Albright, Powell: Debt a threat to U.S. security

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The growing U.S. debt is a threat to national security, according to former secretaries of state Madeleine Albright and Colin Powell.

Albright said Monday night during the annual dinner of the Economic Club of Grand Rapids that higher taxes are a part of a solution, calling them "the price to pay for living in a civilized country."

Powell told the crowd of about 1,200 that no business would be run the way Washington runs the nation, The Grand Rapids Press reported. He said Americans must spend less and save more, and insist lawmakers do the same.

"I don't think the American people have yet to feel the pain of the imbalanced budget," he said. "Maybe we need to slide down more, hit a bump or a wall before the American people start to feel pain."

Both said the U.S. is safer now than before the Sept. 11 attacks nearly a decade ago. Albright said the country must determine its role in the 21st century, saying people no longer expect it to police the world.

"I do believe that the United States is an indispensable nation," she said. "But nothing in the definition of 'indispensable' does it say 'alone.' I believe we need to be sharing the burden in an increasingly competitive world."

Albright and Powell answered questions for about an hour. Other high-profile keynote speakers to the club in recent years have included former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

Powell served under Bush and Albright served under Clinton.