Austin Scott: “I just want to mention quite quickly, because I want the American people to understand that while we as Democrats are…”

“I just want to mention quite quickly, because I want the American people to understand that while we as Democrats are here and we are critiquing, we are providing the results of this oversight. And when you look at the front page of the USA Today on yesterday, they reported an interesting fact. They said that the Federal Government is now spending 20.8 cents of every dollar we make, of every dollar produced in this country, the Federal Government is spending 20.8 cents. That has increased in the last 5 years. That percentage was only 18.5 percent in 2001. This is serious business. And I am here to tell you that when you get out in the District, when you get out to my folks down in Georgia, they are concerned about their money. They are concerned about what we are doing up here to bring down this debt and bring some accountability to the finances of this country. We can't have this runaway train. We can't have this debt being held in the hands of foreign governments the way it is. We can't continue to be borrowing all of this money and laying it on the backs of our children and our grandchildren. This is not our money. It is the people's money. We have to start treating it much better. Now, what are we going to do about it? And I think the American people are probably saying, okay, we are listening to those Blue Dogs down there and they are talking about President Bush and the Republicans, but what are they going to do.…”