[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 115 (Thursday, July 28, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H5667]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   OPEN LETTER TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Alabama (Mr. Brooks) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BROOKS. Mr. Speaker, I have voted to raise the debt ceiling where 
the bill makes America's financial condition better, not worse.
  In my judgment, both the Reid and Boehner plans fail to adequately 
address unsustainable deficits that threaten America with insolvency 
and bankruptcy. Both plans push the debt ceiling issue to 2012 or 2013, 
at which time a financially weaker America will confront a worse debt 
ceiling crisis. Both plans simply are not up to the seriousness of the 
financial challenges America faces.
  Washington must put 2012 election considerations aside and put 
America's interests first and foremost, now. Congress and the White 
House can and must do better, now. America deserves better, now. And 
quite frankly, we have no choice but to do better, now.
  Years of spending binges by the Federal Government have come home to 
roost. America's debt exceeds $14 trillion. America has suffered 3 
consecutive years of trillion-dollar deficits and faces trillion-dollar 
deficits into the foreseeable future. Annual deficits and accumulated 
debt force America to confront two major financial threats, both with 
one common cause: unsustainable budget deficits.
  In the short term, America faces a debt ceiling crisis. If the debt 
ceiling is not raised, economic hardship will ensue, unemployment rates 
will rise, and America's gross domestic product will decline. Over a 
longer term, however, America faces a larger, more serious debt crisis. 
If trillion-dollar deficits continue to run rampant, America's 
insolvency and bankruptcy is certain, which risks America's national 
defense capabilities, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, NASA, and 
everything else that the government provides.
  The question is not whether Congress will raise the debt ceiling; the 
question is when and how. I have already voted to raise the debt 
ceiling $2.4 trillion as part of the Cut, Cap, and Balance bill. We're 
cutting FY12 expenditures by a modest $111 billion in the context of a 
$1.5 trillion deficit, capping Federal Government expenditures within 
historically justifiable 18 to 24 percent ranges, and passing a 
balanced budget constitutional amendment that protects future 
generations of Americans from the financial mess we now face.
  I am prepared to vote to raise the debt ceiling again, so long as 
Congress substantively addresses our underlying deficit problem while 
protecting our fragile economy and jobs market. As best I can with the 
limited and changing information available, I have examined both the 
Boehner and Reid plans. While they differ in many respects, they also 
share common concepts:
  Neither plan purports to immediately raise taxes. Neither plan cuts 
spending in FY 2012 or 2013 by as much as 5 percent of this year's $1.5 
trillion deficit. Neither plan eliminates annual trillion-dollar 
deficits in the foreseeable future. Both plans raise the debt ceiling 
by at least $1 trillion and as much as $2.7 trillion. Both plans kick 
the can down the road and force America to revisit the debt ceiling 
crisis in either 2012 or 2013, at which time America's debt burden will 
be much higher and America will be that much weaker. Neither plan heeds 
Standard and Poor's or Moody's credit downgrade warnings. Neither plan 
cuts America's short- or long-term deficits enough to minimize the risk 
of downgrade in America's credit rating, a downgrade that will drive up 
America's debt service cost and cut funding for all other Federal 
Government programs. To make matters worse, if America's interest rates 
go up, State and local private interest rates are likely to also go up, 
thereby hurting Americans at all levels.
  There is only one reliable solution that I can discern that protects 
America from both financial threats: a debt ceiling increase coupled 
with a balanced budget constitutional amendment that is phased in over 
a 5-year period of time.
  In as much as constitutional amendments often take years to pass, 
time that America does not have, the first step must be to raise the 
debt ceiling when Congress passes a substantive balanced budget 
constitutional amendment. If the Senate and House concur, this can be 
done in as little as a week.
  The second step, equally important, raises the rest of the debt 
ceiling when the States ratify the proposed balanced budget amendment, 
thus giving States a needed incentive to ratify the balanced budget 
amendment in less than 1 year.
  This approach solves both financial threats.
  Quite frankly, Mr. Speaker, I pray that Washington has the strength 
to do what it must before it is too late. America is on the verge of a 
downward spiral. We must act now, and we must act in substantive ways.

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