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NEWS BRIEFS
Public contributes $3M to eliminate fed debt
PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (AP) — The U.S. Treasury Department received more than $3 million in monetary gifts last year to pay down the national debt.
Joyce Harris, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Public Debt, said the agency received more than $3.06 million during the 2009 fiscal year to help offset the national debt.
Harris said the contributions are nothing new.
"This is something that has been around a while," she said.
Since 1961, tax-deductible contributions can be made to the U.S. Treasury Department's Bureau of Public Debt. The contributions are sent to a post office box in Parkersburg.
According to its Web site, the Bureau of the Public Debt may accept gifts donated to the United States government to reduce debt held by the public.
The national debt sits at $11.991 trillion and public debt accounts for $7.59 trillion.
The bureau may accept a monetary gift only on the condition that it be used to reduce debt held by the public. Other intangible personal property may also be given on condition the property is sold and the proceeds from the sale are used to reduce the public debt. Gifts to reduce debt held by the public may be living trusts gifts or "testamentary bequests."
The $3 million is a recent high for contributions, but not a record, according to Harris. In 1992, the bureau received a single gift of $3.5 million.
"People have been contributing to reduce debt for many reasons," she said. "Some are very patriotic. Some feel fortunate to be citizens of this country and want to give back.
"They may have been immigrants and want to contribute something to a country that has given them so much."
Harris also noted the $3 million pales when compared against the national debt, which is approaching $12 trillion. It would take a million, million dollar donations to equal a trillion.
To make a contribution make checks payable to the Bureau of the Public Debt, and in the memo section, note it as a "gift to reduce the debt held by the public. Mail checks to Bureau of the Public Debt, P.O. Box 2188, Parkersburg, WV 26106-2188 Attn. Dept. G.
