Dennis Moore: “Thank you, Congressman Ross, for the time this evening to speak to the American people about what's happening in our…”

“Thank you, Congressman Ross, for the time this evening to speak to the American people about what's happening in our country with our deficit, with our debt, and what we need to do to correct this problem for future generations in our country. You've heard several speakers talk tonight about the debt that our Nation has accumulated, $9.1 trillion. That's gone up almost $3.4 trillion in the past 6 years since President Bush took office. As policy co-Chair, I had an opportunity to go with about eight other Democrats to the White House to meet with the President a few months ago. We each had 2 minutes to speak. And when it was my turn, I said, Mr. President, I'm a year older than you are. I had 7 grandchildren at the time, eight now, and I said, Mr. President, we have mortgaged their future. I said, We've got to start living like most American families living within a budget. This should not be about Democrats and Republicans. We have got to be responsible. It's our moral duty to our kids and grandkids. And he looked at me and he said, You've got a point. Well, I know I have a point, but we need to work on this together. That's what we are all saying here tonight is we have mortgaged the future of our children and grandchildren, and that's absolutely the wrong thing to do.”