Our National Debt

Statement

Earlier this month, the United States reached a milestone never before seen in our history. Unfortunately, this event was not something to celebrate. On September 4, our national debt surpassed $16 trillion.

It seems that in Washington the mere mention of "fiscal restraint" is like uttering a vulgarity. This attitude has led us to our current predicament where our debt is equal to more than $50,000 for every man, woman, and child in the United States.

If you want to know how we ended up here, the answer is simple - unprecedented government spending. Since early 2009, the national debt has increased by $5.38 trillion or 51 percent. What's more sobering is the national debt did not reach $5.3 trillion until 1997. That means in just over three and half years we've racked up as much debt as 42 other American presidents combined.

It is time for Congress to follow the lead of so many hard working American families who manage their budgets even in times of difficulty. We can no longer continue to kick trillion dollar deficits down the road. We did not get $16 trillion in debt overnight and we will not solve this problem in one vote. We have to cut government spending and tackle what's driving our debt. It is time for Congress to start exercising fiscal restraint and responsibility in spending.

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