Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Cline), for his comments and his efforts and his willingness to stand on this important issue and recognizing--and promising to people and responding to that promise; because I can tell you, when I first considered even running for Congress, one of the things that motivated me was this horrific debt, which I have watched explode even more since I got here; not because I am here, but in spite of my efforts. So, today, we are preparing to introduce our resolution, which will be later this week, Senator Perdue, his cosponsors, my 50 original cosponsors--more than 50 original cosponsors. And we recognize that, as of today, the national debt is more than $22 trillion. You have heard that. Can you hear it enough without taking action? The resulting total interest expense for the fiscal year 2019 is $192 billion. $192 billion. Interest does not sleep. It doesn't take a holiday; it doesn't take a vacation. Interest accumulates without ceasing until you pay your debt. Our national debt as a percentage of GDP is 104 percent. The last time a Federal budget was balanced and was signed was 1997. Our total Federal tax receipts for fiscal year 2018 were $3.329 trillion. But somehow--and we all know how--our Federal outlays totaled $4.1 trillion, with a deficit of $780 billion. And we know how. We know how that happened. We look to each other in this body.…”