[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 169 (Tuesday, September 28, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H5499-H5502]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               HOUSE DEMOCRATS DELIVERING FOR THE PEOPLE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Strickland). Under the Speaker's 
announced policy of January 4, 2021, the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. 
Neguse) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority 
leader.


                             General Leave

  Mr. NEGUSE. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include 
extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Colorado?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. NEGUSE. Madam Speaker, House Democrats are delivering for the 
people, and let me explain to you how they are doing so.
  Under President Biden's leadership, our economy is growing at nearly 
the fastest rate in over 40 years. The child tax credit is cutting 
taxes for hardworking middle-class families across the country. And by 
putting more of working people's own money back into their pockets, it 
is generating $20 billion in spending in local economies, supporting 
local businesses and jobs.
  Now, Madam Speaker, we are hard at work to deliver even more for 
working families through the Build Back Better plan and the bipartisan 
infrastructure bill.
  But while House Democrats are delivering for the people, 
unfortunately, some on the other side of the aisle are promoting 
misinformation about the coronavirus and opposing overwhelmingly 
popular vaccine mandates that will save lives and keep our schools 
open. Some of them, Madam Speaker, have even spread false narratives 
about the attack on our Capitol and on this Chamber nearly 9 months 
ago.
  As The New York Times reported earlier this month: ``A growing number 
of Republicans and their media allies have downplayed the riot. Some 
have begun to treat it as a heroic act.''
  Madam Speaker, this dangerous rhetoric from Republicans continues as 
Senate Leader Mitch McConnell now threatens the full faith and credit 
of the United States, and Senate Republicans refuse to do their job to 
ensure that America can pay its bills on time.
  Let's be clear, Madam Speaker, raising or suspending the debt limit 
does not authorize new spending. It is about meeting obligations that 
the government has already made, including the bipartisan COVID relief 
package passed last year in December and vital payments to Social 
Security recipients as well.
  In fact, much of the debt was accumulated under President Trump. The 
massive tax giveaways for millionaires and billionaires that 
Republicans pushed through under President Trump added $1.8 trillion to 
the national debt, and a full 97 percent, Madam Speaker, of the total 
debt subject to the limit was accumulated before President Biden took 
office.
  Madam Speaker, it is no surprise that congressional Republicans voted 
three times--not once, not twice, but three times--to suspend the debt 
limit under President Trump.

                              {time}  1700

  Leader McConnell and congressional Republicans know what is at stake. 
In 2019, Mitch McConnell himself said that raising the debt ceiling, 
and I am going to quote, Madam Speaker, ``ensures our Federal 
Government will not approach any kind of short-term debt crisis in the 
coming weeks or months. It secures our Nation's full faith and credit 
and ensures that Congress will not throw this kind of unnecessary 
wrench into the gears of job growth and a thriving economy.''
  Not my words, Madam Speaker, Mitch McConnell's words. He said it 
himself. This is about supporting American jobs and our economy. This 
is about doing our job for the American people.
  We urge Leader McConnell: Stop playing games with the full faith and 
credit of the United States. Stop playing games with American jobs. Do 
your job to ensure that America can pay its bills on time by addressing 
the debt limit.
  Now, I think it is important for the American people to understand 
why we are here standing up for the credit of the United States, and I 
can think of no one better to help explain precisely that than my good 
friend, the distinguished gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Cartwright).
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Cartwright).
  Mr. CARTWRIGHT. Madam Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman 
from Colorado for yielding.
  It is true. Today, in the Congress, the Treasury Secretary of the 
United States, Janet Yellen, testified that we will run out of 
borrowing ability on October 18, next month. What this is, is a 
pernicious, dangerous threat to the United States of America that is 
happening right now. A lot of people don't realize it because, as Mr. 
Neguse just mentioned, extending or suspending the debt limit has been 
a routine, a normal thing for us to do, something that, in the words of 
Senator McConnell himself, is essential for keeping our economy moving, 
protecting American jobs, and preserving the livelihoods of many, many 
Americans.
  So the question is, what are we doing? Why do we have to do this? Why 
do we have to stand here tonight and stand up for the full faith and 
credit of the United States?
  It is because the economy depends on it, not only the economy of 
America, but the economy of the world depends on the full faith and 
credit of the United States of America.
  Credit is vital to the operation of any economy. Any businessperson 
knows that. Every businessman, every businesswoman knows that his or 
her business runs on their credit and their credit rating. They know 
that credit, every loan, every loan decision, is based on the strength 
of the promise to repay, and that is what we are talking about here.
  If a promise to repay a loan isn't strong, that loan is not made. If 
the strength of the promise to repay a loan is not there, then either 
the loan is not made or they have to charge a much higher interest rate 
to reflect the extra risk in getting repaid. It is all about repaying 
your loans.
  If there is one thing that has been a constant in these United 
States, and something that we have been really proud of in our Nation 
for generation after generation, it is that if there is one rock-solid, 
dependable promise in the world, it is that the United States of 
America will pay its bills. That is a rock-solid promise, and it is 
something that reverberates in the world's economies.
  That is why we have such a strong economy and a base from which to 
grow it. That is why we are able to run a government and build bridges 
and roads, and why we are able to maintain armed services in this 
country. It is why we are able to function as a nation and as an 
economy.

[[Page H5500]]

  It is the foundation for our country's credit and financial systems. 
It is the source of confidence that powers our national economy. It is 
what makes our American dollar the currency of the world.
  To threaten that by threatening to crash our obligations, to default 
on the obligation of the United States, it is the most irresponsible 
thing that I have heard of, even in the words of Senator McConnell 
himself, who, hours after Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen 
testified that October 18 is the day when we default on our 
obligations, hours after that, Senator McConnell over in the Senate 
whipped a ``no'' vote on suspending the debt limit, doing exactly what 
he said must not be done, endangering jobs, endangering our economy, 
threatening Americans savings.
  What will happen? We will talk about this a little bit later.
  Mr. NEGUSE. Madam Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman for 
his comments. He couldn't be more right.
  He raises a real salient point, which is the hypocrisy of the 
minority leader in the United States Senate and the position that he is 
taking today in threatening the full faith and credit of the United 
States of America juxtaposed against the position that he took a mere 
year ago.
  But it just so happens that we have several distinguished colleagues 
from the State of Pennsylvania who know a thing or two about the debt 
ceiling, and that includes our prestigious colleague on the Ways and 
Means Committee.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Brendan F. Boyle).
  Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I thank my good 
friend and colleague, the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Neguse), who 
does a wonderful job, as well as my friend, my fellow Pennsylvanian, 
Mr. Cartwright.
  I am glad to be here in this good fight with them, but I wish we 
didn't have to be here fighting this fight. I mean, why do we do this 
to ourselves?
  Here is what I mean. Congress does a lot of dumb things, 
historically, year in, year out. I think most people would agree on 
that.
  But of all the dumb things Congress does, this repeated political 
food fight over the debt ceiling is without question the dumbest, the 
most unnecessary, and the potentially most dangerous.
  Now, I want to point out, for the record, almost no other country on 
Earth even has this concept of the debt ceiling. In the few that do, 
none of them--none of them--have this sort of political fight where a 
figurative sword of Damocles is hanging over the entire country and its 
economy. It makes no sense, and there is no benefit to it, none.
  Now, year in, year out, when we have this, again, dumb and 
unnecessary debate over the debt ceiling, a lot of people, especially 
people who have been in town for a while, will say, somewhat cynically: 
Well, you know, eventually, they are going to raise it. What is the 
fuss? Eventually, they are going to raise it.
  Sure enough, every single time, it has finally been raised. But that 
kind of fight over seeing which side will give in first, that sort of 
political game of chicken, has a real cost.
  I want to cite this figure. It was 10 years ago, almost exactly 10 
years ago, that we came the closest to not raising the debt ceiling. It 
was in the summer, late summer of 2011. The GAO found that that delay 
in raising the debt limit, that sort of uncertainty as we approached 
the deadline, that increased the Treasury's borrowing costs by $1.3 
billion.
  Just imagine what we could do right now with $1.3 billion, what that 
would mean for my constituents in Pennsylvania or constituents in 
Colorado or in any State or any district in the country.
  This has a real cost and, of course, if we were to ever go over the 
edge and fall off, the effects, not just for the United States but for 
the worldwide economy, would be devastating.
  On the Ways and Means Committee, I have had the opportunity to 
interrogate a number of Treasury Secretaries over the years. Whether it 
was Trump's Treasury Secretary, Mr. Mnuchin, or President Biden's 
Treasury Secretary, Ms. Yellen, both have given almost verbatim answers 
when I asked them about what the consequences would be if we actually 
did ultimately default.
  Here we are again at this point. Madam Speaker, what I want to do 
then is solve this problem, not just for this latest instance, but for 
all future ones. So I am introducing legislation this week, along with 
Budget Committee Chairman Yarmuth, the two of us.
  Our bill works like this. It would give to the Treasury Secretary, 
now and in the future, the ability to raise the debt ceiling. If 
Congress disagreed with that decision, Congress could always overrule 
it by passage in the House and the Senate. But the authority would rest 
where it should, with the Treasury Secretary. This just makes sense.
  It would eliminate, once and for all, this dumb political food fight. 
It would also ensure that this is taken out of the political realm and 
put where, frankly, it should have rested back in the beginning, over 
at Treasury.
  Now, I have had a bill for years now, in many different sessions of 
Congress, to just scrap the debt ceiling altogether. The way it is 
practiced today was in no way envisioned when it came into existence 
almost 80 years ago.
  But I understand the practical political realities of that, so we are 
pragmatically putting in this alternate approach, this different piece 
of legislation.
  I would urge those in the House and Senate for whom raising the debt 
ceiling might be a politically difficult vote to consider this piece of 
legislation so that you, yourself, don't have to vote to raise the debt 
ceiling, but that the appropriate official, the head of Treasury, would 
have that authority, again, still reserving for Congress the ability to 
intervene if, for some reason in the future, we were to ever disagree 
with the decision of a future Treasury Secretary.
  Madam Speaker, I include in the Record an op-ed that I wrote on this 
subject just about a month or two ago, and I would urge all colleagues 
of mine, in the House and the Senate, to stop playing politics with 
this issue.

                  The Debt Ceiling: A Broken Mechanism

       Why do we keep doing this to ourselves?
       Congress finds itself in an all too familiar position: 
     working against the clock to reach a deal on the debt 
     ceiling. Failure to raise the debt ceiling would bring 
     default on our nation's debt, and likely worldwide economic 
     collapse.
       I can't help but feel a sense of deja vu as I remember this 
     scene unraveling two years ago, and too many times to count 
     before that.
       The debt ceiling was created to put a cap on what the 
     government can borrow--in order to pay its own bills. The 
     government issues debt. Congress sets that debt limit. This 
     explains why the debt ceiling needs to be raised or suspended 
     continuously. According to the Congressional Budget Office, 
     the government currently is $28.5 trillion in debt within 
     this self-imposed limit. When the limit is reached, the 
     Treasury Department can no longer pay its bills and risks 
     defaulting on its own debt obligations.
       Looking back at its own history, the debt ceiling has been 
     raised over 100 times. What once may have been a helpful 
     lever that could be used in a thoughtful way is no more. That 
     noble function, if it ever existed, is but a thing of the 
     past.
       Instead, it has become highly politicized, costly, and 
     downright dangerous.
       Even if the debt ceiling is ultimately raised, just the 
     uncertainty alone is costly. During the 2011 debt ceiling 
     negotiations, in which a compromise was struck only two days 
     before Treasury's borrowing authority would be exhausted, the 
     GAO found the delay in raising the debt limit led to an 
     increase in Treasury's borrowing costs of $1.3 billion.
       The debt ceiling does nothing but create pointless panic, 
     harming workers and businesses that fuel our economy. 
     Factoring in our current recovery from the pandemic economy 
     only exacerbates this self-inflicted Crisis.
       Many people have lost jobs or seen household incomes 
     drastically cut. The June 2021 data from the Census Bureau 
     revealed there are 25 million people who are unemployed, or 
     who live with an unemployed family member. There is a lot at 
     stake out there.
       It's clear we need to do everything we can to protect the 
     integrity and fabric of our economy. Our current process of 
     ``governing by a deadline'' does the opposite. The debt 
     ceiling, and the recurring havoc it brings, is a completely 
     broken mechanism.
       With Democrats in full control of the White House and 
     Congress, we must seize the opportunity to finally fix this 
     flawed policy--by simply getting rid of it. This is why I 
     have introduced legislation, House Resolution 1041, to kill 
     the debt ceiling once and for all.
       The time is now to make this common-sense change. We cannot 
     wait a few more years. We need to work together to implement 
     smart fiscal policies that grow our economy, and don't 
     threaten to destroy it.

[[Page H5501]]

       It is long past time to permanently retire this sword of 
     Damocles.
  Mr. NEGUSE. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his remarks and 
for showing once again the innovative and creative problem-solving that 
the good State of Pennsylvania is so well-known for, with respect to 
the legislative solution that he has proposed.
  I certainly agree with his admonition that it is time for our 
political leaders to stop playing politics with respect to the debt 
ceiling. I hope our colleagues in the upper Chamber, including the 
minority leader, are listening.
  I do want to zero in on one particular thing that my colleague from 
Pennsylvania referenced, which is the consequences, right? What happens 
if, in fact, the United States Government defaults?
  I think a lot of folks watching at home are asking themselves that 
same question, so I would pose to my other colleague from Pennsylvania 
that same question.
  What happens, as a practical matter, if we, God forbid, were to 
default?
  Mr. CARTWRIGHT. Sure. That is really the big question here tonight.
  Before I get to that, I want to commend my colleague from 
Pennsylvania for that excellent and well-thought-out legislation. If I 
can, I want to ask Congressman Boyle a question.
  Your legislation that would vest the decision on the debt limit in 
the Treasury Secretary, would that apply to both Democratic and 
Republican Treasury Secretaries?
  Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Yes, that is correct. It would 
apply to the Treasury Secretary, who currently is a Democrat, but also 
in the future, for years and years to come. So, inevitably, over the 
course of the decades and centuries, there would be plenty of 
Democratic and Republican Treasury Secretaries who would equally have 
that ability.
  Mr. CARTWRIGHT. When you asked her, Secretary Yellen, about what 
would happen if we turned our back on our national debt, defaulted on 
our promises, just went back on our promise to pay, when you asked her 
that, did she talk about what could happen to the stock market?
  Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. If you don't mind, I want to 
answer in a slightly different way your question. I will tell what you 
Secretary Mnuchin said because that answer is more memorable to me.
  This was a couple of years ago, obviously. It was at least a couple 
of years ago now, and he was testifying in front of the House Ways and 
Means Committee, on which I serve.

                              {time}  1715

  He was testifying in front of the House Ways and Means Committee, on 
which I serve. And I asked him: What would the specific tangible 
consequences be if we failed to raise our debt ceiling?
  For a couple of seconds, he just kind of paused, and he said: 
Congressman, the consequences would be so dire, just so unimaginable, 
that it is really hard to articulate just how bad it would be.
  So even he had difficulty going into the sort of ramifications that 
it would have.
  Mr. CARTWRIGHT. I am not surprised. Go ahead.
  Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. I was going to remind 
everyone--of course, as the gentleman knows--this was President Trump's 
appointed Treasury Secretary who was saying this.
  Mr. CARTWRIGHT. Sure. Well, it is pretty obvious that every economist 
that you talk to finds it unthinkable that our Nation would turn its 
back on our obligations. When you ask them, What happens if we do? The 
first thing they say is that the stock market crashes.
  In fact, it would be so bad that the stock market would crash more 
than 20 percent. 20 percent is the level at which--if it comes down 20 
percent, they have to halt trading in New York on the stock market. It 
is such a catastrophe. That would happen.
  Now, we have stock market crashes, and then there are other stock 
market crashes, but this is the kind of stock market crash that would 
be caused by an undermining of the confidence and the faith in the 
United States economy and the Government's ability and willingness to 
pay its debts. That rock solid promise that the world economy relies on 
would be gone. And so much of what drives an economy and makes it 
strong is confidence in governments and confidence that promises to pay 
will come true.
  If that happens, that would be the kind of stock market crash that 
would presage not only a recession but a great depression. The last 
time we had that kind of a stock market crash was in 1929, and it led 
to a great depression that led to unemployment rates of over 15 and up 
to 20 percent of this country. It was unbelievable how bad the 
depression was. It lasted for over a decade.
  It would be a catastrophe in this country of a magnitude we can't 
imagine. Nobody in our generation has had to live through something 
like that.
  As a result, we have to talk about these things as if they would 
actually happen. If the country defaults on its debt, there will be a 
stock market crash, and it would be followed by a great depression, 
which is horrible, horrible damage that would be caused by nothing more 
than a political stunt by Senator Mitch McConnell.
  Mr. NEGUSE. Well, I would just simply say what is so striking about 
the consequences that you described, Mr. Cartwright, and that Mr. Boyle 
described, in terms of the warning that was given by Secretary Mnuchin 
years ago, is that congressional Republicans back then did the right 
thing. They heard the same warnings that Representative Boyle 
described, and they voted to increase the debt limit. They did it not 
once, not twice, but three separate times during President Trump's 
administration.
  What has changed? That is the question that I wish the minority 
leader of the United States Senate would answer.
  But I think we know the answer, that this is ultimately politics and 
gamesmanship. I would hope that for the good of the country, he and his 
colleagues would reach the same conclusion that they reached literally 
less than a year ago.
  I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Brendan F. Boyle), 
because his experience on the Ways and Means Committee, I think, is 
instructive with respect to how we dispose of this particular question 
and issue.
  Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, one thing I want 
to make clear, as Mr. Neguse very eloquently did, is that the position 
on this side of the aisle has been completely consistent, regardless of 
the political party of the occupant of the White House.
  I voted every single time to raise the debt ceiling while Donald 
Trump was President. I have served for 7 years, so 4 of those years 
under a Republican President, 3 of those years under a Democratic 
President. In fact, the majority of the votes I have cast to raise the 
debt ceiling have been under a Republican administration. For many of 
my colleagues on this side of the aisle, they can say the same thing.
  So I am being completely consistent; those of us on this side of the 
aisle are being completely consistent. It is the other side, especially 
in the Senate, that is playing this political game that is so dangerous 
and so unnecessary.
  Mr. NEGUSE. Well, I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania. Again, he 
couldn't be more right in terms of the hypocrisy of some on this 
particular issue and the adherence to, I think, the morally correct and 
economically correct position that so many on this side of the aisle 
have taken year after year after year. Our hope is that our colleagues 
in the upper Chamber will do the same.
  Don't you agree, Mr. Cartwright?
  Mr. CARTWRIGHT. I would hope that, but my hopes have been dashed 
before. We have seen this story before in different aspects.
  In fact, we are approaching the 8-year anniversary now of what 
happened when I was a freshman Representative in 2013. It was October 
1. The government shut down. At that time, the debate of the day was 
the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and there was the 
demand by the Republicans in the Senate that we repeal the Patient 
Protection and Affordable Care Act, and if we didn't, they were going 
to shut the government down.
  Madam Speaker, they did shut the government down. They shut it down 
for 16 days in October. And I can tell you, when they do these things, 
they do damage the economy and they did damage the economy in 2013 in 
the fall.

[[Page H5502]]

  In fact, in my own district, we actually measured how much damage was 
done to the economy in northeastern Pennsylvania. We have this 
marvelous asset, the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, that 
had to shut down because of that government shutdown.

  Now, this happened the first 16 days of October, which always is a 
very lucrative tourist season in northeastern Pennsylvania. The people 
are out to see the beautiful resplendent colors of the fall in 
northeastern Pennsylvania.
  Because the national park had to shut down for those 16 days, leaf 
peeper season went out the window. And all of the little businesses 
ringing that national park in Pike County and Monroe County, 
Pennsylvania, the restaurants and the motels and the gas stations and 
all of the little businesses that survive off the tourism every year, 
they got murdered during that shutdown. In fact, we measured that per 
day. That damaged our economy to the tune of $400,000 a day in my 
district alone.
  The question is: Would Mitch McConnell go ahead and damage our 
economy purposely to make a political point? The answer is, yeah, he 
probably would. It looks like he is doing it, and they have done it 
before, and they don't care.
  So it is a sad answer, I know. But the truth is, they would rather 
score a political point and do harm to our Nation's economy than stick 
up for the full faith and credit of the United States.
  Mr. NEGUSE. Madam Speaker, the gentleman couldn't be more right. And 
certainly, the good news, for those that are watching, is that House 
Democrats are committed to doing everything that we need to do to 
ensure that the full faith and credit of the United States is not 
threatened or undermined.
  We have a colleague who has joined us who has spent her entire career 
ensuring precisely that, and that is the distinguished gentlewoman from 
the State of Texas.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson 
Lee) for her to address this Chamber on this subject.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I am most grateful for the 
opportunity to join the gentleman from Colorado, the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania, and the gentleman from Pennsylvania.
  I have just finished with a conference call with the director of the 
CDC, but I just could not miss the opportunity, because I am almost in 
a deja vu, having been here for--even shocking myself, because when you 
are enjoying serving, you don't count the years--but more than two 
decades. I have seen the dastardly results of government shutdown. So I 
want to thank the gentleman for bringing this to the floor.
  Madam Speaker, I believe that it is always important to know who 
governs and how we are governed and what document do we yield to in 
terms of being governed. And I heard my friend from Colorado make the 
point that Democrats are ensuring that this government is governed.
  This morning I was on the floor, and I made the point that I don't 
stand here as a Democrat or a Republican but as an American, an 
American that has the responsibility of government. And that means that 
all of the shenanigans in the other body should be immediately 
dispensed with.
  One point of the Constitution that I always like reading is: We, the 
people of the United States, in order to create or to form a more 
perfect Union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide 
for the common defense, promote the general welfare. This was the very 
premise that the Founding Fathers--and everyone knows the Constitution 
missed some elements on those who were slaves, missed elements on 
women. They missed some elements; they missed some issues. But the 
premise was that we gather for the general welfare, uniquely grounded 
in some values of European principles but uniquely American.
  Why did we form this government?
  So having lived through government shutdowns, let me just, for a very 
brief moment, capture the horrors of a government shutdown, which is 
tied to ultimately the CR, but the effort that we, as Democrats, our 
leader, our Speaker, our leadership, rightly so, were acting not as 
Democrats but they were acting as leaders of this Nation, protecting 
those who are most vulnerable.
  So the full faith and credit is not something to dismiss. Let me say, 
over and over again--I know it has been said on this floor--we are 
paying bills. As I said, if you had the light on for the last 20 days, 
you have a bill.
  So to lift the debt ceiling--and I would like to characterize it some 
other way--to provide the mechanism to pay your bills. If you had the 
cable on for the last 20 days, you are paying your bill. So we are 
simply paying the bill.
  The lack of responding to paying bills creates inflation, puts a 
damper on the view of America as an international destination for 
businesses. It, in fact, crumbles the economy on the most vulnerable, 
the hardworking bus driver, union worker, teacher. Because what you 
have done is, you have not given their dollar substance. That is how 
they make a living; that is how they pay for their responsibilities of 
a quality of life.
  I always think of the persons who cannot speak for themselves who are 
doing great work. Teachers are doing great work; paramedics are doing 
great work; nurses are doing great work. I always think of bus drivers, 
because I think of school bus drivers. There is a shortage of school 
bus drivers. They are all doing great work.
  So let me say that I came on the floor because I clearly wanted to 
emphasize the eloquent and important points that you are making, that 
it is tomfoolery to make political points about the debt ceiling, which 
is a responsibility that cannot be gotten rid of.
  So it would be okay if I said: Well, we would want to say that. When 
I say that, if you are playing politics, you say we don't want to do 
that either, meaning those of us who are governing. But it is an 
obligation of governing and governance, and it is constitutionally 
vested not only in the language of full faith and credit but in the 
opening statement of the Constitution. If we don't take care of the 
general welfare, then who will?
  I am grateful, as I close, to say that I support the INVEST Act and 
one bill, the Build Back America Act. That is how I would proceed on 
the unifying of those. The reason why I connect that, again, is to make 
the point that, as I have read line by line of the Build Back--and I am 
on the Budget Committee, and we sat on a Saturday to bring this bill 
forward to you-all. And rightly so; we make no complaint about that. 
But to get this bill here. It is ready. We passed it out of the Budget 
Committee.

                              {time}  1730

  But as I looked at it, I have not deflected the gentleman here, 
deflected families. But it is a justice for women act. It is finally 
penetrating where women are in America, in terms of the care economy, 
in terms of pre-K, in terms of child care, in terms of family 
responsibilities. It is a bill that gives justice to women.
  And so tie it to our responsibilities of governing, to lift the debt 
ceiling for payment of our bills, and also this book, the Constitution, 
doing our duty to create this Union that has been created to ensure 
general tranquility and the general welfare of the American people. I 
thank the gentleman for yielding to me and his leadership.
  Mr. NEGUSE. I thank the gentlewoman for her remarks. Those of us who 
have had the privilege to work with the gentlewoman from Texas know 
that her ability to speak truth to power really is second to none, and 
I think her argument is as compelling as it is straightforward. General 
welfare. Full faith and credit. Pay your bills.
  And so I say to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle in this 
Chamber and in the upper Chamber, it is time for you to do your job. 
Let's address the debt ceiling and let's get on with the business of 
this Congress in promoting and protecting the general welfare of our 
wonderful country.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________