| Indiana has maintained our strong fiscal footing thanks to decades of conservative leadership that has passed balanced budgets, paid down our state’s debt and cut taxes. Senate Republicans have championed paying down our state’s largest unfunded pension liability, the Pre-1996 Teachers Retirement Fund, with an additional $3.7 billion in recent years in addition to our annual $1 billion payments. However, at the federal level, our national government’s debt has grown to more than $38.6 trillion. Of this debt, more than $8 trillion is owed to people outside our nation – including more than $1 trillion owed to individuals in China. This debt owed to foreign individuals, companies and nations represents a looming future threat to our nation’s economy and security. Last year, I supported Senate Resolution 51, which recognizes the urgency of our federal debt and its threat to national security. This resolution now serves as a national model for other states to use to help draw attention to the seriousness of the national debt. Our federal government must take real steps to cut debt to help secure our economic future and ensure that burden does not fall on future generations of Americans. |
