WASHINGTON – Congressman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), chairman of the House Republican Conference, issued the following statement today in response to the U.S. national debt surpassing $16 trillion for the first time in American history.

“With our nation now $16 trillion in the red, there has never been a more urgent time to stop spending money we don’t have. Sadly, a third of our historic debt was compiled under this president – more debt than was accumulated in our first 200 years combined. Sadly, President Obama has proven utterly incapable of taking our nation’s spending-driven debt crisis seriously. Today’s dangerous milestone is a reminder that the only way to take our nation off the fast track to bankruptcy is with new policies in a new direction led by a new president.

“Our record-high debt is the result of failed leadership as much as it is from failed policies that only grew government instead of our economy. Despite pledging to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term, President Obama has allowed the deficit to surpass a trillion dollars each year he’s been in office. We are currently borrowing nearly 40 cents on the dollar, much of it from the Chinese, and sending the bill to our children and grandchildren. We must change course. We must enact the commonsense reforms in the House Republican budget if we are to strengthen our economy today and save the American dream for the next generation.”

 ###