[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 116 (Friday, July 29, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Page S5030]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              DEBT CEILING

  Mr. ALEXANDER. As one Senator, I thank the majority leader and the 
Republican leader for their comments. We all know what we need to do. 
We have two objectives. At a time when we are borrowing 40 cents of 
every dollar we spend, we need to reduce the debt. We also need to 
honor our obligations, and we know why. There is nobody on the 
Republican side of the aisle I know of who thinks we should not honor 
our obligations.
  We know that on August 3 there will not be enough money to pay all 
the bills. We don't want the most creditworthy Nation in the world to 
go to a place where it begins to pay its bills selectively out of a 
cigar box, which is why I am hopeful--and I believe all of us are 
hopeful--that we can find a way for the two leaders to recommend to us 
and the House a solution that the President will sign, which will 
reduce our debt and honor our obligations.
  But to suggest that the majority leader's proposal--his bill--which 
he offers in good faith, I know that--is a compromise, that is a little 
hard to accept. It is a Democratic proposal. The other side has spent 
most of its time this week saying: We can get 53 of us to make sure 
that as soon as the Republican proposal passes the House, if it does, 
we will beat it in an hour. We will not even consider it. We will kill 
it. We are not going to vote on it. We will table it and put it away.
  That is not the spirit of compromise. The proposal the Speaker is 
trying to pass may be about the only thing he can pass in the House of 
Representatives. That may not be what a Democratic Senate would like, 
but this is a Democratic Senate and that is a Republican House. We have 
to come up with something that both can pass and the President will 
sign. We all know that.
  I hope the spirit of today, tomorrow, and Sunday is that we spend 
less time plotting about how we can defeat each other's proposals as 
quickly as possible and more time working together to come up with ways 
to reduce spending and honor our obligations.
  The Democratic whip is on the Senate floor. I have probably 
undermined his support in some groups for complimenting him for his 
courage. I support the same thing he does. For example, the work of the 
Gang of 6 is supported by one-third of the Senate, a very good example 
for the rest of us in the Senate about what can be accomplished when we 
work together.
  I hope we will recognize the Speaker is trying as hard as the 
majority leader to come up with something that can pass the House. The 
majority leader wants something that can pass the Senate, but it must 
pass both and be signed by the President. We must reduce our spending 
and we must honor our obligations, and every single Republican Senator 
as well as every Democrat knows that, I think.
  I thank the Chair, and I yield the floor.

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