[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 65 (Thursday, May 12, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2896-S2897]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           DEBT AND SPENDING

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, anyone who cares about the future of 
our country should pay attention to the debate we are having right now 
in Washington. The outcome of this debate will determine whether 
America goes the way of debt-ridden countries in Europe where 
unemployment is permanently high and expectations are permanently low 
or whether we will claim our role as a place where people are rewarded 
for hard work and for taking risks.
  This debate is important for other reasons too. Last month, one of 
the major ratings agencies gave the United States a negative outlook. 
It said that because of our debt, we stand a one-in-three chance of 
being downgraded. The consequences of that would be truly devastating, 
and so would the impact on our ability to govern. If we allow it to 
happen, we will be admitting that America cannot solve its problems. I 
won't accept that.
  The fact that we have a crisis is not in doubt. Right now, America is 
taking in about $2.2 trillion each year in tax revenues, and each year 
we are spending about $2.2 trillion on mandatory spending programs and 
net interest on our debt.
  What that means is that all of the other spending--every single 
discretionary dollar we spend right now on

[[Page S2897]]

roads, schools, defense, food safety, environmental protection--all of 
it, every single penny is borrowed money. We do not have a dime to 
spend above and beyond the dimes we have to spend by law. If that is 
not a fiscal crisis, I do not know what is.
  The Democrats' solution to this crisis is simple: raise the debt 
limit--raise the debt limit--so we can maintain the status quo. In 
fact, the chairman of the President's Council of Economic Advisers said 
in a speech yesterday that it would be ``quite insane'' to do anything 
about the deficit while increasing the debt ceiling. That from the 
chairman of the President's Council of Economic Advisers yesterday.
  The problem with that is it is not a solution. It is the avoidance of 
a solution, and that is not what the American people want. The American 
people spoke loudly and clearly in November. They want to see changes 
around here. Washington is mortgaging their future and their children's 
future by spending too much. They did not speak out last November 
because they expected Republicans to come here and raise taxes. They 
sent Republicans here to get our fiscal house in order, and that is 
what we intend to do.
  Americans are still outraged that Washington did not do something to 
prevent the last financial crisis--a crisis most people did not see 
coming. Failing to prevent one that every one of us knows is coming is, 
of course, totally inexcusable.
  So my message has been clear: Failing to do something about the debt 
would be far worse in the long run than failing to raise the debt 
limit, and that is why I am repeating my plea to the Democrats this 
morning: The time to avert this crisis is right now. The window is 
closing. We cannot raise the debt ceiling, as the President has 
requested, without major spending cuts now.
  Some have suggested we use triggers. Well, the triggers have already 
been pulled. What good is a fire alarm that goes off after the building 
burns down? Agreeing to a trigger is to deny this crisis. We need to 
face this problem now--not tomorrow, not after the President leaves 
office, not after the markets collapse, not after hell breaks loose, 
not after we lose another 3 million jobs and the housing market 
collapses again--now, right now. Anything less would be a dereliction 
of duty and a signal to the world that America does not have the will 
to fix its problems. Republicans refuse to accept that.
  That has been my message all along. That is a message we will be 
taking down to the White House later this morning.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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