[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 22 (Wednesday, February 5, 2014)]
[House]
[Page H1601]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              DEBT CEILING

  (Mr. HONDA asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HONDA. Madam Speaker, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has been urging 
Congress to act before Friday's debt ceiling deadline, but here we are 
again with no signs of legislative progress, with rumors of a ransom 
that Republicans will demand before Congress will be allowed to do its 
job.
  The Treasury Department is once again being forced to resort to 
extraordinary measures to continue financing the government.
  These games of chicken are dangerous. They are irresponsible, they 
have led to turmoil in the markets, and they have cost our economy 
billions. We have avoided disaster in the past and I believe will avoid 
it this time. In any game of chicken, one side always must blink. But 
what happens when neither side blinks? Disaster.
  I ask my colleagues to help me install a permanent fix that would end 
the brinksmanship surrounding the debt limit.
  My H.R. 233 allows the debt limit to be raised unless a supermajority 
of Congress votes to block such action. This would permanently shift 
the role of Congress to disapproving debt ceiling increases instead of 
being forced to approve them.
  My approach has been introduced by Senators Schumer, Boxer, and 
Hirono in the Senate, and has been endorsed by a growing chorus of 
economists and outside thought leaders.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in pursuing these permanent, 
necessary reforms.

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