[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 22 (Thursday, February 2, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S213-S214]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              DEBT CEILING

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, in America, when it is time to pay the 
bills, we do so without fail and without delay. That is what families 
must do, and that is what our government must do. It is one of the 
bedrock principles of this country--one that holds true no matter who 
is in the White House and which party holds majorities in Congress. Not 
even during the Trump administration was this solemn duty neglected 
even if many MAGA Republicans may feel differently today.
  When I was minority leader here in the Senate, I sat down with 
President Trump to find a path to raise the debt ceiling multiple 
times. We didn't engage in hostage-taking. We didn't resort to 
blackmail or brinksmanship. By no means was it easy, and many on the 
other side didn't want to go along, but Democrats worked constructively 
with the Trump administration to get it done, and it happened three 
times. The same thing must happen again this year--no brinksmanship, no 
hostage-taking, no default on the national debt. Congress must raise 
the debt ceiling on a bipartisan basis without the hostage-taking, 
without the brinksmanship.
  So I was very glad to hear President Biden reaffirm this truth after 
his meeting with Speaker McCarthy. He reiterated we ought to pass a 
clean debt ceiling extension. President Biden is correct--the American 
people expect us to do the right thing in the coming months because if 
we default on the debt, every single American is going to pay the 
price.
  Later this morning, I will join with some of my Democratic colleagues 
to put a spotlight on the consequences of default because they are not 
remotely theoretical or abstract. The debt ceiling is not just an 
abstract exercise somewhere up there in the clouds. If we fail to renew 
it, it is going to affect every American family's pocketbook or wallet, 
with many, many dollars taken away.
  A default on debt would create a crisis unlike any we have ever seen 
in our country. Mortgages, car loans, and credit card rates all will go 
shooting up. American families with adjustable rate mortgages or who 
are seeking to buy a house will pay thousands of dollars more each 
year--what a terrible nightmare at a time when costs are already too 
high in housing and everywhere else.
  But just as terrible as that sounds, this is only the tip of the 
iceberg. If the U.S. defaults, retirement savings--the

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money that people have scrapped away, put away, so they might live in 
dignity toward the end of their lives--will be utterly devastated. By 
one measure, the typical retirement account could lose $20,000 in 
value--$20,000. We are talking about people's livelihoods, money that 
people have set aside little by little every month so they can reach 
retirement with some degree of dignity.
  A default would rob Americans of that, and the devastation would go 
on and on and on. Social Security would suffer. Medicare would suffer. 
Over 18 million veterans could lose their hard-earned benefits, like 
disability compensation. America's reputation on the world stage would 
be permanently stained, and few things would hand the world over to the 
Chinese Communist Party more than a first-ever default by the United 
States of America.
  So the bottom line is simple: Playing games with the debt ceiling is 
dangerous, destabilizing, and would spell disaster for every single 
American--dangerous, destabilizing, disaster. The last thing we should 
be doing in Congress is using the debt ceiling as a political 
bargaining chip. Instead, we need to come together and make sure the 
United States is able to pay its debts on time--without brinksmanship, 
without hostage-taking--just as we have done throughout our history.

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