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GOP Congressman Introduces Legislation To Install National Debt Clocks Into Congressional Rooms

   DailyWire.com
Chip Roy listens during the House Oversight and Reform Committee markup of a resolution
Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call

Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) introduced a resolution into the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday to place real-time debt clocks in the main meeting rooms of the House Budget Committee and House Appropriations Committee.

“The fruits of our nation’s fiscal irresponsibility was on full display this month as we topped $23 trillion in debt,” Roy wrote in a press release. “In response to such a sad achievement, I introduced a simple piece of legislation titled the ‘Know Debt Resolution’ … it is quite clear to me that if Congress ever intends to eliminate the national debt, we need to at least know what the national debt is.”

The Know Debt Resolution (also known as H.Res. 686) instructs the House clerk to install a display onto the walls of the two separate meeting rooms. The displays would show the amount of national debt in real time so that Congress can be aware of the rapidly increasing debt when debating legislation that would affect the nation’s fiscal situation.

The resolution already has three co-sponsors, Reps. Mo Brooks (R-AL), Jeff Duncan (R-SC), and Paul Gosar (R-AZ) and states that the country’s “national debt is the greatest threat to the national security of the United States.”

The United States continues to accrue at least $100 million in debt every hour and the projected federal deficit for 2020 is expected to hit the $1 trillion mark.

“As we all know — the first step in correcting behavior is realizing there is, in fact, a problem,” Roy said. “The purpose of putting a debt clock in both committee rooms is to force members of Congress to recognize that we have a problem.”

“Congress continues to spend money that we do not have, borrowed on the backs of our children, our grandchildren, and our grandchildren’s children. We are mortgaging our progeny’s future for a present we cannot afford,” he continued. “Most Republicans and Democrats in Washington have found something they can regularly agree on in a bipartisan basis — increased spending across the board.”

The Texas congressman, who serves as a member on the House Freedom Caucus, has long been an outspoken opponent of the skyrocketing government debt and deficit. He has repeatedly and vocally urged Congress to act on reducing discretionary and mandatory spending.

“A debt clock — strategically placed in the very locations where Congress exercises its Article One power to appropriate and budget is a common-sense step towards a course correction in the disastrous journey that both the Republicans and Democrats have plotted for the American people over the past many years,” Roy continued in his statement.

“I’m proud to have stood up for fiscal sanity since entering the halls of Congress. It is high time for Congress to take seriously the issue of our skyrocketing national debt,” he added. “I plan to continue fighting for a balanced budget, reduced spending and ensuring that I can pass down an America to my children and grandchildren that is freer than the one I inherited from my parents and grandparents.”

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