Charles W. Stenholm: “3\1/2\ years ago, there was a lot of talk around here about budget surpluses. Some folks actually claimed there was a…”

“3\1/2\ years ago, there was a lot of talk around here about budget surpluses. Some folks actually claimed there was a danger that the government would pay off our debt held by the public too quickly. Today, projections of large budget surpluses have been replaced with projections of deficits as far as the eye can see, and the administration is asking Congress to approve another increase in the debt limit, the credit card limit, if you please, for the United States of America. Last year, the Republican leadership slipped through a $984 billion increase in the debt limit, the largest increase in history, without an up-or- down vote in the House of Representatives. This came less than 8 months after we raised the Federal debt ceiling by $450 billion. To put that in proper perspective, it took our country 204 years to borrow the first $984 billion. The Treasury Department estimates that the national debt will exceed the statutory debt limit, which is currently $7.384 trillion, sometime in late September or October, just before the election. But instead of taking responsibility to pass an increase in the debt limit to pay for our policies, the leadership is counting on the Treasury Department to rely on so-called extraordinary actions, such as dipping into retirement trust funds to avoid reaching the statutory debt limit until mid November and avoid a vote on legislation increasing the debt limit until a lame duck session after the election.…”