[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 25 (Tuesday, February 11, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H1748-H1752]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF S. 540, PATRICIA CLARK BOSTON AIR ROUTE
TRAFFIC CONTROL CENTER, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I
call up House Resolution 478 and ask for its immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:
H. Res. 478
Resolved, That upon adoption of this resolution it shall be
in order to consider in the House the bill (S. 540), to
designate the air route traffic control center located in
Nashua, New Hampshire, as the ``Patricia Clark
[[Page H1749]]
Boston Air Route Traffic Control Center''. All points of
order against consideration of the bill are waived. An
amendment in the nature of a substitute consisting of the
text of sections 1 through 3 of Rules Committee Print 113-37
shall be considered as adopted. The bill, as amended, shall
be considered as read. All points of order against provisions
in the bill, as amended, are waived. The previous question
shall be considered as ordered on the bill, as amended, and
on any amendment thereto to final passage without intervening
motion except: (1) one hour of debate equally divided and
controlled by the Majority Leader and Minority Leader or
their respective designees; and (2) one motion to recommit
with or without instructions.
Sec. 2. House Resolution 475 is amended in section 2 by
striking ``February 13, 2014'' and inserting ``February 12,
2014''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Womack). The gentleman from Georgia is
recognized for 1 hour.
Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the
customary 30 minutes to my friend from New York (Ms. Slaughter),
pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During
consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose
of debate only.
General Leave
Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Georgia?
There was no objection.
Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 478 provides a closed rule for the
consideration of S. 540.
Now, if you heard the Clerk read S. 540, you might not have
understood why we were here today. He read it exactly as it is drafted
in the title, but we are here today to move a clean debt ceiling.
Now, I won't tell you, Mr. Speaker, that I am excited about being
down here today. I am excited to be carrying the rule, because I
believe this is the way that regular order ought to operate. But I came
here, as you did, Mr. Speaker, and as so many of my colleagues did on
the other side of the aisle, to try to move the needle, to try to move
the needle on Federal spending, to try to move the needle on the
borrowing that is going on from our children and our grandchildren.
We talk so often back home, Mr. Speaker, about raising taxes. In
fact, so many folks in this Chamber have signed a pledge to say I will
never raise taxes on the American people, and I admire that sentiment.
But, Mr. Speaker, when we have a vote to raise the debt ceiling, debt
that has to be paid, we are, in effect, raising taxes on the American
taxpayer.
Now, it is not a surprise to anyone in this Chamber. I sit on the
Budget Committee. Anyone who has looked at the budget understands that
we don't have enough revenue to pay our bills.
In fact, Mr. Speaker, I have the great pleasure of being on the
Republican Study Committee as chair of their Budget and Spending Task
Force. I had an opportunity last year to offer the most conservative
budget offered in this Chamber--the most conservative budget offered in
this Chamber--and we had to continue borrowing money as far as the eye
can see.
When Rand Paul was elected to the United States Senate among much
fanfare--lots of conservatives across the country looking to Rand Paul
for guidance, and rightfully so--he dropped a budget in the United
States Senate, the most conservative budget introduced at that time in
Washington, D.C., balanced the budget in 3 years by abolishing agency
after agency after agency, sentiments that I happen to agree with
wholeheartedly but know that we don't have the votes to achieve, and
even that budget required borrowing money from our children and our
grandchildren for the next 3 years.
So it is not a happy day that we are here, Mr. Speaker. The happy
day, I would argue, was back in August of 2011. I was a young freshman
Member, Mr. Speaker. I remember it because it was the kind of vote that
you ran for Congress to take. We were here, and the news commentators
were back and forth; is it the right deal? Is it the wrong deal? John
Boehner and President Barack Obama engaged in debate at the White House
night after night after night, and suddenly, a deal was reached.
Now, as has been my experience in my 3 years in this Chamber, Mr.
Speaker, the term ``a deal has been reached'' 100 percent of the time
means what Rob Woodall wanted didn't happen. It is funny how that works
out. I get one voice out of 435, and so when I have to send my Speaker
down to the White House and negotiate with not just one President but
100 more Senators, I don't get what I wanted.
But what I did get in August of 2011, Mr. Speaker, was an agreement
that, if we raised the debt ceiling, if we agreed to further encumber
our children and our grandchildren, as everyone in this Chamber knows
that the current laws of the books require us to do, we would take a
step, a $2 trillion step to try to make sure that we didn't have to
raise the debt ceiling again.
It didn't contain what anybody thought was the 100 percent right
plan, Mr. Speaker, but it was a proposal that we could come together
around--not just we Republicans; not we, the House of Representatives;
not we, Capitol Hill, with the Senate; but we, the elected
representatives of the American people, from the White House to the
U.S. House to the United States Senate.
We have come 2\1/2\ years, Mr. Speaker, and we have done some amazing
things. I created No Budget, No Pay last year, for example, Mr.
Speaker, which attached an increase in the debt ceiling to the
requirement that we pass a budget out of this House and that they pass
a budget out of the Senate, allowing us to come together to produce the
first budget this institution has seen since I have been elected to the
Congress, the first one. Not the first House-passed budget--we do that
every year; it is our responsibility; of course we do--but the first
one with which we found agreement with the Senate and received a
Presidential signature.
Mr. Speaker, the debt limit is a constant reminder of the imbalance
of America's taxing and spending. We have a spending problem in this
Nation. Everyone in this Chamber knows it. And the debt ceiling is an
opportunity for us to come together and find solutions.
And try as hard as he might, Mr. Speaker, when the Speaker of this
United States House dug deep to try to find those answers, he could
find none. Not that there were no answers out there--of course there
are--but there were not answers out there that could receive the
approval of this body, the approval of the Senate, and the signature of
the President.
I have to ask why, because there is not a man or woman who is going
to come into this Chamber today who does not know that we need to take
steps to address the problem. And dadgummit, Mr. Speaker, there is not
a man or woman in this Chamber who doesn't know we have the ability to
do it, because we have done it before--not 100 years ago, not 50 years
ago, but just 3 years ago, with largely the same folks that are here
today.
That is not what this rule is bringing to the Floor today, but what
it is bringing to the Floor is a clean debt ceiling resolution. This
should be a day on which we are coming together around solutions to
that longer-term spending problem, but we find ourselves here today
simply trying to bring America back from an economic brink the likes of
which not a single Member of this Chamber wants America to see.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me the
customary 30 minutes and yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, just a few weeks ago it appeared as though the crises
that had come to define this Congress maybe were coming to an end. In a
rare show of bipartisanship, Democrats in the Senate and Republicans in
the House passed a budget compromise that set the spending levels for
the next 2 years. As was clear at the time of its passage, the
bipartisan budget agreement authorized spending well beyond the current
debt limit. Despite that fact, 166 members of the majority voted to
authorize the spending and to increase the Nation's debt. At that time,
a member of the majority declared that passing the legislation would be
the responsible thing to do, and, indeed, it was.
Now, today, we are going to find out whether that moment of
responsibility
[[Page H1750]]
was an aberration or a sign of things to come. The majority has a
simple choice today. We understand they don't have the votes to pass
this. And the Democrats, as they have been on so many other things we
have tried to get to the floor, are more than willing to do our part
for our country because that, Mr. Speaker, is why we were elected to
come here.
The majority has a choice today: act responsibly and pay the
country's bills which they voted for, some of them, or trigger another
economic panic by threatening default.
For decades, up till about 2011, which was just held up as a landmark
here, no matter which party was in charge, Congress always raised the
debt ceiling without hesitation or pause. In the years that I have been
here, there was never any notion of having to pay a ransom to get the
side that you were not on to do what its duty called for. But in recent
years, the majority doubts the seriousness of this responsibility and
dared the global financial system to punish them for their malfeasance.
Although we need no reminder, in 2011, the majority of this Chamber
demanded ransom in exchange for an increase in the debt ceiling. The
self-inflicted wound that followed sparked the most volatile week for
the financial markets since 2008, when we had the financial crisis, and
resulted in the credit rating agency Standard & Poor's downgrading our
Nation's credit rating for the first time in history. And for what?
Some notion that they didn't have to meet their responsibility.
In the years since, the majority has continued to play this dangerous
game of political hostage taking that hurts our economy, and even
caused a 16-day government shutdown. And that shutdown, Mr. Speaker,
let me remind the people of America, took $24 billion out of our
economy for absolutely nothing.
Even when it has been clear that there is only one way out of a self-
inflicted crisis such as the government shutdown, the majority pursued
an approach that can be summarized as ``only when we have tied
ourselves in legislative knots, only when we have thrown the economy
into turmoil, only after we have frightened employers from hiring and
given global investors pause, we will do the right thing,'' as we are
doing today.
{time} 1600
This irresponsible approach has particularly drawn the ire of the
American people and dragged the approval ratings of the House of
Representatives to historic lows. Today I urge the majority to follow
the lead of the Democrat leadership, my colleagues, and me and do the
right things first instead of last.
I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on today's rule--and that, by
itself, is wonderful for me to do; it feels good--and the underlying
legislation so that we can honor the commitments this Congress has made
and protect the full faith and credit of the United States. We are
charged to do no less.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I would mention to my friend from New York
that if she has no further requests for time, I am prepared to close.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
As I have said, the question before us today is a simple one: Are we
going to pay the country's bills or will the United States become a
deadbeat nation? This is not a question of increasing our Nation's
spending. That question was answered when 166 Members of the majority
voted to spend beyond the Nation's debt ceiling by passing the
bipartisan budget agreement just a few weeks ago.
Today is simply a matter of paying our bills when they come due, as
real Americans do, and we should follow suit. So when this is coming
due, we hope after today, we will be able to pay ours.
For our part, my Democratic colleagues and I are ready to do the
right thing--and have been for some time--by increasing our Nation's
debt ceiling and protecting the full faith and credit of the United
States of America. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on today's rule
and the underlying legislation.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I am one of those Members the gentlelady from New York referenced,
one of those Members who voted in favor of an appropriations bill that
funds the government for this year. In fact, I have voted for the
House-passed budget and the Republican Study Committee budget in each
and every year that I have been in this institution. What is unique
about those votes, Mr. Speaker, is they absolutely understand that we
are going to have to spend money that we don't have, but they take
steps to make the problem better instead of worse.
I want to take issue with what my friend from New York said about a
raising of the debt ceiling with absolutely no strings attached as
being the responsible thing to do. It is absolutely not. It is the
worst-case scenario.
Now, I am going to have colleagues on the floor today, Mr. Speaker,
who are petrified of what happens if we don't do this today. They are
petrified that even though we know we can come together and find a
solution forward, find a solution that makes the problem better instead
of worse, they are petrified that they do not have a willing partner in
the President or with the Senate. So unless they vote to pass this bill
today, America faces default, and that is an awful box, an awful box
that my friends have painted.
I want to read a few quotes, Mr. Speaker. I think words matter. This
is from 2006, as a young Senator Barack Obama faced a debt limit
increase in the United States Senate, and he said this--and I just want
to point out, because my friend from New York talked about the
obviousness of this vote, how clearly this is the right thing to do,
just to raise the debt ceiling to whatever amount folks would like.
Here is what Senator Barack Obama said in 2006. He said: The fact
that we are even here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a
sign of leadership failure. Leadership means the buck stops here.
Instead, Washington is shifting the burdens of bad choices today onto
the backs of our children and grandchildren.
Then-Senator Barack Obama goes on, Mr. Speaker. He said: America has
a debt problem and a failure of leadership. America deserves better.
Therefore, I intend to oppose this effort to increase America's debt
limit.
I don't have to say it very often, Mr. Speaker, but when the
President is right, he is right. This was an opportunity to come
together and one that we searched for, searched for.
There is not a man or woman in this town who wants to find a path
forward more than our Speaker, John Boehner, does. There is no one who
has sweated to find that opportunity more than our Speaker has. Yet
without a willing partner in the White House or the Senate, it can't
happen.
The same here, Mr. Speaker, 2006. Then-Senator Joe Biden says this:
The President's budget plans will bring our debt to $11.8 trillion at
the end of the next 5 years. This is a record of utter disregard for
our Nation's financial future.
Mr. Speaker, $11.8 trillion is what Joe Biden was concerned about.
That number reached $16 trillion within that same time period.
He goes on: It is a record of indifference to the price our children
and grandchildren will pay to redeem our debt when it comes due.
History will not judge this record kindly. My vote against the debt
limit increase cannot change the fact that we have incurred this debt
already and will, no doubt, incur more. It is a statement that I refuse
to be associated with, the policies that brought us to this point.
Mr. Speaker, 2010, then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral
Mike Mullen said this: Our national debt is our biggest national
security threat. Not terrorism, not al Qaeda, not a rogue nation, but
our debt.
Mr. Speaker, it is hard to deal with our debt. If it was easy, we
wouldn't have the debt to begin with. It is hard, but I have seen us
come together to fix it before. A $2 trillion worth of difference we
came together to make 3 years ago, not even. Yet today, we find
ourselves unable to find that path.
Mr. Speaker, with the indulgence of my friend from New York--I would
very much appreciate it--I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas
(Mr. Barton).
I thank my friend from New York.
Mr. BARTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank both my friend on the majority side
and my friend on the minority side for allowing me this unusual
procedure.
[[Page H1751]]
I do rise in support of the rule. I am going to vote for the rule.
But, Mr. Speaker, I am going to oppose the underlying bill on the debt
ceiling.
I have brought some materials that have been prepared by the
Congressional Research Service with materials that were provided by the
Office of Management and Budget that show in the fiscal year that we
are now engaged, mandatory spending is 62 percent of the total budget,
and interest on the debt is over 6 percent. Those two combined are two-
thirds of all total spending, mandatory spending and interest on the
debt.
It is not going to get any easier, Mr. Speaker, to solve this problem
by passing so-called clean debt ceilings that don't address the
underlying problem. I understand the problems governing on the majority
side, and I understand the issues with the Presidency and the Senate
being controlled by the Democrats. I understand that.
But I couldn't walk into a bank in Ennis, Texas, today and say, I owe
you $300,000 right now, but I want to borrow another $200,000. They
would want to know what plan I had to repay the money I had already
borrowed, and they would want to know how giving me another $200,000
would actually be the appropriate thing to do.
What we are doing on the underlying bill, Mr. Speaker, with this so-
called clean debt ceiling is simply saying, we want to borrow--I am not
sure how much it is--probably 600 or $700 billion, where we already owe
$17 trillion. We have no plan to repay the money we have already
borrowed and certainly have no plan to repay the money we are going to
borrow.
So my comment today is, this Congress should be addressing this
problem in a bipartisan fashion today. We will be back here in March of
next year. We will have the same debate. So I will be voting ``no''
later this evening.
I do thank my good friend from Georgia and my good friend from New
York for allowing me to speak.
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OUTLAYS SINCE FY1984, VARIOUS MEASURES
[Data from FY2014 OMB Public Budget Database]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
fy1984 fy1985 fy1986 fy1987 fy1988 fy1989 fy1990 fy1991 fy1992 fy1993 fy1994 fy1995 fy1996 fy1997
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gross Domestic Product ($billions)................ 3844.4 4146.3 4403.9 4651.4 5008.5 5399.5 5734.5 5930.5 6242 6587.3 6976.6 7341.1 7718.3 8211.7
GDP Price Index................................... 0.5986 0.618 0.6323 0.6492 0.67 0.696 0.7216 0.749 0.7685 0.7854 0.802 0.819 0.8348 0.8502
Population........................................ 2.36E+08 2.38E+08 2.40E+08 2.42E+08 2.45E+08 2.47E+08 2.50E+08 2.52E+08 2.55E+08 2.58E+08 2.60E+08 2.63E+08 2.65E+08 2.68E+08
Outlays, in $Billions:
Discretionary Outlays......................... 379.5 415.8 438.5 444.2 464.4 488.9 500.6 533.3 533.8 539.7 541.4 544.8 532.8 547.1
Defense (function 050)........................ 228.1 253.1 273.8 282.6 290.9 304.1 300.2 319.7 302.6 292.4 282.3 273.6 266.0 271.7
Non-Defense (all other)....................... 151.4 162.7 164.7 161.6 173.5 184.8 200.4 213.6 231.2 247.3 259.1 271.2 266.8 275.4
Mandatory..................................... 361.3 401.0 415.8 421.3 448.2 485.9 568.1 596.5 648.4 670.9 717.4 738.9 786.8 810.1
Net interest.................................. 111.1 129.5 136.0 138.6 151.8 168.9 184.4 194.4 199.3 198.7 203.0 232.2 241.0 244.0
Total....................................... 852 046 990 1,004 1,064 1,144 1,253 1,324 1,382 1,409 1,462 1,516 1,561 1,601
Constant FY2013 dollars (billions, using CDP price
index; FY2014 OMB projections):
Discretionary Outlays......................... 750 796 820 809 820 831 821 842 822 813 799 787 755 761
Defense (function 050)........................ 451 485 512 515 514 517 492 505 466 440 416 395 377 378
Non-Defense (all other)....................... 299 311 308 295 306 314 329 337 356 373 382 392 378 383
Mandatory..................................... 714 768 778 768 791 826 931 942 998 1,011 1,058 1,067 1,115 1,127
Net Interest.................................. 220 248 255 253 268 287 302 307 307 299 299 335 342 340
As % of GDP:
Discretionary Outlays......................... 9.9% 10.0% 10.0% 9.5% 9.3% 9.1% 8.7% 9.0% 8.6% 8.2% 7.8% 7.4% 6.9% 6.7%
Defense (function 050)........................ 5.9% 6.1% 6.2% 6.1% 5.8% 5.6% 5.2% 5.4% 4.8% 4.4% 4.0% 3.7% 3.4% 3.3%
Non-Defense (all other)....................... 3.9% 3.9% 3.7% 3.5% 3.5% 3.4% 3.5% 3.6% 3.7% 3.8% 3.7% 3.7% 3.5% 3.4%
International (fcn 150)....................... 0.4% 0.4% 0.4% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.2% 0.2%
Mandatory..................................... 9.4% 9.7% 9.4% 9.1% 8.9% 9.0% 9.9% 10.1% 10.4% 10.2% 10.3% 10.1% 10.2% 9.9%
Net Interest.................................. 2.9% 3.1% 3.1% 3.0% 3.0% 3.1% 3.2% 3.3% 3.2% 3.0% 2.9% 3.2% 3.1% 3.0%
As Share of Total Outlays:
Discretionary Outlays......................... 44.5% 43.9% 44.3% 44.2% 43.6% 42.7% 40.0% 40.3% 38.6% 38.3% 37.0% 35.9% 34.1% 34.2%
Defense (function 050)........................ 26.8% 26.7% 27.6% 28.1% 27.3% 26.6% 24.0% 24.1% 21.9% 20.7% 19.3% 18.0% 17.0% 17.0%
Non-Defense (all other)....................... 17.8% 17.2% 16.6% 16.1% 16.3% 16.2% 16.0% 16.1% 16.7% 17.5% 17.7% 17.9% 17.1% 17.2%
Mandatory..................................... 42.4% 42.4% 42.0% 42.0% 42.1% 42.5% 45.3% 45.0% 46.9% 47.6% 49.1% 48.7% 50.4% 50.6%
Net Interest.................................. 13.0% 13.7% 13.7% 13.8% 14.3% 14.8% 14.7% 14.7% 14.4% 14.1% 13.9% 15.3% 15.4% 15.2%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
fy1998 fy1999 fy2000 fy2001 fy2002 fy2003 fy2004 fy2005 fy2006 fy2007 fy2008 fy2009 fy2010 fy2011 fy2012 fy2013 fy2014 fy2015
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gross Domestic Produce ($billions) 8663 9208.4 9821 10225.3 10543.9 10980.2 11676 12428.6 13206.5 13861.4 14334.4 13960.7 14348.8 14929.4 15547.4 16202.7 17011.4 17936.1
GDP Price Index................... 0.861 0.8724 0.8897 0.9106 0.9257 0.9446 0.9685 1 1.034 1.0646 1.0893 1.1033 1.1145 1.1379 1.1588 1.183 1.2054 1.2283
Population........................ 2.70E+08 2.73E+08 2.82E+08 2.85E+08 2.88E+08 2.90E+08 2.93E+08 2.96E+08 2.98E+08 3.01E+08 3.04E+08 3.07E+08 3.09E+08 3.12E+08 3.14E+08 3.16E+08 3.19E+08 3.21E+08
Outlays, in $Billions:
Discretionary Outlays......... 552.0 572.1 614.6 649.0 733.9 824.3 895.0 968.5 1,016.7 1,041.6 1,134.9 1,237.5 1,347.2 1,347.1 1,286.1 1,257.9 1,241.9 1,232.0
Defense (function 050)........ 270.2 275.5 294.9 306.0 348.9 405.0 454.0 493.6 520.0 547.8 612.5 656.7 688.9 699.4 670.5 651.5 618.3 603.6
Non-Defense (all other)....... 281.7 296.7 319.7 343.0 385.0 419.4 441.0 474.9 496.7 493.7 522.4 580.8 658.3 647.7 615.6 606.5 623.7 628.4
Mandatory..................... 859.3 900.0 951.4 1,007.7 1,106.0 1,182.5 1,237.5 1,319.4 1,411.8 1,449.9 1,594.9 2,093.2 1,913.7 2,025.9 2,030.6 2,204.3 2,312.9 2,422.6
Net Interest.................. 241.2 229.8 222.9 206.2 170.9 153.0 160.3 183.9 226.6 237.1 252.7 186.9 196.2 230.0 220.4 222.7 223.0 253.6
Total....................... 1,652 1,702 1,789 1,963 2,011 2,160 2,293 2,472 2,655 2,729 2,983 3,518 3,457 3,603 3,537 3,685 3,778 3,908
Constant FY2013 dollars (billions,
using GDP price index; FY2014 OMB
projections:
Discretionary Outlays......... 758 776 817 843 938 1,032 1,093 1,146 1,163 1,157 1,233 1,327 1,430 1,400 1,313 1,258 1,219 1,187
Defense (function 050)........ 371 374 392 398 446 507 555 584 595 609 665 704 731 727 684 651 607 581
Non-Defense (all other)....... 387 402 425 446 492 525 539 562 568 549 567 623 699 673 628 606 612 605
Mandatory..................... 1,181 1,220 1,265 1,309 1,413 1,481 1,512 1,561 1,615 1,611 1,732 2,244 2,031 2,106 2,073 2,204 2,270 2,333
Net Interest.................. 331 312 296 268 218 192 196 218 259 264 274 200 208 239 225 223 219 244
As % of GDP:
Discretionary Outlays......... 6.4% 6.2% 6.3% 6.3% 7.0% 7.5% 7.7% 7.8% 7.7% 7.5% 7.9% 8.9% 9.4% 9.0% 8.3% 7.8% 7.3% 6.9%
Defense (function 050)........ 3.1% 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.3% 3.7% 3.9% 4.0% 3.9% 4.0% 4.3% 4,7% 4.8% 4.7% 4.3% 4.0% 3.6% 3.4%
Non-Defense (all other)....... 3.3% 3.2% 3.3% 3.4% 3.7% 3.8% 3.8% 3.8% 3.8% 3.6% 3.6% 4.2% 4.6% 4.3% 4.0% 3.7% 3.7% 3.5%
International (fcn 150)....... 0.2% 0.2% 0.2% 0.2% 0.2% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.4% 0.3% 0.3%
Mandatory..................... 9.9% 9.8% 9.7% 9.9% 10.5% 10.8% 10.6% 10.6% 10.7 10.5% 11.1% 15.0% 13.3% 13.6% 13.1% 13.6% 13.6% 13.5%
Net Interest.................. 2.8% 2.5% 2.3% 2.0% 1.6% 1.4% 1.4% 1.5% 1.7% 1.7% 1.8% 1.3% 1.4% 1.5% 1.4% 1.4% 1.3% 1.4%
[[Page H1752]]
As Share of Total Ourlays:
Discretionary Outlays......... 33.4% 33.6% 34.4% 34.8% 36.5% 38.2% 39.0% 39.2% 38.3% 38.2% 38.1% 35.2% 39.0% 37.4% 36.4% 34.1% 32.9% 31.5%
Defense (function 050)........ 16.4% 16.2% 16.5% 16.4% 17.4% 18.7% 19.8% 20.0% 19.6% 20.1% 20.5% 18.7% 19.9% 19.4% 19.0% 17.7% 16.4% 15.4%
Non-Defense (all other)....... 17.1% 17.4% 17.9% 18.4% 19.1% 19.4% 19.2% 19.2% 18.7% 18.1% 17.5% 16.5% 19.0% 18.0% 17.4% 16.5% 16.5% 16.1%
Mandatory..................... 52.0% 52.9% 53.2% 54.1% 55.0% 54.7% 54.0% 53.4% 53.2% 53.1% 53.5% 59.5% 55.4% 56.2% 57.4% 59.8% 61.2% 62.0%
Net Interest.................. 14.6% 13.5% 12.5% 11.1% 8.5% 7.1% 7.0% 7.4% 8.5% 8.7% 8.5% 5.3% 5.7% 6.4% 6.2% 6.0% 5.9% 6.5%
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Source: CRS calculations based on FY2014 budget submission data from OMB.
Mr. WOODALL. I thank the gentleman. And again, I thank the gentlelady
from New York as well.
Mr. Speaker, we don't have these opportunities very often. I would
posit to my colleagues that if really the right answer is to pass clean
debt ceilings whenever the debt needs to be increased, I would wonder
why it is we don't just repeal the debt ceiling altogether. If this
isn't a moment for us to come together, if this isn't a moment for us
to do those things that have to be done, if this isn't a moment that
focuses like a laser the American people on what the consequences are
of the decisions we make today, I don't know what would be. This is our
best opportunity.
I could not be more grateful to my friends on the other side of the
aisle, Mr. Speaker, for coming together to make some of those things
possible. In fact, that great day in August of 2011 that I talk about,
that wasn't possible with Republican votes. Turning the dial on
spending to the tune of $2 trillion, that wasn't possible with just
Republican votes. That was a bipartisan effort. That was a
collaborative effort that makes a difference for our children and our
grandchildren, and it is one of which I hope we are both proud.
The men and women who are going to come to the floor of the House
today to cast their vote are all going to be men and women who are
deeply concerned about the future of this country. Now, some of those
men and women are going to look into their hearts, and they are going
to look at what default would mean to the Nation. They are going to
believe earnestly that because we cannot find a partner in the Senate
or in the White House to negotiate on solving the problem, that the
only step left to take is either to default or not, and with a heavy
heart, they are going to vote to raise the debt ceiling.
There are other men and women in this body, Mr. Speaker, who are
going to come to the floor today for this vote, and they are going to
say, Default is a terrible, terrible, terrible even threat to make, but
if we do not find a way to curb the growth of Federal spending, default
is not a question of if; it is a question of when. It is a question of
when.
There is not a budget in Washington, D.C., that stops the borrowing
next year or 2 years from now or even 10 years from now. There is not
one, and the most conservative budgets we have don't have enough votes
to pass. If not today, when?
Now, I think the votes have been counted. The decisions have been
made, Mr. Speaker. Folks have been grappling with this issue in their
hearts and with their constituents. Mr. Speaker, I plead with you to
play that role in this debate so that when this decision confronts us
again--not if, but when--we take advantage of that to do the hard
things that must be done.
I say to my friends on the other side of the aisle--and I know I
speak for a large plurality of our Members on this side of the aisle--
challenge me to do those things that are hard. Give me that vote to
take that so enrages the right flank that I get sent home in the next
primary, but I had a chance to do something that mattered while I was
here.
Folks didn't leave their families to come and just cast a ballot to
keep things going on the way they are going on, Mr. Speaker. They came
from both sides of the aisle to make a difference. The path that we are
on with spending and revenue is a path that is unsustainable to the
tune of $17.3 trillion today and a path that is unsustainable to the
tune of hundreds of trillions of dollars tomorrow.
The economic demise of this country on that path is not if, but when,
but we have the ability right here in this Chamber to make that
difference. We have the ability right here in this Chamber to look our
children and our grandchildren in the eye and say, When I had that
voting card for that brief time, I did everything I did to make a
difference.
We have been on a streak here, Mr. Speaker, of coming together in
surprising ways to achieve things that I thought could not be done. I
hope we make deficit reduction in this next budget cycle that same
bipartisan priority. I believe we can surprise even ourselves with the
amount that can be accomplished.
With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I
move the previous question on the resolution.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the previous question is
ordered.
There was no objection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the resolution.
The resolution was agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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