WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) today addressed the impasse of the national debt and raising the debt ceiling, calling American’s greatest enemy the unsustainable national debt.

“A new generation in America came of age as the Soviet system collapsed; it is a generation that, in my opinion, too often takes for granted the hardship and sacrifice of their fore bearers,” said Roberts. “It is this generation that must confront the crippling $14.3 trillion debt. We have met the enemy and he is us. The enemy today is our unsustainable debt.”

Sen. Roberts made the comments during a speech on the Senate floor about the budget and national debt limit debates. In his speech, he reflected on American history and the challenges each generation faces. He also promised to oppose any debt limit increase without any real, meaningful cuts in spending.

“It should come as no surprise that the American people in general, and Kansans in particular, reject these spendthrift policies,” Roberts said. “I’m right there with them: I opposed TARP; I opposed bailouts; I opposed Stimulus; I opposed Dodd-Frank; I opposed Obamacare; and I oppose any increase in the debt limit without real, tangible cuts in discretionary spending and meaningful, structural reform to mandatory spending.

You can watch highlights from his speech on the player below.

The following is the full text of his prepared speech:

Mr. President, every generation confronts challenges. The greatest generation declared victory over fascism and imperialism. The next generation faced down an enormous competition between the United States and its way of life based on free markets, private ownership, and free expression on one hand; and the Soviet Union and its way of life based on central planning, collectivization, and police state control on the other. Again, victory belonged to America.

A new generation in America came of age as the Soviet system collapsed; it is a generation that too often takes for granted the hardship and sacrifice of their fore bearers. It is this generation that must confront the crippling $14.3 trillion debt. We have met the enemy and he is us. The enemy today is our unsustainable debt.

I am privileged to represent the people of Kansas, and the people of Kansas are rightfully angry over the endless political posturing regarding yet another increase in the national debt. That’s right, another increase in the debt limit. Rather than pay our debts down, the White House and our friends on the other side of the aisle want to increase our debts. We have met the enemy.

The elections last November were about one issue: the need to rein in spending. In two years the debt ceiling was raised four times under the leadership of Speaker Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Reid, and President Obama. Thus, in two years the debt limit was raised nearly as many times as it was in eight years of the previous administration.

It should come as no surprise that the American people in general, and Kansans in particular, reject these spendthrift policies. I’m right there with them: I opposed TARP; I opposed bailouts; I opposed Stimulus; I opposed Dodd-Frank; I opposed Obamacare; and I oppose any increase in the debt limit without real, tangible cuts in discretionary spending and meaningful, structural reform to mandatory spending.

Since last November, the president has spoken to this issue continuously, but that is precisely the problem: he’s all talk. His first opportunity to put words into action came in February when the White House submitted its budget request. It was a bloated $3.73 trillion budget that was estimated to add another trillion dollars to the national debt. That’s right, the president had an opportunity to do something about the debt, but he chose to add to it. The president had an opportunity to show us leadership, but he offered America more of the same: spend too much, borrow too much, and now he wants to tax too much. Taxes aren’t the problem; spending is. In May, the president’s budget request was defeated unanimously in this chamber; rightly so.

So, here we are, more than half way through the calendar year, and only two months away from the end of the fiscal year, and still no budget. Meanwhile, we have met the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling. Rather than make meaningful cuts, meaningful reforms, the White House and the Senate want to increase the debt ceiling again. We have met the enemy.

$14.3 trillion is a sum so large that it is difficult to understand. Kansans who call my office express shock that we have allowed it to get to this point. Kansas families do not have the luxury of indefinitely upping their debt limit. What would become of a family that acted that way? Mr. President, what does the future hold for a country that acts this way?

The Senate and the White House do not appear to have any interest in balancing the budget. Paying down the debt should be bipartisan: what would Presidents Truman and Eisenhower say of a $14.3 trillion debt? What we need in this Chamber, what we need in Washington is a strong dose of Kansas commonsense.

Mr. President, here are the facts:

• We borrow over 40 cents for every dollar we spend.

• There’s a lot of talk about tax breaks for corporate jets, but, according to Charles Krauthammer, if you collect the corporate jet tax every year for the next 5,000 years, you would cover only one year of debt that Obama has run up – one year.

• Every cent of taxpayer money is used to pay for entitlement programs and interest payments on the national debt – all discretionary spending is borrowed.

• Since January 20, 2009, the national debt has increased by nearly $4 trillion. That’s a lot of money. In fact, we have spent twice as much in the last two years as was spent in the last four years of the previous administration.

• On average, we accumulate $4 billion in debt each day, and it would cost each citizen over $46,000 to pay the debt off. That means a small family, say a husband, wife, and two kids would owe over $184,000. Kansas families I know don’t have that kind of money.

• We’ve gone over 800 days without a budget in the Senate and during that time this country has spent $7.3 trillion and we’ve paid $439 billion in interest on the money we’ve borrowed.

• At the rate we are going, in a few short years we will spend more by paying interest on the debt than on all discretionary spending outside defense.

Mr. President, we have met the enemy and he is us. To be sure, earlier this year, Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified that the biggest threat to our national security is the $14.3 trillion debt. He is right to be concerned, and his comments echo the calls I receive everyday from Kansans. Their message is clear: it’s time to stop spending money we don’t have.

There’s a lot of demagoguery going on right now, but let’s all take a deep breath. Mr. President, political debate and political posturing is nothing new. In the earliest days of our republic it was between Alexander Hamilton and the Federalists on one side, and Thomas Jefferson and his allies on the other. The enmity between these men was obvious through vitriolic rhetoric, and much of mudslinging that occurred then would be considered out-of-bounds by today’s standards of political discourse.

As the debate raged between the early parties over the drafting of the Constitution, it seemed possible that the great American experiment would be over before it began. Edmund Randolph wrote to George Washington, who at that time had retired to private life, and begged him to “rescue America from the impending ruin.”

George Washington rose to the occasion the way a true leader does. He did it not for himself, not for self-aggrandizement. No. He did it for his country, for his fellow Americans. Mr. President, George Washington showed leadership because it was the right thing to do. And in the end a compromise was reached to have the Constitution as drafted by the Federalists, but with the Bill of Rights included as drafted by the Jeffersonians.

Later, after being elected our nation’s first president, George Washington was dismayed over the continuous bickering between Hamilton and Jefferson over a wide range of issues: how to interpret the Constitution; the powers of Congress; the relationship between the states and the federal government; and the public debt. Sound familiar? These are the same issues we are dealing with today.

Amidst the feuding, George Washington wrote to Jefferson:

“How unfortunate, and how much is it to be regretted then, that whilst we are encompassed on all sides with avowed enemies and insidious friends, that internal dissension should be harrowing and tearing our vitals.”

Since the founding of our nation, people the world over have looked to us as a beacon of light because of our freedoms. Others have watched the great American experiment with a perverse hope that it fails. We can only fail if we fail ourselves; if we fail to balance the budget and bring down the debt.

America has always proven itself: we will meet any challenge and confront any enemy. The enemy before us is our own fiscal irresponsibility. It’s time to stop talking, and it’s time to start doing. In some of the toughest early political debates in our country, Americans were fortunate to have George Washington’s steady leadership keeping a hand on the wheel. I wish he were here today, but perhaps the members of this Chamber and the current President of the United States can look to his character, to his leadership, to his love of country as an example to guide us through these trying times.

Mr. President, every generation confronts a unique set of challenges. The challenge we face today is the $14.3 trillion debt. I am hopeful that we can close ranks to confront this enemy – we owe the American people and our fore bearers no less than victory in this fight.

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