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Rep. Michael C. Burgess

Madam Speaker, Congress is now back into session and reconvening, hitting a dubious milestone. The national debt is now larger than the entire economy of the United States. Earlier this month, USA Today reported on this, and the numbers are daunting. The amount of money the Federal Government owes to its creditors tops $15.23 trillion. President Obama's own budget from last year shows the debt increasing by $1 trillion a year over the next 10 years, topping out at $26 trillion a decade from now.

Put into perspective, other countries have similar situations: Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan--the very countries that are responsible for the European debt crisis. At the same time, the administration, over the last 3 years, has pushed a very aggressive spending agenda which includes a government takeover of health care, government takeover of banks, and $800 billion in stimulus funding.

House Republicans passed well over 20 jobs bills last year that have yet to come up for a vote in the Senate. I encourage the other body to take up these pieces of legislation. We have got to get our country back to work. We need to grow more taxpayers, not raise taxes.