[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 71 (Thursday, May 17, 2012)]
[House]
[Page H2826]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     DEBT CEILING ``GROUNDHOG DAY''

  (Mr. YARMUTH asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. YARMUTH. Madam Speaker, it seems like Groundhog Day all over 
again.
  Earlier this week, GOP leaders laid down a new gambit on the old 
debate over whether to acknowledge our Nation's financial obligations. 
Those leaders have already abandoned the deal we made on the last debt 
ceiling package and are shifting all the cuts to education, 
infrastructure, and other vital domestic programs. Now they want 
another round of unsustainable cuts to these programs which will again 
bring us back to the brink of default.
  We know the possible consequences: Market collapse, jobs lost, more 
than $1 trillion added to the deficit every year, interest rates will 
rise. Just getting close to this cliff threatens the U.S. credit 
rating. We know that from recent experience.
  The Speaker has said, no, he doesn't want to abandon the debt 
ceiling, he doesn't want to violate the debt ceiling, he doesn't want 
to let the country go into default. But isn't this the same kind of 
uncertainty that our Republican friends say they are most concerned 
about? One day it's, Well, we're not going to raise the debt ceiling. 
The next day, No, I didn't mean that.
  We need certainty; we need stability, and we need to recognize this 
Nation's obligations.

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