[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 174 (Monday, October 4, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6880-S6881]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              DEBT CEILING

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, now, on the debt ceiling, before the 
end of this week, the Senate must--must--get a bill to the President's 
desk to address the acute crisis of the debt limit.
  President Biden was crystal clear in his speech this morning. If 
Republicans don't get out of the way and let the Senate take action 
now, our government will in all likelihood enter default for the first 
time ever.
  Sadly, the Republican position as the party of default has now become 
so extreme that they have blocked every single attempt to prevent a 
default from happening, putting our country in serious, serious danger. 
They have gone so far as rejecting their own requests for how the debt 
ceiling should be

[[Page S6881]]

raised. Their own requests for putting those in action--they are now 
saying no. Why do you think? Why do you think?
  Now the Republican leader has repeatedly stated that the Democrats 
must raise the debt ceiling on our own, and he has directly cited 
precedents of 2003, 2004, and 2006 when the Senate voted to raise the 
debt ceiling by a majority vote. But what he conveniently and 
repeatedly ignores--and he knows better--he ignores that in each of 
those examples, the minority allowed an up-or-down vote without--
without--a partisan filibuster. In other words, the other side said: 
Get us to 50 votes, and we won't make you get to 60.
  That is just what we are asking for now. We are proposing the same 
offer now, which Leader McConnell has cited. Let us vote to raise the 
debt ceiling without a partisan filibuster. In fact, this was the 
thrust of my consent request last week, which would have resolved this 
Republican-driven default crisis with an up-or-down vote. Republicans 
could have gotten their chance to vote no, and we could all have put an 
end to this needless impasse. But given the easiest way out of the 
mess, the Republicans still refuse to take ``yes'' for an answer. Now 
our country is on the brink of a crisis whose consequences will 
reverberate around the world.
  The bottom line is, this Chamber must pass legislation to avoid a 
default. Accordingly, I will soon file cloture on the House-passed 
proposal that will suspend the debt limit until December of 2022. We 
aren't asking Republicans to support it when it comes time for a vote; 
we only ask that they get out of the way as Democrats pass it on our 
own, just as the majority party did in the early 2000s. It is really 
that simple. If Republicans want to vote to stop payments from going to 
Social Security recipients or veterans, then be my guest, but they 
ought to get out of the way and let the legislation pass the Senate.
  The fact is, we don't have the luxury of waiting until October 18 to 
extend the debt ceiling. Even a near miss can have dramatic 
consequences. Every single day we delay taking action, we increase the 
chances of doing irreversible damage to our global financial system, 
our economic recovery, and trust in our country's ability to pay its 
debts.
  So, again, we will need to get a bill extending the debt ceiling to 
the President's desk by the end of this week. We aren't asking 
Republicans to vote yes even though it is debt that they incurred; we 
are simply asking that they get out of the way.
  I yield the floor, and I thank my colleague for his courtesy.

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