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(Washington, D.C.) Fourth District Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.) joined colleagues
on the steps of the U.S. Capitol Wednesday in calling on the Republican
Leadership to put an end to irresponsible deficit spending, which has driven
our country into the largest deficit in history.
“I am worried about the direction our country is going,” said Ross.
“Our country is $7 trillion in debt and the debt is growing every hour,
every minute and every second. From 1997 to 2001, we balanced the
budget, and finally started to pay down the debt. Now, we have gone back
to the days of deficit spending. Last year, our country spent $150
billion more than it brought in. And this year, our nation’s deficit
is over $374 billion - the largest in our nation’s history.”
Ross joined members of the House of Representatives Blue Dog Coalition,
which is a caucus of House Members who promote fiscal responsibility, in
making this plea. The Coalition used the construction site of the U.S.
Capitol Visitors Center as a backdrop for the announcement, which is a
hole four stories deep. The growing hole symbolizes the hole the Republican’s
are digging our country into by irresponsible, deficit spending.
“Our deficits do matter - they impact us all,” said Ross. “We are spending
$1 billion every single day to pay down the national debt.
We could build 200 new elementary schools every single with $1 billion.
Or, we could provide prescription drug coverage for one million seniors
for a year just with the interest we are paying on the national debt in
one day! The hole we stand in front of today symbolizes the rising deficits
the Republicans are digging. If we don’t stop this hole from growing, our
children, grandchildren, and men and women in uniform will bear the burden
for generations.”
The Department of Treasury announced last week that the budget deficit
for 2003 has ballooned to a record $374 billion, the largest deficit in
our nation’s history. This number shatters the former record deficit, of
$290 billion. |
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