Senator Bob Corker, a member of the Senate Budget Committee, on Tuesday released the following statement after the national debt reached $20 trillion.
“The greatest threat to our nation is not North Korea, or Russia, or even ISIS,” said Senator Corker.
“The greatest threat to our nation is our inability to get our fiscal house in order, and it is absurd that Washington continues to turn a blind eye to the dangerous crisis staring us in the face.
“We are now $20 trillion in debt and that number will double in the next 10 years unless we have the courage to put a fiscal straitjacket on Congress,” said Senator Corker. “I have offered several proposals to do just that, and I will continue fighting for much needed spending reforms in Washington.”
Senator David Perdue said, “If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there, does it still make a sound? One thing is for sure, most Americans don’t know yesterday our country’s debt surpassed the $20 trillion mark. This should have sounded the alarms in Washington. Instead, today it is business as usual.
“Washington has got to wake up. This debt crisis is well past the tipping point and it is directly impacting our ability to fund our priorities. A perfect example is natural disaster relief funds. This isn’t anything new. The warning signs have been there. What’s been missing is the political will to do something about it. We can get out of this debt crisis but first we will have to fix Congress’ budget process.”