Black’s Statement on U.S. Debt Surpassing $16 Trillion

GALLATIN, TN – Congressman Diane Black (R-TN) issued the following statement today in response to the U.S. national debt surpassing $16 trillion for the first time in American history.

“Today, as the nation’s debt surpassed $16 trillion, the American people are reminded – once again – of the president’s record of broken promises. In 2008, then-candidate Barack Obama promised if elected president that he would cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term. The American people gave him the opportunity to make good on his word. Nearly four years later, not a dime has been cut; instead, the debt has increased by more than $5 trillion from the day he took office. His reckless deficit spending is undermining our economic recovery and threatening our future.

Each year, the president has introduced a budget plan that would increase the debt by trillions of dollars more over the next decade. His budgets are so extremely out of touch with reality that not a single member of Congress voted for them. In contrast, the House Republican budget would put America back on a fiscally sustainable and prosperous path. We must change course before the math and momentum of our massive debt engulfs the U.S. economy. America needs someone in the White House who realizes that the greatest gift we can give to our children and grandchildren is to stop spending money we do not have.”