Political Quotes

On the recordSeptember 28, 1995
In 1917, Congress was passing on every borrowing, so they would agree who we were going to borrow money from and on the interest rate. In 1917 what they said was, ``OK, from now on we are going to set a debt ceiling. You can continue to borrow as long as you are under that debt ceiling.'' But it has sort of become a way of life. Since 1940, we have increased the debt ceiling 77 times. The last time we did it, at $4.9 trillion, was in 1993. We are going to reach that $4.9 trillion in about 3 weeks from now.
Said by
Nick Smith
Republican · Michigan
Source
govinfo.gov

Editor's note · Context

Discussing the history and implications of the debt ceiling during a floor speech.

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