mr. speaker , on february 17 , 2004 , the national debt of the united states exceeded $ 7 trillion for the first time in our country 's history .  one year later , our national debt is $ 7.7 trillion .  in the past year , our country has added $ 700 billion to our national debt .  the conference report for the fy06 budget resolution that is before us today would increase the statutory debt limit by $ 781 billion to a record $ 9 trillion .  mr. speaker , enough is enough .  the out-of-control rise in our national debt over the last year and the rise in our debt envisioned in this conference report are further signs of the terrible fiscal position in which we now find ourselves .  in 2001 , we had ten-year projected surpluses of $ 5.6 trillion [ 2002-2011 ] .  now , over that same time period , we have likely ten-year deficits of $ 3.9 trillion .  that 's a $ 9.5 trillion reversal in our ten-year fiscal outlook .  whether intentional or otherwise , our country 's current fiscal policies are depriving the federal government of future revenue at a time when we ought to be preparing for an unprecedented demographic shift that will strain social security and medicare .  our current fiscal irresponsibility will eventually land squarely on the shoulders of our children and grandchildren , who will be forced to pay back the debt we are accumulating today .  the `` debt tax '' that we are imposing on our children and grandchildren can not be repealed .  it can only be reduced if we take responsible steps now to improve our situation .  both parties need to work together in a bipartisan fashion to bring our budget back into balance so we can avoid the higher long-term interest rates and weakened dollar that are the inevitable consequences of rising deficits and a high national debt .  we are witnessing on a daily basis the reaction of the global financial markets to our fiscal irresponsibility , and as we can see in this conference report , congress has not yet gotten the message that deficits and debt matter .  for starters , congress needs to reinstate paygo rules for the entire budget , including spending and revenue measures .  budget enforcement rules that apply to only certain parts of the budget will not have a significant impact on our rising deficits , as federal reserve chairman alan greenspan mentioned in his recent testimony before the budget committee .  this fiscal year alone , interest on the national debt is expected to rise to $ 178 billion , and the administration projects that that figure will increase to $ 211 billion during the next fiscal year .  to put that figure in perspective , projected interest on our national debt next year will be $ 75 billion more than projected spending on education , public health , health research , and veterans ' benefits combined [ $ 138 billion ] .  further , the budget conference report before us today , which was filed only three hours before the house began to consider it , would require the house to cut medicaid funding by as much as $ 15 billion over the next five years .  just two days ago the house voted , by a vote of 348-72 , to reject harmful cuts to the medicaid program , and this conference report blatantly ignores the will of the house .  in addition to assuming an ever-larger share of our annual budgets , the interest on our debt , and the debt itself , are increasing our reliance on foreign borrowers , which will weaken our position in the world and increase the risk that another nation will be able to assert greater leverage over america .  over the last year , our country has borrowed nearly $ 400 billion [ $ 389 billion ] from foreign countries , and almost half [ 44 % ] of our publicly-held debt is held by foreign creditors [ $ 1.96 trillion , out of $ 4.4 trillion of publicly held debt ] .  finally , our deficits and debt threaten the social security and medicare programs that have raised so many of our seniors out of poverty and helped sustain the strongest middle class in history .  with a projected 75 year unfunded liability of $ 3.7 trillion , both parties in congress need to work together to address social security 's solvency problem , and this conference report does nothing to protect social security .  in fact , it continues the practice of raiding the social security trust funds to pay for other expenses of the federal government .  it is time for congress to stop playing games with our national debt , with social security , and with our kids and grandkids ' futures and take a commonsense , bipartisan approach to solve our budget problems .  