future 
generations of Americans, who will be stuck with the bill for many 
years to come.
  This bill would raise the debt limit for the third time in just as 
many years, including a record $984 billion increase in May 2003. That 
addition alone was larger than the entire national debt accrued by the 
United States from our founding in 1776 all the way to 1980.
  Today's legislation would allow the national debt to reach a 
staggering $8.18 trillion. This thirteen digit amount is 70 percent of 
the size of our economy. As Senator Byrd noted in a recent floor 
statement, ``To count a trillion dollars, at the rate of $1 per second, 
would take 32,000 years.'' Should S. 2986 pass, counting to our debt 
limit would take more than eight times as long.
  Most alarming is the Administration's refusal to admit that the 
ballooning budget deficit is a problem. Despite the President's 
campaign promise to cut the deficit in half, next year's deficit will 
likely to be even larger than this year's due to commitments abroad as 
well as the President's promises to privatize Social Security while 
funding homeland security needs and reforming the Tax Code.
  For fiscal year 2004, taxpayers owed $322 billion in interest alone. 
I hope my constituents realize that the first $2,000 of their taxes 
will not go towards better schools, roads, health care or defense. 
Rather, this sum is just one in a series of increasing interest 
payments they will make because this administration chose to forgo 
fiscal responsibility in favor of tax cuts for a few privileged 
Americans.
  We need to restore fiscal responsibility to this Congress by 
reinstating meaningful Pay-As-You-Go rules. Just as a family must plan 
its budget for the next year, ensuring that expenses do not exceed 
income, Congress must create a balanced budget to avoid adding even 
more debt in the future.
  I will be voting for the responsible Stenholm Motion to Recommit, 
which would extend the debt ceiling until April 15, 2005, when next 
year's budget is due. Unless Congress puts pressure on ourselves, we 
will never balance the budget. I urge my colleagues to join me in 
supporting the Stenholm Motion to Recommit and oppose final passage of 
S. 2986.

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