[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 7 (Monday, January 22, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H341]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                HOUSE SHOULD ENACT A CLEAN DEBT CEILING

  (Mrs. KENNELLY asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. KENNELLY. Mr. Speaker, this House should enact a clean debt 
ceiling, and we should do it soon. The full faith and credit of the 
U.S. Government is not a political tool. It is one of the cornerstones 
of our economic stability. Its preservation is not a matter of 
politics; it is a matter of governance. It is one of the 
responsibilities that comes with being in the leadership in this House.
  Over the last months, Members of this House insisted that Government 
shut down to force agreement on a balanced budget. We all saw the 
difficulties, inconveniences, waste, and other awful things that 
resulted. But the march of folly continues. Now there is talk of 
forcing default unless the majority's agenda is adopted.
  There is no justification for this. This is an issue we agree on in 
substance. The long-term extension of the debt ceiling was contained in 
the reconciliation bill, and it is also the same number asked by the 
administration, $5.5 trillion. We should not be at this time teetering 
on the brink of default. We should not be playing games with this 
issue.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support a clean debt ceiling. 
Let us do it quickly and not to things that should not happen.

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