mr. fitzpatrick. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for three minutes. mr. fitzpatrick: thank you, madam speaker. madam speaker, i am here to state the obvious, that the federal government still spends too much and it borrows too much. president obama has asked the congress to raise the debt limit by $1.2 trillion. let's put this number into perspective. there are 83 million families in the united stas. so what the president is really king is for every hardworking american family to mortgage an additional $14,450. while middle-class americans are struggling, the president has requested to pile more and more debt on top of hardworking taxpayers. americans are tired of hoping that their lawmakers will come together and find commonsense solutions to a very serious problem facing our nation. our national debt stands at over $15 trillion. our outstanding debt totals 100% of our gross domestic product. our credit rating has been downgraded. medicare will be bankrupt in ni

mr. fitzpatrick: thank you, mr. speaker. starting january 29 of this year, catholic schools across the country will initiate their annual observance of catholic schools week. the theme for this year is catholic schools, faith, academics, service. the 2012 theme emphasizes the principles of catholic school education which families in my district and across the country highly value. the theme focuses on three priorities that are distinct to catholic schools -- children are taught faith, not just the basics of christianity but how to have a relationship with their gods. academics. earlier this year i was proud to recognize the nativity of our lord catholic school in pennsylvania for receiving the 2011 national blue ribbon of excellence award. finally, the third principle in the 2012 theme is service. the combiffing of one's time and -- the giving of one's time and effort to help others. it's taught as both an expression of faith but also of good citizenship. schools typically celebrate catholic schools week with mass, open hous

mr. fitzpatrick. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for three minutes. mr. fitzpatrick: thank you, madam speaker. madam speaker, i am here to state the obvious, that the federal government still spends too much and it borrows too much. president obama has asked the congress to raise the debt limit by $1.2 trillion. let's put this number into perspective. there are 83 million families in the united states. so what the president is really asking is for every hardworking american family to mortgage an additional $14,450. while middle-class americans are struggling, the president has requested to pile more and more debt on top of hardworking taxpayers. americans are tired of hoping that their lawmakers will come together and find commonsense solutions to a very serious problem facing our nation. our national debt stands at over $15 trillion. our outstanding debt totals 100% of our gross domestic product. our credit rating has been downgraded. medicare will be bankrupt i