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U.S. National Debt surged to hit $9 Trillion for the first time in history, according to the Treasury Department.

Congress last week approved an increase in the government borrowing limits, bringing it up to $9.815 trillion. This is the fifth time Congress has approved a debt increase since January 2001.

What the national debt entails is all the budget deficits, plus taking from government trust funds and Social Security to spend elsewhere.

As far as the budget deficit goes, that has dropped from the high in 2004 of $413 billion, down to $162.8 billion as of September 30. That's the lowest it's been in five years.

Some of the factors the Bush administration says are causing this are the costs of the war on terror, the attacks on September 11, and the 2001 recession.