It's Time to Declare a Code Red
on the Nation's Debt Crisis
House of Representatives - October 5, 2004

Mr. Speaker, I think it is rather unusual that the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm), the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Tanner), and I are all up here today talking about the same issue because I really think it is time to get some real value out of the administration's color-coded warning system. It is time to declare a code red on the Nation's debt crisis.

Watch this floor speech [Click here to get Windows Media Player]

The front page story today, which has been alluded to, from USA Today analyzed the financial obligations facing Americans because of government debt. USA Today called it the hidden debt, and it totals a staggering $53 trillion. That translates into $473,456 per household. This money we need right now to meet the future obligations for programs like Medicare, Social Security, and government pensions. It grows by $1 trillion a year as long as this administration's budget binge continues.

The bills come due in earnest beginning in 2008. That is not very far away.

It is a blink of an eye in real terms. So far, the answer out of this administration seems to be a strategy of letting the financial crisis reach epic proportions and then renege on the promise that the country has made to the greatest generation. And that, in my view, is not right.

When Americans need their government most, at retirement, the administration has not put forth a credible plan to honor our commitment to senior citizens. When Americans are most vulnerable, entering retirement after a lifetime of hard work and sacrifice, this administration is budget bringing and simply cannot go on.

What will they say to seniors? Well, we would not do the math. Or we did the math and left it to the next administration to be responsible. The road the administration has put this Nation on is a fast track to catastrophe. This is far from a dire warning.

Economists and other experts on both sides of the aisle know the consequences of what USA Today is reporting today. The nonpartisan, independent CBO looked at the President's budget. The CBO concluded, "These long-term budget projections show clearly that the budget is on an unsustainable path." That is not rhetoric. That is a dose of reality about where this administration has taken the country.

It gets even worse if a major disruption in oil supplies or another terrorist attack shakes the world's confidence in America. There is a major crisis at America's doorstep, but this administration serves up anecdotes instead of answers.

America's national security cannot be separated from America's economic security. And knowing that this Nation faces a looming debt load surpassing $53 trillion, the administration simply denies the crisis and keeps rewarding the rich with increasing tax cuts. Every day that the administration pretends everything is rosy is another day closer to a crisis when decisions will be forced, not made. That is because America is being run on borrowed money as much as borrowed time.

America is increasingly dependent on foreign governments to finance the U.S. Government spending. Is that the administration's idea of how to keep America secure? The way the administration is going, our insatiable appetite for foreign capital to keep the United States going will match our insatiable appetite for oil. Dealing with one is bad enough. Dealing with both is downright scary.

What happens when foreign countries decide to push the limit and demand more and more of us, not in dollars but in policies? If anyone doubts that carrot-and-stick approach, I would say look back on our own recent history. How many times has the United States tied economic assistance to another nation for concessions on something we want in return? The answer is, too many times to count.

National security depends upon economic security and is not built on top of an international debt or a mountain of international IOUs. We owe the greatest generation something more than a than an IOU. We owe the next generation something more than an anvil of debt hanging around their necks. We owe it to ourselves to face the reality that is facing us this day.

Here is the scale.

America is the greatest economic engine on the face of the earth. Last year, America's entire economic output was $11 trillion, as has been mentioned before. That was the total gross domestic product. As impressive as that is, the GDP pales in comparison to the $53 trillion coming due. Last year's entire economic output of the greatest country on earth is a mere one-fifth of the debt load America faces. Common sense ought to tell us where math like that gets us.

The war on America's debt is going to challenge us in ways we have never seen before. The danger is the economic policies set in motion by the current administration will pit one generation against another; the seniors against the folks in our age group against our kids. Every day the administration denies the problem is another day the war on debt becomes harder to win. We can act while we are still responsible to make choices. Or America can wait until we make or are forced to make draconian cuts.

The Greatest Generation made the greatest sacrifice on behalf of every generation. America owes them a debt of gratitude, not a mountain of debt that imperils everything they fought for. It is time to put the common good ahead of uncommon gain in this country. We have done it before, and we can do it again.

I think the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Tanner) ought to be commended for coming out here and raising this issue. At 10:30 at night, the people of the west coast are still watching, and I am sure people in Tennessee are watching, and people in Texas are watching, and they have got to think about this. This is not being discussed in this campaign. But George Bush has run us off the road. So my hat is off to the gentleman for coming out and talking about this.