Byron Dorgan: “However, there is another debt, and there is no limit on that debt. I am referring to the foreign debt--the debt that…”

“However, there is another debt, and there is no limit on that debt. I am referring to the foreign debt--the debt that results from trade deficits. We have a Federal budget deficit this year that is expected to be somewhere around $317 billion. That is the current estimate. But if last year's figures are any guide, our trade deficit this year will be much higher than the federal budget deficit, well over $435 billion. And that trade deficit means an increase on our foreign debt. There is no limit on the foreign debt. Whatever it is, it is. Wherever it goes, it goes. That is just the way we, apparently, have decided to live with it as country, for as long as we can get away with it. Well, in my judgment, we ought to have some basic limitation with respect to trade debt, or at least some mechanism that triggers actions if the trade debt exceeds a certain level.”