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Congressional Daily Record
This section covers nominations, confirmations, or other executive branch business. It mentions members such as Charles Ernest Grassley.
Official title: National Debt (Executive Session)
Issued
May 12, 2026
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Download official Senate Record PDFReturn to issue contextMr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, last week, I held 12 Q&As in 12 different counties during our Senate recess. Not in every county, but in some counties, a question like this comes up: What are you going to do about the national debt?
I usually say to the person asking the question: You could have asked me an easier question.
week—an announcement that ought to scare all Americans but particularly those of us in the Congress of the United States—and it was not a surprise announcement. The United States recently eclipsed a fiscal milestone. At the end of March, the Nation's publicly held debt surpassed the value of all goods and services produced in our economy. Another way to say that is that our national debt as a percentage of our gross national product was more than 100 percent.
exceeded this mark since 1946. Passing this threshold should be a wake- up call to Congress to get the Nation's fiscal house in order. In 1946, debt relative to the economy hit its peak and precipitously declined thereafter thanks to the end of World War II. Today, it is just the opposite. Our debt is expected to grow faster than the economy indefinitely, and it ought to be a wake-up call to all of us in the Congress of the United States. In fact, interest on the debt alone is costing American taxpayers $1 trillion annually, and within 10 years, interest costs will top $2 trillion a year.
reminds us with every budget update that this fiscal path is unsustainable.
Economist Herb Stein famously quipped:
If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.
Our debt cannot grow faster than the economy forever. It eventually will stop. The question is, When and how?
this country that are very concerned about this situation: We can either work together today to gradually turn the corner or wait until there is a crisis where draconian austerity measures are forced upon us by the national creditors. For the good of the Nation, we must embrace the former option.
I yield the floor.
Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant executive clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.