[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 13 (Wednesday, January 31, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H979]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           ARTIFICIAL DEFAULT

  (Mr. GIBBONS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, the Republicans in this Congress, in the 
House of Representatives, are trying to force this Government into an 
artificial default. This is not a new power that the Congress suddenly 
possesses. It is something that has been embedded in the Constitution 
since the founding of this Government.
  The power to force a default has always been there, but in all of the 
200-plus years of the history of this country, it has never been used 
by either political party, except the Republicans are now attempting to 
use it to force a default.
  The consequences of a default are unthinkable. It is so drastic that 
no one has really ever actively played a scenario as to what would 
happen.
  I hope our Republican colleagues will relent and give the American 
people an opportunity to pay their debts when they come due and to 
allow the Government to function in a normal manner.

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