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Floor Speech

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Mr. PETERS. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss a subject that transcends partisanship and political parties, and that is our growing national debt.

Nearly 230 years ago, President George Washington issued his Farewell Address. It is a speech full of advice and wisdom that this country still looks to today for guidance. But lost within that address is an often-overlooked warning--a warning against the accumulation of debt.

Specifically, our first President cautioned the newfound American public that our government should avoid ``the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertion in time of peace to discharge the debts which unavoidable wars may have occasioned.'' In other words, President Washington warned us against kicking the can down the road and pushing off a burden that he said ``we ourselves ought to bear.''

So today I ask, has our country heeded these words of warning? Let's take a look. As of this morning, the national debt totaled $36.7 trillion. To put that into perspective, that is more than triple the amount of debt from when I first came into office in 2009. And to get your head around it, if you break that number down per American, it translates to more than $107,000 in debt for each and every person in our country.

By 2029, the debt held by the United States as a percentage of our economy is expected to be higher than at any point in the entire history of our Nation. Within the next decade, the United States will spend more annually to pay down the interest--just the interest--on our debt alone than we do on anything else except Social Security.

So in answer to the question ``Have we listened to President George Washington's warning?'' I think the answer is very clear: No, we haven't.

The American people may be asking: Well, what does this matter to me? How does this impact my life, my future?

They may ask: If it truly mattered, why are not more people--not only here in Washington, DC, but across the country--talking about the issue? If it truly mattered, if this truly mattered, having this massive debt, why did Republicans in Congress just pass a bill that will increase our debt by trillions in additional dollars?

Point blank, I think the majority of Americans just want to know: Why should I care?

Mr. President, I am here to tell every American and all of my colleagues here in Congress that we must take this seriously because the national debt is an issue that impacts the daily life of every single person in our country.

For one, the higher our national debt grows, the greater the likelihood that interest rates will also increase. Higher interest rates mean the cost of everything--from mortgages, to student loans, to car payments--will become even more expensive for hard-working Americans. The larger our debt becomes, the more money we must dedicate to paying it off, and that often means fewer resources that we can invest back into our communities, whether it is to upgrade infrastructure, to improve our schools, or to support economic development in our communities. It means fewer resources for critical programs that support early childhood education, boost workforce development, expand access to quality, affordable housing, and more-- things that actually benefit every person in this country.

So the moral of the story is, as debt grows, life becomes more expensive for all Americans. And at a time when the price of gas, groceries, housing, and everyday needs is already too high, the American people simply cannot afford this added cost.

Our growing debt also presents real threats to our national security. If we face another major emergency like a pandemic or a global financial crisis, there is serious concern that we may be too hamstrung by our debt to respond effectively. This fact should concern every American.

As we work to address this issue in a tangible way, we need to make sure we understand the full scope of how our growing national debt threatens our national security. That is why just last week, I helped introduce bipartisan legislation that would require administration officials to look at these national security concerns and explain--explain--to the American people how our ballooning debt impacts our ability to keep them safe in an emerging crisis.

But despite these things, Congress has, unfortunately, time and time again, chosen to add to the problem instead of being part of the solution. So consider this: In every Presidential administration since President George W. Bush, at least $5 trillion has been added to the national debt.

Since 2002, which was the first year we experienced a deficit following 4 years of a budget surplus, the United States has incurred 20 of the largest deficits in our entire Nation's history.

This is an important fact. The two largest deficits came out of the Trump administration--the Trump administration, the two largest deficits this country has ever faced.

This means that the imbalance between our revenues and spending has been at an alltime high. And just last month, my Republican colleagues took this problem and supercharged it when they passed their reckless so-called One Big Beautiful Bill. It should have been called the ``One Big Deficit Bill.''

The bill that President Trump signed into law on the Fourth of July will kick millions of people off their healthcare and make it harder for families to put food on their table by cutting food assistance. All the while, they added $3.5 trillion to the national debt.

Basically, my Republican colleagues betrayed working families and mortgaged our Nation's economic future all to give the wealthiest Americans a tax break.

Instead of putting us on a sustainable fiscal path, this bill has kicked the can down the road once again. Our fiscal house is on fire. Yet, year after year, Washington chooses to add a little more gasoline.

Despite the grave situation we face, I do have some good news. We still have time to turn this around. There are ways to get our fiscal house back in order and stave off potential crises. But it is going to take cooperation from all of us.

Instead of the political gamesmanship and polarization that has taken root in our democracy, this situation will require everyone--everyone-- rowing in the same direction. Congress will have to come together in a bipartisan manner to find commonsense measures that strategically address our Nation's debt while investing in economic growth and hard- working, middle-class families.

At the root of this effort is correcting the ever-present imbalance between revenue and spending. This opportunity to restore fiscal discipline is why I plan to come to the floor on a regular basis to discuss this dire situation posed by the national debt--from looking at how we got here to highlighting the everyday impacts our debt has on everyday Americans to underscoring the impending crisis that is in store if we don't change course. And we must do it quickly.

It is not farfetched to say that we are at an inflection point in our Nation's history and that the futures of our children and our grandchildren are, indeed, at stake. We have all played a part in the deterioration of our fiscal health, and it is time--it is, in fact, past time--that we all play an important part in restoring it.

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