No need to pay down the debt? Not what he said.

By Angie Drobnic Holan
Published on Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 at 6:43 p.m.

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In 2001, former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan "justified increasing spending and cutting taxes, saying that we didn't really need to pay down the debt."

Hillary Clinton, Thursday, February 25th, 2010.

Ruling: Mostly False | Details

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Alan Greenspan testified before Congress in 2001.

In testimony to Congress last week, Hillary Clinton implicated former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan for irresponsible fiscal policies of the last decade.

"It breaks my heart that 10 years ago we had a balanced budget, that we were on the way to paying down the debt of the United States of America," Clinton said. "I served on the Budget Committee in the Senate, and I remember as vividly as if it were yesterday, when we had a hearing in which Alan Greenspan came and justified increasing spending and cutting taxes, saying that we didn't really need to pay down the debt -- outrageous in my view."

We turned to the transcripts, though, and found Clinton's memory wasn't quite accurate. Read our complete report to find out why we rated her statement Barely True.