00:01Senator from Michigan.
00:03Mr. President, I rise today to discuss a subject—
00:07Senator, the Senate's in a quorum call right now.
00:09Oh, I ask the quorum call to be appreciated.
00:11Without objection.
00:12Thank you, Mr. President.
00:13Mr. President, I rise today to discuss a subject that transcends partisanship and political parties,
00:20and that is our growing national debt.
00:24Nearly 230 years ago, President George Washington issued his farewell address.
00:31It's a speech full of advice and wisdom that this country still looks to today for guidance.
00:38But lost within that address is an often-overlooked warning,
00:42a warning against the accumulation of debt.
00:46Specifically, our first president cautioned the newfound American public
00:51that our government should avoid, quote,
00:54the accumulation of debt,
00:56not only by shunning occasions of expense,
01:00but by vigorous exertions in time of peace
01:03to discharge the debts which unavoidably wars occasioned.
01:08In other words, President Washington warned us against kicking the can down the road
01:13and pushing off a burden, quote, that he said, quote,
01:17we ourselves ought to bear, end of quote.
01:21So today I ask, has our country heeded these words of warning?
01:26Let's take a look.
01:28As of this morning, the national debt totaled $36.7 trillion.
01:36To put that into perspective, that's more than triple the amount of debt
01:41from when I first came into office in 2009.
01:45And if you break the number down, so it's more, get your head around it,
01:48to break that number down per American,
01:51it translates to more than $107,000 in debt each and every person in our country.
01:59By 2029, the debt held by the United States as a percentage of our economy
02:04is expected to be higher than at any point in the entire history of our nation.
02:10And within the next decade, the U.S. will spend more annually
02:14to pay down the interest, just the interest on our debt alone,
02:17than we do on anything else except Social Security.
02:22So to answer the question, have we listened to President George Washington's warning?
02:28I think the answer is very clear, no, we haven't.
02:33The American people may be asking, well, what does this matter to me?
02:37How does this impact my life, my future?
02:41They may ask, if it truly mattered, why are not more people,
02:45not only here in Washington, D.C., but across the country, talking about the issue?
02:52If it truly mattered, if this truly mattered, having this massive debt,
02:56why did Republicans in Congress just pass a bill that will increase our debt
03:01by trillions in additional dollars?
03:05Point blank, I think the majority of Americans just want to know, why should I care?
03:10Mr. President, I'm here to tell every American and all of my colleagues here in Congress
03:15that we must take this seriously.
03:18Because the national debt is an issue that impacts the daily life of every single person in our country.
03:26For one, the higher our national debt grows, the greater the likelihood that interest rates will also increase.
03:35Higher interest rates means the cost of everything, from mortgages to student loans to car payments,
03:43will become even more expensive for hard-working Americans.
03:47And the larger our debt becomes, the more money we must dedicate to paying it off.
03:53And that often means fewer resources that we can invest back in our communities,
03:58whether it's to upgrade infrastructure, improve our schools,
04:03or support economic development in our communities.
04:07It means fewer resources for critical programs that support early childhood education,
04:12boost workforce development, expand access to quality, affordable housing, and more.
04:20Things that actually benefit every person in this country.
04:25So the moral of the story is, as debt grows, life becomes more expensive for all Americans.
04:33And at a time when the price of gas, groceries, housing, and everyday needs are already too high,
04:40the American people simply cannot afford this added cost.
04:45Our growing debt also presents real threats to our national security.
04:50If we face another major emergency, like a pandemic or a global financial crisis,
04:57there's serious concern that we may be too hamstrung by our debt to respond effectively.
05:03This fact should concern every American.
05:06And as we work to address this issue in a tangible way,
05:10we need to make sure we understand the full scope of how our growing national debt threatens our national security.
05:17That's why, just last week, I helped introduce bipartisan legislation
05:22that would require administration officials to look at these national security concerns
05:27and explain to the American people how our ballooning debt impacts our ability to keep them safe in an emerging crisis.
05:36But despite these things, Congress has, unfortunately, time and time again,
05:42chosen to add to the problem instead of being part of a solution.
05:47So consider this.
05:49In every presidential administration since President George W. Bush,
05:53at least $5 trillion has been added to the national debt.
05:59Since 2002, which was the first year we experienced a deficit,
06:04following four years of a budget surplus,
06:08the United States has incurred 20 of the largest deficits in our entire nation's history.
06:14And this is an important fact.
06:16The two largest deficits came out of the Trump administration.
06:21The Trump administration, the two largest deficits this country has ever faced.
06:26This means that the imbalance between our revenues and spending has been at an all-time high.
06:32And just last month, my Republican colleagues took this problem and supercharged it
06:39when they passed their reckless so-called Big Beautiful Bill.
06:44It should have been called the One Big Deficit Bill.
06:48The bill that President Trump signed into law on the 4th of July
06:52will kick millions of people off their health care
06:55and make it harder for families to put food on their table by cutting food assistance.
07:00All the while, they added $3.5 trillion to the national debt.
07:05Basically, my Republican colleagues betrayed working families
07:08and mortgaged our nation's economic future,
07:12all to give the wealthiest Americans a tax break.
07:17Instead of putting us on a sustainable fiscal pact,
07:21this bill has kicked the can down the road once again.
07:25Our fiscal house is on fire.
07:28Yet year after year, Washington chooses to add a little more gasoline.
07:34But despite the grave situation we face, I do have some good news.
07:39We still have time to turn this around.
07:42There are ways to get our fiscal house back in order
07:45and stave off potential crises.
07:48But it's going to take cooperation from all of us.
07:51Instead of the political gamesmanship and polarization
07:55that has taken root in our democracy,
07:58this situation will require everyone, everyone rowing in the same direction.
08:04Congress will have to come together in a bipartisan manner
08:07to find common-sense measures that strategically address our nation's debt
08:12while investing in economic growth and hardworking middle-class families.
08:18At the root of this effort is correcting the ever-present imbalance between revenue and spending.
08:25This opportunity to restore fiscal discipline is why I plan to come to the floor
08:30on a regular basis to discuss this dire situation posed by the national debt.
08:37From looking at how we got here,
08:39to highlighting the everyday impacts our debt has on everyday Americans,
08:44to underscoring the impending crisis that is in store if we don't change course,
08:49and we must do it quickly.
08:52It is not far-fetched to say that we are at an inflection point in our nation's history,
08:57and that the futures of our children and our grandchildren are indeed at stake.
09:04We have all played a part in the deterioration of our fiscal health,
09:08and Mr. President, it is time, it is past time,
09:11that we all play an important part in restoring it.
09:16Mr. President, I yield the floor.
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