[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 23]
[House]
[Page 31844]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           THE NATIONAL DEBT

  (Mr. SMITH of Nebraska asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SMITH of Nebraska. Mr. Speaker, since 2007, our national debt has 
increased 39 percent from nearly $9 trillion to more than $12 trillion. 
This works out to be $39,000 for every man, woman, and child in America 
just to pay off our country's debt. Now there is a push to increase our 
Nation's debt ceiling to $13.9 trillion, despite warnings this increase 
will be harmful to the U.S. economy.
  At a time of double-digit unemployment and with more than 2.6 million 
jobs lost since the so-called stimulus was passed by Congress, isn't it 
time we institute fiscally sound policies?
  Over the last 11 months, the American people have seen unprecedented 
spending from Washington, D.C. They are certainly not impressed. They 
know any economic recovery starts with tax relief for working families 
and small businesses and fiscal discipline from Washington.

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