S.Amdt. 419

SA 419. Mr. BRAUN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill S. 2226, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2024 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the appropriate place in subtitle A of title X of
division A, insert the following:

SEC. ___. RECOGNIZING THE NATIONAL DEBT AS A THREAT TO
NATIONAL SECURITY.

It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) in January 2023--
(A) the total public debt outstanding was more than
$31,000,000,000,000, resulting in a total interest expense of
more than $717,611,000,000 for fiscal year 2022;
(B) the total public debt as a percentage of gross domestic
product was about 121 percent; and
(C) the debt owed per citizen was $94,240 and $246,864 per
taxpayer;
(2) the last Federal budget surplus occurred in 2001;
(3) in fiscal year 2022, Federal tax receipts totaled
$4,896,000,000,000, but Federal outlays totaled
$6,272,000,000,000, leaving the Federal Government with a 1-
year deficit of $1,376,000,000,000;
(4) the Senate failed to pass a balanced budget for fiscal
year 2022 and failed to restore regular order to the
legislative process by not allowing Senators to offer and
debate amendments;
(5) the Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees
project that--
(A) the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund will be
depleted in 2028; and
(B) the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund
and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund will be
depleted in 2034;
(6) improvements in the business climate in populous
countries, and aging populations around the world, will
likely contribute to higher global interest rates;
(7) more than $7,270,000,000,000 of Federal debt is owned
by individuals not located in the United States, including
more than $870,000,000,000 of which is owned by individuals
in China;
(8) China and the European Union are developing alternative
payment systems to weaken the dominant position of the United
States dollar as a reserve currency;
(9) rapidly increasing interest rates would squeeze all
policy priorities of the United

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States, including defense policy and foreign policy
priorities;
(10) on April 12, 2018, former Secretary of Defense James
Mattis warned that ``any Nation that can't keep its fiscal
house in order eventually cannot maintain its military
power'';
(11) on March 6, 2018, Director of National Intelligence
Dan Coats warned: ``Our continued plunge into debt is
unsustainable and represents a dire future threat to our
economy and to our national security'';
(12) on November 15, 2017, former Secretaries of Defense
Leon Panetta, Ash Carter, and Chuck Hagel warned: ``Increase
in the debt will, in the absence of a comprehensive budget
that addresses both entitlements and revenues, force even
deeper reductions in our national security capabilities'';
and
(13) on September 22, 2011, former Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff Michael Mullen warned: ``I believe the
single, biggest threat to our national security is debt''.
______