Whereas the Founding Fathers explicitly delegated to Congress the power of the purse, including the power over the Nation’s debts; Whereas article I, section 8 of the United States Constitution states: The Congress shall have power to … pay the debts … and to borrow money on the credit of the United States ; Whereas since the signing of the Constitution, Congress has placed limits on the debts of the Nation; Whereas limits on the debt force Congress to evaluate their fiscal policies and consider the consequences of their deficit spending decisions, as well as provide an opportunity to implement fiscal reforms; Whereas debating and voting on the debt limit is a core constitutional function of Congress, and provides the public with a window of transparency into the fiscal actions of those who represent them; Whereas through 1917, the United States borrowed only occasionally to finance emergencies such as war or economic recovery, or to build infrastructure such as the Panama Canal, and then made concerted efforts to expeditiously pay down the debt after periods of exigent circumstances abated; Whereas over the last 100 years, the United States has greatly expanded its deficit spending to the point that it now must borrow continuously to finance the basic functions of government; Whereas, as a result, the public debt of the United States is now over $20 trillion; Whereas the debt is at the highest level ever recorded in the history of the Nation; Whereas annual Federal deficits are currently running near $700 billion, which is added to the debt; Whereas to pay off the national debt, each taxpayer in America would have to pay over $167,000; Whereas in fiscal year 2016, American taxpayers spent $240 billion just to pay the interest on the debt; Whereas the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that by 2027, annual interest payments on the debt will more than triple to $818 billion, an amount greater than that spent on national defense