[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[Senate]
[Pages 25309-25311]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   NATIONAL DEBT AND FEDERAL DEFICIT

  Mr. LeMIEUX. Mr. President, it is an honor for me to stand on the 
floor of the Senate, on behalf of my State of Florida and before this 
Nation, to give my maiden speech. First, let me thank my wife Meike for 
her support. No one succeeds in life alone. That is certainly true for 
me. She is the strength of our growing family of five, soon to be six. 
I would not be here without her love and support.
  It is humbling to think of those who have come before me and spoken 
before this body on the great issues of the day. I will not seek to 
match their skill in poetry or prose, but I will work to honor them 
with clear and straightforward language, passion to find solutions to 
the challenges that face us, and resolve to follow words with deeds. It 
is the tradition of this Chamber, as Senator Ted Kennedy stated in his 
maiden speech nearly 50 years ago, that ``a freshman Senator should be 
seen, not heard; should learn, not teach.'' But similar to Senator 
Kennedy, who asked for the dispensation of his colleagues to speak to 
the great cause of civil rights being debated at the time, I, too, seek 
the consideration of my colleagues to rise and speak at such a critical 
time in our Nation's history.
  During my first week here, the senior Senator from Ohio, Mr. 
Voinovich, told me that while my time in the Senate may be short, just 
16 months, it might be the most important 16 months in modern history. 
My brief experience here has confirmed the wisdom of his insight.
  The issue that commands the attention of this Congress is the health 
of our people and proposals that address the problem of those who 
cannot afford or simply do not have health insurance. We seek solutions 
to the rising costs of medical procedures and hospital stays. We are in 
search of ways to ensure that every American has access to affordable 
and quality health care. These are noble goals. Floridians and 
Americans are struggling with the high cost of health care. Premiums 
for family health care have risen 131 percent over the past 10 years. 
Working families are finding it harder and harder to make ends meet. 
Between the demands of taxes and insurance, families have less and less 
to save and spend on their own priorities.
  Health care costs are burdensome on seniors as well, who, while 
covered by Medicare, often buy additional insurance to supplement their 
needs. Rising costs for seniors living on fixed incomes prove more than 
difficult. Still more troubling are those who have no insurance at 
all--some 4 million Floridians and an estimated 45 million Americans 
nationwide. For many of the uninsured, a serious illness or an accident 
is all that may separate them from bankruptcy.
  I believe the problem of health care must be addressed. No American 
should be denied access to quality health care. No American should be 
rendered destitute by illness. No American family should have to live 
paycheck-to-paycheck because they cannot find affordable health care. 
The problem is great, and it is one worthy of our full attention.
  But before we can address health care and the cost of reform, we need 
to consider the broader state of affairs in which we as Americans find 
ourselves. We need to draw back the curtain, widen the lens. No issue, 
even one as important as health care, stands alone. We have 
responsibilities in other equally important areas such as national 
defense, education, and the economy.
  Balanced equally with all these priorities must be our ability to 
afford them. Our Nation's spending problem is not a topic that many 
like to discuss. It is, after all, more desirable to speak of new ideas 
and grand plans for the future, but that very future is at stake if we 
do not address the problem now.
  Our national debt grows at an alarming rate of nearly $4 billion a 
day. When I took office, just 5 weeks ago, our national debt was $11.7 
trillion. Today it is nearly $12 trillion. During the time it will take 
for me to give this address, it will increase by another $50 million.
  Since the debate on health care began in March to the time it likely 
concludes at the end of this year, we will have amassed an additional 
$1 trillion, near to the very amount we are discussing for this health 
care proposal. Instead of spending less to stem the tide, we learned 
last Friday that in the fiscal year we just completed, Congress amassed 
a record-setting $1.4 trillion budget deficit--a larger single-year 
deficit than the deficits of the last 4 years combined.
  Our Government spending is out of control and it is simply 
unsustainable. Why does it matter? What is the consequence of 
accumulating trillions of dollars in debt? What does it mean for us, 
for our children, and for our grandchildren? The consequences are a 
government hamstrung by its obligations and a people taxed beyond their 
ability to prosper. Last year, our Nation spent $253 billion alone on 
the interest payments for our debts. That is a statement worth 
repeating. Last year, our country spent $253 billion alone on interest 
payments, the third highest expenditure in the Federal budget. That is 
nearly $700 million in taxpayer dollars spent on interest, every day--
money that could be spent on worthwhile programs or, better still, 
returned to the people because, after all, it is their money.
  In 10 years, the White House projects our national debt will be a 
staggering $23 trillion, surpassing the total value of goods and 
services made in the United States in 1 year. I have not been in 
Washington for long so it is hard for me to comprehend the idea of $1 
billion, let alone $1 trillion. I think that is true for most 
Americans. So it is worth a moment to understand the enormity of these 
figures.
  If you were to lay down single dollar bills, edge to edge, $1 million 
would cover two football fields; $1 billion would cover the city of Key 
West, FL, 3.7 square miles; and $1 trillion, laid edge to edge, would 
cover the State of Rhode Island--twice.
  Still more staggering, from the time our Government began in 1789, it 
took 167 years for the Federal Government to spend its first $1 
trillion. This year we will spend $3 trillion. Increasing debt and 
increasing costs of entitlement spending and increasing interest 
payments mean we are on a path which is unsustainable. The American 
people know this and they are showing their frustration with Congress's 
out-of-control spending. We need to learn from families in America. 
Families in America and across Florida deal with their budgets every 
day. They sit around the kitchen table. They look at what they make and 
what they spend and they try to make ends meet.
  But the Federal Government is similar to that family with the credit 
card debt--every month the debt grows, the interest compounds. The 
family spends more and more just to make the minimum payment. Yet the 
balance due continues to grow. In order to get out of debt, the family 
has to do the right thing, it has to cut spending or mom or dad have to 
get another job. If the family does the right thing, pays off its debt, 
it can save a little, build a nest egg, and recover. If they do not, 
they reach that point where the debt grows out of control. They reach 
the point where they are too far gone.
  The Federal Government has reached that moment in time. In the past 
27 years, we have gone from $1 trillion to $12 trillion in December, 
and it is estimated that by the end of 10 years, we

[[Page 25310]]

will be $24 trillion in debt. The point of no return is upon us. We 
must recognize this simple truth: We cannot afford the Government we 
have, let alone the Government the majority in this Chamber wants. We 
ought to be cutting taxes, not raising them; we ought to be spending 
within our means, not increasing our debt; we ought to be fighting with 
the same vigor to cut waste, fraud, and abuse that some fight to create 
new entitlement programs we cannot afford.
  It has also become clear that our policies of limitless spending 
threaten to devalue the dollar.
  Recent reports suggest a rush by U.S. investors to pull their money 
from domestic investments and instead seek opportunity in emerging 
markets. Investors find markets such as China and Brazil to be more 
attractive because those nations use their financial reserves to 
weather the economic crisis.
  There is also talk in the international community that perhaps the 
dollar is no longer the best benchmark for their reserve currencies. 
According to the International Monetary Fund, the dollar is held now at 
its lowest point on record in reserve currency of the central banks 
around the world.
  Our unsustainable spending and debt and our inability to make the 
difficult decisions necessary to change course is decreasing confidence 
in our Nation abroad, and if not corrected, it will impact the quality 
of life for all Americans.
  What is the answer? The answer is we have to stop. We have to stop 
financing today's programs on the backs of future generations. Common 
sense tells us we need to balance the Federal budget. The Federal 
Government has not done that since 2001. There is no reason why it 
cannot happen again. The Framers' ideal of limited government is one we 
need to pursue and we need to do it if we have the will to make it so.
  As the father of three young sons and a baby on the way, one of my 
greatest concerns is that 1 day one of my children will come to me when 
they are grown and say that they are moving to another country, perhaps 
a place such as Ireland or Chile, because they believe the 
opportunities are greater than the promise and the opportunities of 
America.
  Even now, as many as 200,000 skilled American workers could leave for 
places such as China and India in the next 5 years. America has always 
been the land of opportunity, a beacon for those who seek a better 
life. That life cannot be darkened.
  Let us not stand witness to the decline of our great Nation. Let us 
not sit idly by so that the work and sacrifice of those who came before 
us can be squandered. Let us not miss out on this moment in time to 
shoulder the burden of leadership to do what we must do for our 
children, their children, and the American dream.
  Their future is bound to the decisions we make. I come from a State 
where a balanced budget is a constitutional requirement, where 
lawmakers are required to spend within their means. And it is not 
always easy. In fact, it is often a painstaking process that requires 
leadership and tough choices, with Republicans and Democrats sitting 
down together to make responsible decisions.
  In the past 3 years in Florida, Governor Crist and the Florida 
legislatures have cut spending by more than $7 billion, almost 10 
percent of the State budget. Florida has made tough choices because it 
must, because lawmakers in 1838 adopted language requiring our State to 
have a balanced budget.
  It works for Florida and 41 other States, and it can work for our 
Nation. The Federal Government should be held to the same standard. 
This Congress must balance its budget. There is no reason why Congress 
cannot do what American families and the majority of States do. There 
is also no reason why the President of the United States should not 
have the same powers as 43 Governors do to strike wasteful spending 
with a line item veto. These issues are not partisan. Republicans and 
Democrats alike should chart a course to a balanced budget to reduce 
the national debt and restore the American dream.
  We were promised a budget deficit-neutral health care plan. President 
Obama said to a joint session of Congress, he ``will not sign a plan 
that adds one dime to our deficit now or in the future.''
  I am encouraged by the President's words, but I am concerned by the 
proposals we have seen. Cutting a half trillion dollars from Medicare 
is not budget neutral. Shifting costs to the States for increases in 
Medicaid is not responsible. And taxing medicine and lifesaving devices 
will increase, not decrease, the cost of health care. That is not 
reform.
  The fact is, we do not know where the money is coming from to pay for 
the proposed health care plan, and in light of our desperate financial 
situation, we cannot budget on faith alone. Last week I participated in 
a hearing to discuss runaway premiums in a program designed to let 
Federal employees buy long-term health care. Employees were given two 
options: a fixed option that had a higher cost but guaranteed that 
premiums would not go up, and a variable option which was less 
expensive but it provided no guarantee.
  Smart Federal employees paid a little more to get that guaranteed 
Federal plan. But it is not going to be that way. Because now the 
Federal Government has come back and said: We were wrong. We cannot 
insure the premiums at the guaranteed rate. We are going to raise your 
rates by 25 percent.
  The government made a mistake. The government got it wrong. And now 
these Federal employees who did the right thing are going to have to 
pay for it, more than 6,000 of them from Florida. If the Federal 
Government cannot get it right for 250,000 Federal employees, how is 
the government going to get it right for 45 million Americans?
  I stand with my colleagues on this side of the aisle ready to create 
access to health care without sacrificing quality. But it has to make 
financial sense. We stand ready to address the issue of portability, 
allowing people to keep their health insurance whether they change jobs 
or move across State lines. We stand ready to offer ideas to make 
health insurance more affordable for small businesses, which can join 
exchanges to offer lower premiums for their employees. We stand ready 
to address the high incidence of doctors practicing defensive medicine, 
which steadily drives up costs. Finally, we stand ready to focus on 
stopping the estimated $60 billion in Medicare waste, fraud, and abuse, 
and using those funds to care for our people.
  Current proposals do little to address these problems. We want to 
work in a bipartisan fashion to create a bipartisan bill. Spend less, 
save more on this and in everything. The reality is that our Nation is 
hungry for a new course, a course that takes greater care of the 
people's money. Some may call this thinking naive, but I call it 
hopeful.
  Since our Nation was founded, there has been one constant our people 
have carried forth. I consider it the American creed, and the creed is 
this: Each generation has the obligation to provide a better future for 
its children than the generation before. We cannot fulfill this promise 
on our current course. That truth is so evident even our children 
understand it.
  I close with the words of one of my constituents, 12-year-old Joshua 
Mailho of Niceville, FL. Joshua is concerned about the very issues we 
are talking about today. He is concerned with his share of the national 
debt and how he is going to pay for it.
  He wrote to me in September and this is what he wrote:

       Here is an example of how long me, a 12 year old, would 
     have to pay off my share of the national debt. If I worked at 
     Home Depot and I get paid $10 per hour . . . it would take me 
     almost 8 years of full-time work [to reach $161,000] . . . my 
     share of the national debt.

  He goes on to say:

       This debt will affect all of the kids in America . . . so 
     please find a way to fix your own mistakes, before the 
     children of today have to pay for your mistakes tomorrow.

  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Republican leader.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, let me be the first to congratulate the 
junior Senator from Florida on his thoughtful and very persuasive 
initial speech here in the Senate.

[[Page 25311]]

  I think I can safely say, after observing his work for the last 5 
weeks, that the people of Florida are very fortunate to have such an 
intelligent and insightful Senator. He is doing an excellent job on 
their behalf. I again congratulate him on his initial speech here in 
the Senate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida.
  Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I want to join with our 
colleagues on the floor in thanking my new colleague from Florida, with 
whom I have had the pleasure of starting a very fast and meaningful 
friendship.
  As he knows, his predecessor Mel Martinez and I had a friendship that 
had spanned more than three decades. I am equally enthusiastic about 
this opportunity to represent the State of Florida with Senator 
LeMieux.
  Let me say that as I was listening to the Senator's maiden speech, of 
course I reflected back 9 years ago to my maiden speech. And, 
interestingly, at that time--I think it was about 6 weeks after I had 
been here, so it was the middle of February 2001--I spoke on the budget 
and the fact that we had a surplus, and how we wanted to keep that 
surplus and not go into deficit, a lot of the same themes the new 
Senator from Florida has sounded here today.
  Of course, your maiden speech in this August body is quite memorable. 
I did not have the luxury, as the new Senator from Florida has, to have 
a number of his colleagues sitting here. As a matter of fact, it was an 
empty Chamber for this Senator save for the Presiding Officer. But in 
the course of this speech, I mentioned that it was my maiden speech. I 
am proceeding on. All of a sudden the doors, these side doors, swing 
open, and in strides the senior Senator from West Virginia, the person 
who is a walking political history book. He assumes his position in 
this chair right here. I get through with my remarks, and he says: 
``Will the Senator from Florida yield?''
  I said: ``Of course I yield to the senior Senator from West 
Virginia.''
  He proceeds to give, off the top of his head, a history of the Senate 
maiden speeches. And, of course, what a memorable event that was for 
this Senator in his maiden speech, and it will be equally a memorable 
event for the new Senator from Florida. I join our colleagues in 
congratulating him on his maiden speech.

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