$15 Trillion National Debt is Dire Warning

Statement

U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) released this statement following the Treasury Department's report that the federal government today exceeded $15 trillion in total public debt for the first time in U.S. history:

"Today's report that the total national debt has soared past $15 trillion for the first time in our nation's history is an urgent call to action for Washington to act swiftly to end its reckless pattern of overspending and borrowing. With next week's deadline for the super committee's proposal to reduce the deficit, this is a serious time for our country that requires all of us to rise above politics to do what's right rather than what's popular or easy.

"Our statutory debt limit is now set at $15.194 trillion, meaning that sometime in early 2012, the debt ceiling will be raised again - this time up to $16.7 trillion. That means about $6 trillion will have been added to the debt in about four years.

"At the end of September, another alarm was sounded -- our nation's gross debt surpassed 100 percent of our economy. Economists have warned that nations with gross debt levels above 90 percent will experience dramatically diminished economic prospects, including lower job growth and fewer economic opportunities. The precarious situation we're witnessing in Europe right now should serve as a dire warning to America that we need to act now, before it's too late."

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