On the recordMarch 10, 2011
I rise to talk about our Nation's security and what the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, ADM Mike Mullen, recently said is the greatest threat to America's future. He mentioned not too long ago that the greatest threat to America's national security is our national debt, not al-Qaida or the Iranian nuclear threat or instability in the Middle East or Russian spies but our national debt. That is a stunning statement, but I think it is backed up by the numbers. We are more than $14 trillion in debt. It took 220 years of American history, up to the beginning of 2009 and with 43 American Presidents, to pile up $6.3 trillion in publicly held debt. Under the Obama administration's latest budget, we will double that in another 2 years and triple it in 10. That budget calls for a sizable annual deficit every single year for the next 10 years. The smallest budget deficit we would face would be $607 billion in the year 2015, and then our deficits would start rising again. That is what the White House calls a balanced budget. I would call it a joke, but it is no laughing matter. We just learned China holds even more of our debt than the Treasury had previously thought--26 percent of total U.S. debt held by foreigners. The President's budget inevitably would add to that. That crushing debt burden we are imposing on future generations will seriously limit their ability to live the American dream.
