[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 7 (Monday, January 22, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H343-H344]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               EFFECT OF DEFAULTING ON THE NATIONAL DEBT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas [Mr. Bentsen] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BENTSEN. Mr. Speaker, I am a new Member in this body and I am not 


[[Page H344]]
one who comes down to the well to speak often, but having read through 
the papers this weekend and particularly today, I have become quite 
alarmed as a new Member of this 104th Congress to see that once again 
the majority leader and the majority party are advocating that we 
should default on our national debt. That is something that the United 
States, unlike many countries, has never done.
  Mr. Speaker, it is something, if we were to default on the Treasury 
debt, that would preclude us from making payments to Social Security 
recipients, would preclude us from making payments to veterans 
benefits, but perhaps even more alarming is it would cause a dramatic 
rise in interest rates across the United States, affecting homeowners, 
people who are trying to buy their first home, families, people who are 
trying to take out loans to buy a car, kids who are trying to take out 
loans to go to college.
  Quite frankly, it would probably drive this country into a recession, 
hardly a wise economic policy of the new majority.
  But, Mr. Speaker, when you combine that with what the majority is 
proposing at this point in time after we have come off of what 
effectively has been a 3-week recess or adjournment, it now appears the 
majority has decided that we should adjourn until February 26 after we 
adjourn this Thursday.
  Mr. Speaker, I started thinking about all the legislation that has 
not passed in this 104th Congress. We still are in a budget crisis, we 
still have not passed a number of our appropriations bills. But then 
the list goes on. We have the bank modernization, which is stalled. We 
have telecommunications reform, which is stalled. We have Superfund, 
which is stalled. We have not even taken up the water resources bill. 
We have immigration reform, which is stalled. We have housing reform, 
which is stalled. There is no talk of health care reform. But my 
constituents still ask about it. We have the safe drinking water bill, 
which is stalled. We have the clean water bill, which is stalled. We 
have the farm bill, which has heretofore disappeared.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, it would appear in this monumental Congress, after 
40 years of being in the minority, that the new majority, the 
Republican majority, would do something about it. While I was not 
around when Harry Truman was president and talked about the 83d 
Congress back in the 1950's as the do-nothing Congress, it would appear 
what we have now is the failed 104th, the failed 104th, which is 
incapable of doing the Nation's business.
  Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. BENTSEN. I yield to the gentlewoman from California.
  Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, as the gentleman is aware, I mentioned 
earlier this afternoon my concern that the Securities and Exchange 
Commission is supposed to run out of money completely on Friday. I know 
the gentleman has a strong background in financial markets. I am 
wondering what is his point about the debt ceiling, defaulting on the 
debt while the Securities and Exchange Commission has to shut down. 
Would that be helpful to America's markets and the economy of not only 
America, but the world?
  Mr. BENTSEN. Reclaiming my time, I thank the gentlewoman from 
California for commenting. The fact that under our system of finance 
the companies would not be able to go public and raise capital so they 
could create new jobs is ridiculous. We have an economic rebound going 
on, we have GDP growing at a rate of about 2 to 3 percent right now. 
What we want are companies raising capital, investing in their 
infrastructure and their human capital potential to create more jobs.
  Yet this Congress, under the Republican majority, believes we ought 
to shut down the Securities and Exchange Commission, we ought to shut 
down contracts for large companies like Rockwell and others that are 
working on the space shuttle and the space station so people will get 
laid off; we ought to default on the national debt so interest rates go 
up, companies lay people off.
  That is not an economic strategy, that is an economic disaster.
  Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, for a further question, I know that I was 
in local government for many years, a year ago I was sitting in a local 
government office, and I had the opportunity to speak to some of my 
former colleagues over this 3-week break period. They are having a very 
tough time putting their budget together, because they do not know what 
the Federal Government is going to do. So I know that had I been back 
where I was year ago, no way would they walk away and adjourn for a 
month's paid vacation without this job done.
  But I am aware a year ago you were in the private sector in the 
business world. I am wondering, in the private sector employment, would 
a man in your position have taken a month's paid vacation with this 
amount of work done?
  Mr. BENTSEN. Absolutely not. This is no way to run a country. This is 
certainly a revolution, but it is the wrong kind of revolution.

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