[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 108 (Tuesday, July 19, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H5163-H5164]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              IN SUPPORT OF THE CUT, CAP, AND BALANCE ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Fitzpatrick) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FITZPATRICK. I rise today in support of the Cut, Cap, and Balance 
Act, and I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle here to 
support the bill when it comes to the floor later today. This 
legislation not only provides a workable framework to avert an 
economically dangerous default on our obligations but it also sets the 
stage for real structural changes to the way the Federal Government 
spends our tax dollars, something that the President has yet to 
propose.
  Lately, there have been stories and speculation about the major 
credit rating agencies such as Moody's and Standard and Poor's 
threatening to downgrade America's creditworthiness should we fail to 
raise the statutory debt ceiling. These ratings are more than letters 
on paper. They affect Americans in all walks of life and in very real 
ways. A downgrade of our Nation's credit rating would make mortgages 
more expensive, make it more difficult to get a loan for a car, and 
could make student loans unaffordable.
  While default would likely ensure downgrade, a debt ceiling increase 
is no longer alone sufficient to ensure our AAA credit rating. Moody's 
has warned that the outlook to our bond rating would remain negative 
should any plan going forward not include long-term deficit reduction. 
It is not enough to simply raise the limit on the credit card and 
continue making the minimum monthly payments. We must begin to pay down 
our debt.
  One need look no further than Greece and Portugal as examples of 
governments which have failed to address

[[Page H5164]]

their debt crises in time to avoid brutal austerity measures which have 
caused widespread civil disorder in those countries. The politicians in 
Greece and Portugal thought they could avoid making the tough decisions 
that were clearly laid out before them. They thought they could make it 
through just one more quarter or just past one more legislative 
session, or maybe they could just buy themselves enough time to let the 
next guys handle it. We cannot continue to operate under the same 
delusions.
  The Cut, Cap, and Balance Act avoids a crippling default and sets us 
on a path to fiscal solvency by making real spending cuts now, placing 
statutory limits on spending, and sending a balanced budget amendment 
to the States, a measure that so many of us have so consistently 
supported. These decisions, Mr. Speaker, will not be easy. No change 
ever is. As these debates have gone on for the past several months, I 
have been reminded of Thomas Paine when he wrote: ``If there must be 
trouble, let it be in my day, that my children may have peace.'' We 
need to decide what our legacy to our children and their children will 
be--a mountain of debt or a sound government that lives within its 
means.

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