Enzi: I want you to know what keeps me awake nights

Press Release

As the nation continues to add to its $19 trillion debt, U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., says he can't get to sleep at night over fearful thoughts about his grandkids and the bleak future for them because of the federal government's overspending.

"I hear them ask "You were there; why didn't you fix it? Why didn't you give us the same chance you had?," Enzi said yesterday speaking on the Senate floor.

The answers to fixing the country, according to Enzi, can't just come from Congress, but also must come from everyone in America. Everyone has and is getting benefits from the country at the expense of the future.

"I'm asking everyone in America: Can we find ways to fund our ideas today without stealing from the future?" Enzi said.

Enzi said that the nation should first look to consolidate federal programs and ensure they have measurable goals, control the number of mandatory spending programs and emergency spending, and the government must review old programs for elimination or consolidation whenever people look at implementing a new idea.

"Does the federal government ever take a cut in dollars?," Enzi said. "We get instant complaints if the requested increase is less than what was asked for. Only in government is that considered a cut."

If the government doesn't find a way to stop the overspending, the consequences could be devastating to many programs, including defense, education, agriculture and infrastructure funding. According to Enzi, the interest we pay on the nation's debt alone could soon pass the amount Congress budgets to fund the government and the military.

"We want to tell our grandkids that we gave them every opportunity," Enzi said. "We don't want to have to cut Social Security by 20 percent to fund our national defense because interest payments have used up all of the money we get to make decisions on."

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