[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 191 (Wednesday, December 16, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H15428-H15431]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        PERMITTING CONTINUED FINANCING OF GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Massachusetts.
  Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, I would like to reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. HELLER. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the Republican leader, 
the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner).
  Mr. BOEHNER. My colleagues, there's been a lot of lecturing on the 
House floor today from my Democrat colleagues about fiscal 
responsibility. And I heard a lot of about fiscal responsibility in 
2005 and 2006 when the then-minority wanted to take the majority.
  I think it's time for everyone in this room to take their fair share 
of blame for the spending that's gone on in this town for far too long. 
For 36 of the last 40 years, we've spent more than what we've taken in. 
There's not a household in America that could get by with this. There's 
not a company in America that could get by with it. And certainly, this 
government can't get by with it.
  For the last 3 years, the Democrat majority, though, after having run 
on this mantra of fiscal responsibility, has done nothing more than 
spend, spend, spend and spend. Now, we did our best in 2007 and 2008 to 
put the brakes on all that spending, and succeeded somewhat. But after 
this year, for you to criticize us about fiscal responsibility and to 
lecture us about fiscal responsibility after spending $1 trillion on a 
stimulus bill that was supposed to be about creating jobs, and what 
have we done? We've created more unemployment. We've not put anyone 
back to work. And we're asking our kids and grandkids to pay $1 
trillion in principal and interest for a bill that's not doing anything 
other than increasing spending.
  But what makes this bill that's on the floor here today to increase 
the debt limit by $290 billion a real joke is that as soon as this vote 
is over, we're going to take up Stimulus II or, as we like to call it, 
Son of Stimulus. We're going to take up Son of Stimulus, which is going 
to spend $150 billion on the same kind of failed spending programs that 
we passed earlier this year.
  And what are we going to do? We're going to use that TARP money that 
those banks and those financial institutions have paid back. Well, 
where'd that money come from? We had to go borrow it. Everybody knows, 
everybody that voted for or against TARP in this Chamber, knows that 
money was intended to go to pay down the deficit. And to take that $150 
billion and spend it on more wasteful Washington spending is putting it 
right on the backs of our kids and grandkids. That's going to happen 
right after this vote.
  Who are we kidding? We're not kidding anybody. I just think it's time 
to put the brakes on all of it. Let's get really serious about cutting 
spending. And the way we start is by saying no to increasing the debt 
limit.
  Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, let me recognize for 1 
minute the Majority Leader, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), a 
voice for fiscal reason in this institution.
  Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  A little over a year ago, Mr. Boehner and I spoke on a bill that I 
said would be noted as a day of consequence in the House of 
Representatives. That bill was to, at the request of President Bush and 
Secretary Paulson and Ben Bernanke, give some $700 billion to the 
Treasury to try to stabilize the financial sector of our economy. Mr. 
Boehner voted for that. My friend, Mr. Blunt, voted for that. I believe 
Mr. Cantor voted for that. Others of you voted for that. And many on 
our side voted for that bill. It failed.
  And we came back here a few days later, on Friday, and that bill was 
called up again. It was called up again because we knew that there 
really wasn't an option. Mr. Bernanke, President Bush's appointee as 
Chairman of the Federal Reserve, said that we were at risk of going 
into a depression if we did not vote for that bill. Nobody wanted to 
vote for that bill on either side of the aisle. That was a bill that we 
ultimately concluded on that Friday, approximately half of the 
Republican side of the aisle, a little more than half on my side of the 
aisle, was a bill that we needed to pass to avoid the risk of 
depression.
  Since that time, over the next 4 months, we saw an erosion in the 
economy, not a depression, but the worst recession we had seen in 8 
years. Now I have a speech here that we've prepared. I'm not going to 
give it because it, to some degree, points the finger at one another. 
And I agree with Mr. Boehner. There's blame to go around. We have been 
concerned about cutting revenues and increasing spending during the 
first part of this decade. You have been concerned about the spending 
that we believed was necessary to make to try to create jobs and bring 
our economy back.
  Mr. Boehner and I disagree on the impact of the Recovery and 
Reinvestment Act. Since its passage, the stock market has gone from 
6,500 to 10,500.

[[Page H15429]]

Anybody who opens up their 401(k) or Keogh or Thrift Savings Plan 
believes that we've made progress on that because their value has gone 
up about 60 percent. That's progress, but not success. We want to get 
back to where it was in terms of the value of those plans.
  In addition, in the last month of the Bush administration, we lost 
741,000 jobs, after adopting a policy that many believed, on your side 
of the aisle, would lift our economy. And, in fact, it did for a while. 
But it did not create the kind of jobs you wanted. And, in fact, on 
average, over the 8 years of the Bush administration, it produced 
approximately 4,200 jobs per month, on average, in comparison with the 
216,000 jobs, on average, per month that the Clinton administration saw 
during its term.
  So we could point fingers, but that would not be particularly useful. 
I have listened to this debate, and I am chagrined. And I want to plead 
guilty, because I've demagogued this issue as well. We had a quote 
presented about the morality of incurring debt. It was taken a little 
out of context, but we all say things that we look back on. And I voted 
against increasing the debt. It was a demagoguing vote. I voted four 
times against raising the debt. It was a demagoguing vote. I want to 
admit that and tell people. Why? Because I didn't believe then, nor do 
I believe now, that not paying America's bills is an option that 
Americans expect of us. Americans expect us to pay our bills. Some 
Americans would like us not to incur some bills for war, but if we do 
incur bills for war, they would like us to pay for it. Some Americans 
would not like us to incur bills for nutritional programs or education 
or whatever else may be, too much, too little, but if we do incur those 
bills, Americans expect us to pay the bill.
  I have a list here of everybody who spoke who was here who voted to 
increase the debt limit four times during the time that you were in 
charge of the House and of the Presidency. And we didn't support it. My 
suspicion is that we will find ourselves in the same place today. You 
all are not responsible for the running of the government or the 
passing of policy. We are. I understand that. And so my presumption is, 
perhaps, to a person, as we did on this side of the aisle, you will 
vote against this bill.
  And so I say to my friends on this side of the aisle, the American 
people have given us a responsibility. The American people have reposed 
in us a trust. And this year, in meeting that confidence and trust, we 
have taken some very tough votes. One of the things I said that was 
quoted that was immoral, that's the quote you used, and if you take out 
the whole quote, which a lot of times none of us do, we take the part 
of the quote that we like, I said that not to pay for what we buy, and 
to jettison PAYGO, was not right.

                              {time}  1600

  One of the reasons that we find ourselves in this position is because 
we haven't adopted a statutory PAYGO, and we should adopt statutory 
PAYGO. I understand my friends on this side of the aisle are not 
clapping. And the reason you're not clapping is because you believe, 
correctly, that that will constrain you in effecting tax cuts, because 
you believe that cutting taxes does not create debt.
  The tragedy is, during the 8 years President Bush was President and 
you were in charge--because we couldn't pass any economic policy past 
President Bush's budget veto--you incurred $2 trillion of debt as you 
cut revenues and increased spending at a greater rate than was 
increased under the Clinton administration, and you were in charge of 
everything. But Mr. Boehner is correct, my grandchildren and his don't 
care whether you did it, we did it, or we did it together.
  But my colleagues on this side of the aisle, if we take seriously 
that oath to protect and preserve this Nation, there is no one on 
either side of the aisle, Republican or Democrat, conservative or 
liberal, who will rationalize that America's not paying its debt is a 
good policy, because all of us know it is a disastrous policy and that 
the consequences of not passing this bill, in the stock market, 
globally with our creditors, and, yes, with Mom and Pop running that 
store in my town and your town, will be very substantial and 
unacceptable.
  So we come, as I said on the TARP vote, to a day of consequences. Not 
every day is a day of consequence in this House, the people's House. We 
vote on suspension bills and post offices and this, that, and the 
other. And even the bills that we'll consider next, we'll send it to 
the Senate or we won't send it to the Senate, and the world will little 
note nor long remember, as Abraham Lincoln said. But if America and its 
duly elected Representatives say to the rest of the world, We will not 
pay our bills, that will be of consequence.
  It is not about pointing fingers. It is about taking responsibility. 
It is about showing courage to do what all of us know. Whatever the 
rhetoric on this floor has been today, what all of us know is the only 
option for a responsible country, for a country that is perceived 
around the world as the wealthiest country on the face of the Earth, 
and for us to say this day, We will not pay our bills, that the 
consequences in January to the person who receives Social Security, the 
consequences to the Defense Department--not that they won't pay their 
bills. They're going to have to under the emergency clause. But the 
fact of the matter is, my friends, this is absolutely essential to do.
  Therefore, on my side of the aisle, I ask us to do it. And don't 
point fingers at their side if they don't do it, because we didn't do 
it. And very frankly, my friends, we have to stop that. We have to stop 
it for whoever is in charge, because Americans expect better of us.
  I ask you, therefore, as we consider this, we ought to vote on it not 
because we agreed with policy A or policy B or tax cut Y or tax 
increase Z, but because we know--and I tell my young friend who spoke 
on the floor about fiscal responsibility who is here for the first 
time--as we debate these issues on spending and cutting, that they are 
legitimate to debate, discuss, and vote however one believes is 
necessary.
  But in the final analysis, when the roll is called as to whether 
America will be a responsible debtor, whether we incurred that debt as 
a result of decreasing taxes, which we did, or increased spending, 
which we have, it matters not. What matters is that America pays its 
bills. Vote for this bill.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Madam Speaker, I voted for legislation increasing the 
debt ceiling that will get us two months into the next year. We are 
dealing with the sad consequence of Americans living beyond their means 
for the last eight years. Even though I have argued and voted against 
these expansions, such as an unfunded and ill-advised war, an unfunded 
expansion of Medicare, and tax cuts that were not sustainable, I 
nonetheless feel an obligation to increase the debt ceiling so that the 
federal government can continue to operate.
  This vote allows the government to continue to pay Social Security 
benefits, Medicaid and Medicare support, and the salaries of those 
serving in our uniformed services.
  At a time of continued challenge for the economy, we have higher 
demands for countercyclical programs like food stamps, unemployment 
benefits and support for state and local infrastructure projects. 
Unemployment and the economy would be much worse had we not made the 
recovery investment early this year, but even that has not been 
sufficient for the economy to fully rebound. It would be the height of 
irresponsibility for Congress to shut down the government, especially 
while we face these incredible challenges.
  In the long run, Congress will have to address comprehensively the 
level of government service, the nature of our revenue system, and how 
we extract more value from federal investments. It is in this context 
that we can constructively address our economic challenges, including 
our investments in job creation and reducing the federal deficit. This 
has been my top priority in this Congress as in previous sessions and 
should be at the top of the congressional agenda as we move forward. In 
the meantime, raising the debt ceiling is a critical factor to keep the 
economy recovering and the government functioning.
  Mr. HOLT. Madam Speaker, I rise today to vote against allowing the 
United States to default on its debt, although not otherwise in favor 
of increasing the debt ceiling. As my colleagues know, this is the 
fourth time we've done that since enactment of the Housing and Economic 
Recovery Act in July 2008, just as the economic crisis was exploding 
upon us. Although a comprehensive and expeditious response was 
necessary, each such increase has represented hundreds of billions of 
dollars in additional debt.
  In July 2008 Congress increased the debt ceiling by $800 billion. A 
mere three months

[[Page H15430]]

later, in October 2008, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act 
increased the debt ceiling by another $700 billion all because of 
President Bush's decision to pursue two wars on borrowed money Fours 
months after that, in February 2009, the American Recovery and 
Reinvestment Act increased the debt ceiling yet again by $789 billion 
because of the continued decline of the economy and efforts to deal 
with it. And today, we increase it by $290 billion more, to bring the 
ceiling to a staggering $12,394,000,000,000. The fact that the current 
increase is much smaller than the previous increases is no consolation, 
since the Treasury Department has indicated that it will only cover 
obligations due until February 11, 2010--a mere two months from now. 
Not to mention the fact that the entire debt ceiling was only about 
that much--$300 billion--during World War II.
  These increases don't come for free--we're mortgaging our future on 
them. We have voted to accelerate inflation and increase our long-term 
fiscal challenges. Before next February arrives, we must all give 
intensive thought to how to return this country to the surplus 
conditions in enjoyed in the late 1990s. Between fiscal years 1998 and 
2001, the federal government ran at a surplus and the debt ceiling only 
increased by $450 billion. The surplus vanished after fiscal year 2001, 
and the debt ceiling has increased by more than ten times that amount 
($44.66 trillion) since then.
  This deficit spending has provided much-needed economic stimulus in a 
time of crippling economic recession, and there is no dispute that we 
urgently needed to implement such stimulus measures over the course of 
the past year. But we are now in recovery, and it is time to get this 
economic train back on the right track. I support this increase with no 
pleasure, and I look forward to working with all my colleagues to bring 
down the debt ceiling as soon as possible.
  Mr. LANGEVIN. Madam Speaker, it is with great reservation that I vote 
for H.R. 4314, a bill to increase the statutory debt limit by $290 
billion. While I am keenly aware of the need for such action to ensure 
that the Federal Government doesn't default on its obligations, this 
represents a greater problem of borrowing and spending that we must 
begin to address now.
  There is no doubt in my mind that the actions taken by this Congress 
over the past year prevented a serious recession from turning into a 
calamitous economic depression. I also know that there are many 
families in my State that will require continued support and assistance 
as we cope with a 12.9 percent unemployment rate. However, as we 
attempt to enact policies that further stimulate the economy and get 
people back to work, we cannot lose sight of our fiscal challenges. We 
must refocus on deficit reduction and chart a course to a sustainable 
budgetary path.
  That is why I was pleased to vote for the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go 
Act, PAYGO, Act, which passed the House on July 22nd. This bill 
reestablishes the same rules enacted in the 1990's which led to record 
surpluses, by requiring that new mandatory spending increases or tax 
reductions be fully offset. Unfortunately, the Senate has not yet acted 
on this measure, but I look forward to working with them and my 
colleagues in the House to ensure that we reduce our deficit and debt 
obligations as we achieve continued economic stability.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4314, which 
will increase the statutory debt limit by an amount sufficient to cover 
obligations through February 11, 2010.
  As we take concrete steps to bolster our economic recovery while 
getting the nation's fiscal house in order, this measure will ensure 
the uninterrupted operation of government into the first part of next 
year. Insodoing, it affirms the full faith and credit of the United 
States, supports job creation and economic growth, and gives the House 
and Senate additional time to reach agreement on appropriate budget 
targets for the out years. Importantly, this temporary legislation is 
also offered alongside the House's twice-expressed commitment to 
statutory PAYGO legislation, whose use has been demonstrated to bring 
our budgets back into balance over time.
  Accordingly, I urge a ``yes'' vote.
  Mr. HELLER. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, I urge adoption of the 
resolution and yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired.
  Pursuant to House Resolution 976, the previous question is ordered on 
the bill.
  The question is on the engrossment and third reading of the bill.
  The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, and was 
read the third time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the passage of the bill.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.


                             Recorded Vote

  Mr. HELLER. Madam Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, this 15-
minute vote on passage of H.R. 4314 will be followed by a 5-minute vote 
on the motion to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 3714, if ordered.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 218, 
noes 214, not voting 3, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 988]

                               AYES--218

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Altmire
     Andrews
     Arcuri
     Baca
     Baird
     Baldwin
     Barrow
     Bean
     Becerra
     Berkley
     Berman
     Berry
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Blumenauer
     Boren
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boyd
     Brady (PA)
     Braley (IA)
     Brown, Corrine
     Butterfield
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardoza
     Carnahan
     Carson (IN)
     Castor (FL)
     Chandler
     Chu
     Clarke
     Clay
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Cohen
     Connolly (VA)
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costa
     Costello
     Courtney
     Crowley
     Cuellar
     Cummings
     Dahlkemper
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis (TN)
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Doyle
     Edwards (MD)
     Edwards (TX)
     Ellison
     Engel
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Farr
     Fattah
     Filner
     Frank (MA)
     Fudge
     Garamendi
     Gonzalez
     Gordon (TN)
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Hall (NY)
     Hare
     Harman
     Hastings (FL)
     Heinrich
     Herseth Sandlin
     Higgins
     Hill
     Himes
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Hirono
     Holden
     Holt
     Honda
     Hoyer
     Inslee
     Israel
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Kagen
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick (MI)
     Kilroy
     Kind
     Klein (FL)
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Lee (CA)
     Levin
     Lewis (GA)
     Lipinski
     Loebsack
     Lofgren, Zoe
     Lowey
     Lujan
     Lynch
     Maloney
     Markey (MA)
     Marshall
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McMahon
     Meeks (NY)
     Michaud
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, George
     Mollohan
     Moore (KS)
     Moore (WI)
     Moran (VA)
     Murphy (CT)
     Murphy, Patrick
     Murtha
     Nadler (NY)
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor (AZ)
     Payne
     Pelosi
     Perlmutter
     Peterson
     Pingree (ME)
     Polis (CO)
     Pomeroy
     Price (NC)
     Quigley
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Reyes
     Richardson
     Rodriguez
     Ross
     Rothman (NJ)
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Salazar
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sarbanes
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schrader
     Schwartz
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Serrano
     Sestak
     Shea-Porter
     Sherman
     Shuler
     Sires
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Spratt
     Stark
     Stupak
     Sutton
     Tanner
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Tierney
     Tonko
     Towns
     Tsongas
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Walz
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Welch
     Wexler
     Wilson (OH)
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Yarmuth

                               NOES--214

     Aderholt
     Adler (NJ)
     Akin
     Alexander
     Austria
     Bachmann
     Bachus
     Barrett (SC)
     Bartlett
     Barton (TX)
     Biggert
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boccieri
     Boehner
     Bonner
     Bono Mack
     Boozman
     Boustany
     Brady (TX)
     Bright
     Broun (GA)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Buchanan
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp
     Campbell
     Cantor
     Cao
     Capito
     Carney
     Carter
     Cassidy
     Castle
     Chaffetz
     Childers
     Coble
     Coffman (CO)
     Cole
     Conaway
     Crenshaw
     Culberson
     Davis (KY)
     Deal (GA)
     Dent
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Donnelly (IN)
     Dreier
     Driehaus
     Duncan
     Ehlers
     Ellsworth
     Emerson
     Fallin
     Flake
     Fleming
     Forbes
     Fortenberry
     Foster
     Foxx
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gerlach
     Giffords
     Gingrey (GA)
     Gohmert
     Goodlatte
     Granger
     Graves
     Grayson
     Griffith
     Guthrie
     Hall (TX)
     Halvorson
     Harper
     Hastings (WA)
     Heller
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Hodes
     Hoekstra
     Hunter
     Inglis
     Issa
     Jenkins
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones
     Jordan (OH)
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Kirkpatrick (AZ)
     Kissell
     Kline (MN)
     Kosmas
     Kratovil
     Kucinich
     Lamborn
     Lance
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Latta
     Lee (NY)
     Lewis (CA)
     Linder
     LoBiondo
     Lucas
     Luetkemeyer
     Lummis
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     Mack
     Maffei
     Manzullo
     Marchant
     Markey (CO)
     Massa
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCaul
     McClintock
     McCotter
     McHenry
     McIntyre
     McKeon
     McMorris Rodgers
     McNerney
     Meek (FL)

[[Page H15431]]


     Melancon
     Mica
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller, Gary
     Minnick
     Mitchell
     Moran (KS)
     Murphy (NY)
     Murphy, Tim
     Myrick
     Neugebauer
     Nunes
     Nye
     Olson
     Owens
     Paul
     Paulsen
     Pence
     Perriello
     Peters
     Petri
     Pitts
     Platts
     Poe (TX)
     Posey
     Price (GA)
     Putnam
     Rehberg
     Reichert
     Roe (TN)
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Rooney
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Roskam
     Royce
     Ryan (WI)
     Scalise
     Schauer
     Schmidt
     Schock
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shimkus
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Souder
     Space
     Stearns
     Sullivan
     Taylor
     Teague
     Terry
     Thompson (PA)
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Titus
     Turner
     Upton
     Visclosky
     Walden
     Wamp
     Westmoreland
     Whitfield
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman
     Wolf
     Young (AK)

                             NOT VOTING--3

     Radanovich
     Speier
     Young (FL)


                Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (during the vote). Members have 2 minutes 
remaining in this vote.

                              {time}  1625

  So the bill was passed.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________