Do you know our national debt stands at $28 trillion today? It will grow by another whopping $1.9 trillion later this year after the COVID-19 relief bill is taken into account. It will grow by another $2 trillion to $3 trillion — to an almost unfathomable $33 trillion— once Congress passes the infrastructure bill currently under consideration. I am not arguing for or against the purpose of these pieces of legislation. I am simply pointing out that we do not have the funds for these initiatives — the funds will be borrowed money and we are saddling future generations with a debt that might cripple our nation.

In 2000, our national debt stood at $5 trillion. Many of us considered that too high already. By the end of this year, we will have added $28 trillion dollars to our national debt over the course of 21 years. Are you kidding me? With an annualized national budget of approximately $3.5 trillion dollars, how are we going to ever pay off $33 trillion dollars? The debt service alone on the debt is about $400 billion on an annual basis. That amount will only continue to grow if and when interest rates rise.

I care about and love America. I am an immigrant having arriving on these beautiful shores on a freedom flight from the socialist tyranny of Castro’s Cuba. After graduating from Miami Senior High, in order to give back, I served in the U.S. Air Force for close to five years.

It pains me deeply to see our country mortgaging its future by spending money we do not have. Former House Speaker Paul Ryan, who had the respect of both sides of the political aisle for his budgetary knowledge, once told me that if we kept spending money like we are doing, in 30 years, 100 percent of our national budget will be spoken for in the form of entitlements. Money for national defense, caring for children, seniors and veterans and other expenditures will come from borrowed funds. That is not sustainable.

What are some solutions? President Biden should appoint a bipartisan group similar to the Simpson Bowles Commission of Americans to come up with ways to pay down this debt. President Obama got the idea right in 2011, but the commission failed because of a lack of leadership, starting with the president on down. By the end, the commission failed to adopt its own recommendations.

Certain tax loopholes that are costing the United States billions of dollars need to be closed. One comes to mind: the credit union tax loophole. Credit unions were formed so that people of modest means and from similar backgrounds could access credit. Today many credit unions are multibillion-dollar financial institutions, paying executive staff millions in salaries and benefits.

The overwhelming number of credit unions should remain tax exempt as they have stayed true to the original charter purposes. But credit unions like Navy Federal (not part of U.S. Navy) is a $140 billion financial institution, where the executive team makes millions of dollars and are masquerading as a tax exempt bank with a credit union charter. Last year, that particular credit union made a net income of $2 billion—after paying for lavish salaries and benefits for their staffs and directors. Yet the mega billion dollar plus credit unions are not paying state or federal taxes to support the needs of our nation like defense, the needs of care our veterans, children, and seniors and other social needs of the nation. Congress needs to close that outrageous and outdated tax-dodging loophole now.

First, we bankers consider such special treatment unfair. Our institutions have no such tax-exempt status. Second, our country simply cannot afford this corporate welfare any longer.

The time has come to heed the words and advice of President John F. Kennedy, who said: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” It’s time to put those words into play. This national debt could one day really damage our country. Close the credit-union loophole now.

Alex Sanchez is president and CEO of the Florida Bankers Association.