Debt is to the Moon

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of this legislation and commend Chairman Camp and Mr. McClintock.

The Full Faith and Credit Act authorizes the Treasury Secretary to make only the principal and interest payments on our national debt if the United States reaches its current national debt limit of more than $16.4 trillion. The legislation also holds harmless Social Security benefits and requires a weekly report from the Treasury Department regarding the interest and principles payments it has made due to our ever-growing national debt.

As almost everyone knows, our national debt is more than $16.4 trillion, a number that is mind boggling and almost unimaginable. Our Federal Government has grown so large that trying to save a nickel for every dollar we spend is difficult.

To put $16.4 trillion in perspective, this equates to more than $111,500 in debt per taxpayer. If you stacked $16.4 trillion in one dollar bills, it would stack to the moon 4 times.

If we fail to get our spending under control, it will not just be our children and grandchildren who will suffer but everyone hoping to retire in five to ten years as well. If we continue on this path, we will soon be printing so much money that pensions will be worth very little.

In fact, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office released a report on February 5th of this year projecting the United States will be making a total of more than $224 billion in interest payments on our national debt. By 2023 it is estimated we will be making $857 billion in interest payments on our national debt, almost quadrupling our yearly interest payment.

This legislation is a thoughtful, creative way to not dig ourselves further into this hole. We cannot continue our reckless spending ways and expect our creditors to continue funding a Nation that borrows money just to make its own interest payments.