Deborah Koff Ross: “I come to the floor of the United States House of Representatives this evening as a member of the fiscally conservative…”

“I come to the floor of the United States House of Representatives this evening as a member of the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, a group of 37 fiscally conservative Democrats who are outraged, absolutely appalled by these record deficits, record debt and the lack of common sense and fiscal discipline that we are seeing in our Nation's government these days. I come to the floor and raise these issues not out of partisan politics because, Mr. Speaker, I do not know about you, but I am sick and tired of all the partisan bickering that goes on at our Nation's Capitol. It does not matter to me if it is a Republican idea or Democrat idea. My people back home want a commonsense idea, the kind of ideas that make sense for them in their everyday lives. So I raise these issues, Mr. Speaker, quite frankly because I am concerned about the future of our country. As you walk the halls of Congress, it is easy to spot one of the Blue Dog Coalition Members' offices, because we all have this poster beside our front door. Today, the U.S. national debt, just as I got ready to come up here this evening, the U.S. national debt is $8,270,909,436,190. For every man, woman and child in America, including those being born as we speak, the amount of money that each person in America shares in the national debt is $27,000 and some change. It is hard now, Mr.…”