[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 77 (Thursday, May 22, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H4533]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       ON RAISING THE DEBT LIMIT

  (Mr. STENHOLM asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, at the very time negotiators are putting 
the final touches on a tax cut that will add several hundred billion 
dollars to our national debt, the leadership in Congress is planning on 
slipping through the largest increase in the debt limits in the history 
of our country, without any debate up or down.
  We are about to engage in brinksmanship with the full faith and 
credit of the United States Government by adjourning before Congress 
completes action on the debt limit, in order to force the other body to 
approve the largest debt limit in history. We are going to cut and run.
  Mr. Speaker, I am willing to support a temporary increase in the debt 
limit. In a few moments I will offer a unanimous consent request to 
approve legislation providing for an increase in the debt limit through 
the end of the current fiscal year, with the requirement that the 
President submit a plan to bring our budget back into balance. This 
will allow us the time to consider a long-term larger increase with the 
deliberation the serious matter deserves.
  If my friends on the other sides of the aisle honestly believe that 
tax cuts with borrowed money is good economic policy, they should stand 
up and vote to increase the national debt to pay for their tax cuts, 
relying on parliamentary maneuvers to avoid an up-or-down vote on the 
issue.
  Mr. Speaker, in light of this, I ask unanimous consent that the House 
end this charade of borrowing money to pay for tax cuts and immediately 
take up H.R. 2156, which provides a temporary increase in the public 
debt, but makes no room for additional debt-financed tax cuts.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. LaTourette). Under the Speaker's 
consistent guidelines, the gentleman is not recognized for that 
purpose, and his time has expired.

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