PANews reported on August 13th that the U.S. national debt surpassed $37 trillion for the first time on August 12th, as the federal government continued to accumulate debt at a record pace. The latest data released by the U.S. Treasury Department showed that as of that afternoon, the total national debt had reached $370,048,176,258,422. Maya McGuinias, chairwoman of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, stated that the U.S. fiscal situation is seriously out of balance, yet Congress has consistently exacerbated it.