Tom Coburn: “I have two charts that I would like for the American public to see because I think they very importantly make some cases…”

“I have two charts that I would like for the American public to see because I think they very importantly make some cases for where we are today; and I have committed that I will spend the time that is necessary to communicate to the people in my district and people throughout this country what is really happening to us in terms of our budget. We hear a completely different rhetoric today than what we heard just 2 years ago. And the question that comes to my mind is, Why has the rhetoric changed? And I think the rhetoric has changed because people are fearful for their jobs. It was not that the rhetoric was wrong. The rhetoric was right, but the results of not communicating the importance of what our job is and not communicating exactly where we are. I would want people to look at these two charts. One is from 1972, and the other is for this fiscal year, 1997. And they really show the heart of the problem that this country faces with its budget. If we look at 1972, what we realize is that our entire Federal budget was $231 billion. Whereas, in 1997, we are going to spend $1,632 billion, which is a significant, 700-percent increase, in a mere 25 years in the amount of dollars that we actually spend.”