[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 573]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 THE NATIONAL DEBT--NO DEPARTMENT SHOULD BE EXEMPT FROM BELT-TIGHTENING

  (Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, later today we will vote on a 
resolution to reduce Federal non-security spending to the 2008 level or 
in some cases less. This is a very good first step if we follow through 
and abide by this resolution. However, we need to make sure that these 
cuts are real and not simply cuts that will be reinstated later in an 
end-of-the-year omnibus spending bill.
  More importantly, I want to add my voice to the growing chorus that 
is saying loud and clear that nothing should be left off the table. 
There is waste in every Federal department and agency, and the waste in 
the Defense and Homeland Security Departments is huge. No department 
should be given a free pass and made exempt from cost savings and belt-
tightening.
  We have a national debt of over $14 trillion, a mind-boggling 
incomprehensible figure. Even The Washington Post, which has usually 
supported every Federal spending program imaginable, editorialized 
recently, ``It's time to stop worrying about the deficit--and start 
panicking about the debt. The fiscal situation was serious before the 
recession. It is now dire.''

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