On the recordMarch 24, 1998
This is a chart that was put together by our colleague, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Neumann). What it shows is the budget deficit. This actually is the debt. The accumulated debt was growing out of control. In fact, there was a study by, I believe, the Congressional Budget Office, done just a few years ago, that said that if Congress did not get serious about this problem, by the time our children reached middle-age they could be paying a total tax rate of over 80 percent just to pay the interest on the national debt. I tell the people back home and sometimes they have trouble believing this, which does not surprise me because I have difficulty believing this as well, that the debt has become so large. But right now the debt is $5.5 trillion.
Source
govinfo.gov
