Tom Coburn: “The realistic fact is, we decreased the Federal debt $2 billion under the entire Clinton administration. Mr. President…”

“The realistic fact is, we decreased the Federal debt $2 billion under the entire Clinton administration. Mr. President, $2 billion. One year we had a true surplus--a true surplus. That was the extent of it. And since then, and before then, we have borrowed the future of our children away. To continue, this resolution states: (7) it is irresponsible for Congress to authorize new spending for programs that will result in borrowing from Social Security. . . . I say to Social Security recipients, we borrowed $140 billion, last year, from Social Security to pay for things we were not willing to either trim down, make more efficient or eliminate in duplicative programs. We also are borrowing from foreign governments. That is affecting our financial status. But most importantly, we are borrowing from future generations of Americans. The amendment states: (b) . . . It is the sense of the Senate that Congress has a moral obligation to offset the cost of new government programs, initiatives, and authorizations. It is very simple. A resolution has no impact of law. It says: We agree, here are the rules under which we ought to operate. It does not bind anybody. It says, if we are going to create new programs, we either ought to find a way where we do not borrow to pay for them or we ought to offset them by eliminating ineffective programs. In 2001, as the Senator rightly noted, the Federal debt per person in this country was $21,000.…”