United States Debt ceiling

The National Debt Clock in late 2009

The Second Liberty Bond Act of 1917 established a statutory limit on federal debt.^[96] Congress had previously approved each debt issuance separately. The debt limit provided the U.S. Treasury with more leeway in the administration of debt, allowing for modern management techniques in government finance.
The U.S. Treasury Department now conducts more than 200 sales of debt by auction every year. The Treasury has been granted authority by Congress to issue such debt as was needed to fund government operations as long as the total debt (excepting some small special classes) does not exceed a stated ceiling.
The most recent increase in the U.S. debt ceiling to $14.3 trillion by H.J.Res. 45 was signed into law on February 12, 2010.^[97]

Date	Debt Ceiling	Change in Debt Ceiling
June 25, 1940	$49,000,000,000 [98]
February 19, 1941	$65,000,000,000	$16,000,000,000
March 28, 1942	$125,000,000,000	$60,000,000,000
April 11, 1943	$210,000,000,000	$85,000,000,000
June 9, 1944	$260,000,000,000	$50,000,000,000
April 3, 1945	$300,000,000,000	$40,000,000,000
June 26, 1946	$275,000,000,000	-$25,000,000,000
August 28, 1954	$281,000,000,000	$6,000,000,000
July 9, 1956	$275,000,000,000	-$6,000,000,000
February 26, 1958	$280,000,000,000	$5,000,000,000
September 2, 1958	$288,000,000,000	$8,000,000,000
June 30, 1959	$295,000,000,000	$7,000,000,000
June 30, 1960	$293,000,000,000	-$2,000,000,000
June 30, 1961	$298,000,000,000 [99]	$5,000,000,000
July 1, 1962	$308,000,000,000	$10,000,000,000
March 31, 1963	$305,000,000,000	-$3,000,000,000
June 25, 1963	$300,000,000,000	-$5,000,000,000
June 30, 1963	$307,000,000,000	$7,000,000,000
August 31, 1963	$309,000,000,000	$2,000,000,000
November 26, 1963	$315,000,000,000	$6,000,000,000
June 29, 1964	$324,000,000,000	$9,000,000,000
June 24, 1965	$328,000,000,000	$4,000,000,000
June 24, 1966	$330,000,000,000	$2,000,000,000
March 2, 1967	$336,000,000,000	$6,000,000,000
June 30, 1967	$358,000,000,000	$22,000,000,000
June 1, 1968	$365,000,000,000	$7,000,000,000
April 7, 1969	$377,000,000,000	$12,000,000,000
June 30, 1970	$395,000,000,000	$18,000,000,000
March 17, 1971	$430,000,000,000	$35,000,000,000
March 15, 1972	$450,000,000,000 [100]	$20,000,000,000
October 27, 1972	$465,000,000,000	$15,000,000,000
June 30, 1974	$495,000,000,000	$30,000,000,000
February 19, 1975	$577,000,000,000	$82,000,000,000
November 14, 1975	$595,000,000,000	$18,000,000,000
March 15, 1976	$627,000,000,000	$32,000,000,000
June 30, 1976	$636,000,000,000	$9,000,000,000
September 30, 1976	$682,000,000,000	$46,000,000,000
April 1, 1977	$700,000,000,000	$18,000,000,000
October 4, 1977	$752,000,000,000	$52,000,000,000
August 3, 1978	$798,000,000,000	$46,000,000,000
April 2, 1979	$830,000,000,000	$32,000,000,000
September 29, 1979	$879,000,000,000 [101]	$49,000,000,000
June 28, 1980	$925,000,000,000	$46,000,000,000
December 19, 1980	$935,000,000,000	$10,000,000,000
February 7, 1981	$985,000,000,000	$50,000,000,000
September 30, 1981	$1,079,000,000,000	$94,000,000,000
June 28, 1982	$1,143,000,000,000	$64,000,000,000
September 30, 1982	$1,290,200,000,000	$147,200,000,000
May 26, 1983	$1,389,000,000,000	$98,800,000,000
November 21, 1983	$1,490,000,000,000	$101,000,000,000
May 25, 1984	$1,520,000,000,000	$30,000,000,000
June 6, 1984	$1,573,000,000,000	$53,000,000,000
October 13, 1984	$1,823,000,000,000	$250,000,000,000
November 14, 1985	$1,903,800,000,000	$80,800,000,000
December 12, 1985	$2,078,700,000,000	$174,900,000,000
August 21, 1986	$2,111,000,000,000	$32,300,000,000
October 21, 1986	$2,300,000,000,000	$189,000,000,000
May 15, 1987	$2,320,000,000,000 [102]	$20,000,000,000
August 10, 1987	$2,352,000,000,000	$32,000,000,000
September 29, 1987	$2,800,000,000,000	$448,000,000,000
August 7, 1989	$2,870,000,000,000	$70,000,000,000
November 8, 1989	$3,122,700,000,000	$252,700,000,000
August 9, 1990	$3,195,000,000,000	$72,300,000,000
October 28, 1990	$3,230,000,000,000	$35,000,000,000
November 5, 1990	$4,145,000,000,000	$915,000,000,000
April 6, 1993	$4,370,000,000,000	$225,000,000,000
August 10, 1993	$4,900,000,000,000	$530,000,000,000
March 29, 1996	$5,500,000,000,000	$600,000,000,000
August 5, 1997	$5,950,000,000,000	$450,000,000,000
June 11, 2002	$6,400,000,000,000 [103]	$450,000,000,000
May 27, 2003	$7,384,000,000,000 [104]	$984,000,000,000
November 16, 2004	$8,184,000,000,000 [105]	$800,000,000,000
March 20, 2006	$8,965,000,000,000 [106]	$781,000,000,000
September 29, 2007	$9,815,000,000,000 [107]	$850,000,000,000
June 5, 2008	$10,615,000,000,000 [108]	$800,000,000,000
October 3, 2008	$11,315,000,000,000 [109]	$700,000,000,000
February 17, 2009	$12,104,000,000,000 [110]	$789,000,000,000
December 24, 2009	$12,394,000,000,000 [111]	$290,000,000,000
February 12, 2010	$14,294,000,000,000 [112]	$1,900,000,000,000

96   ^ P.L. 65-43, 40 Stat. 288, enacted September 24, 1917. Currently codified as amended as 31 U.S.C. § 3101.

97   ^ Obama signs debt limit-paygo bill into law

98   ^ http://www.the-privateer.com/usdebt/40-60.html

99   ^ http://www.the-privateer.com/usdebt/61-71.html

100 ^ http://www.the-privateer.com/usdebt/71-79.html

101 ^ http://www.the-privateer.com/usdebt/79-86.html

102 ^ http://www.the-privateer.com/usdebt/87-97.html

103 ^ The Debt Limit: History and Recent Increases

104 ^ http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=hj108-51

105 ^ The Debt Limit: History and Recent Increases

106 ^ http://usliberals.about.com/b/2006/03/17/republicans-raise-us-debt-ceiling-to-9-trillion-caused-by-iraq-war-and-tax-breaks-for-the-rich.htm

107 ^ http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=hj110-43

108 ^ http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=hj110-92

109 ^ Report to the Secretary of the Treasury

110 ^ http://www.concordcoalition.org/issue-briefs/2009/0813/understanding-federal-debt-limit

111 ^ http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:HR04314:

112 ^ http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=hj111-45