[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 74 (Tuesday, May 2, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1447-S1448]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Debt Ceiling

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, it is about time. Ninety days after his 
last meeting with Speaker McCarthy and after weeks of pointblank 
refusal to engage in discussion, President Biden finally agreed to meet 
with the Speaker about debt ceiling legislation.
  I will say it again. It is about time. If the administration's 
estimate is correct, the United States is mere weeks away from reaching 
the limit of its borrowing capacity--which means, of course, that the 
President has to reach an agreement with the Republican-led House of 
Representatives on a debt ceiling bill, but the President has been 
completely AWOL on this issue.
  While I am very pleased that the President's Treasury Secretary has 
apparently managed to convey the urgency of the situation to the 
President and that the President is actually going to sit down with 
Speaker McCarthy , it remains to be seen how seriously the President 
will take negotiations.
  He certainly hasn't been taking this issue seriously so far.
  House Republicans, on the other hand, have been taking this issue 
seriously. They have offered legislation to raise the debt ceiling, 
paired with spending reforms to slow the rate at which we are 
accumulating debt. But up until 18 hours ago, the President was 
refusing to engage on the issue at all.
  The day Republicans passed their debt ceiling legislation last week, 
the President was asked if he would sit down with Speaker McCarthy to 
negotiate on the debt limit. His reply: I am happy to meet with the 
Speaker but not on the debt limit. The debt limit isn't negotiable.
  In other words, it is my way or the highway. You either accept my 
position on the debt limit--a debt ceiling increase with no spending 
reforms--or I will let our Nation default.
  If that is not an unserious position, I don't know what is.
  The fact is, in recent history, increases in the debt limit have 
almost always been the result of negotiations, and 7 of the last 10--7 
of the last 10--debt limit increases have included some mix of policy 
or budgetary changes rather than simply a straight increase. No matter 
how much President Biden would like his word on the debt ceiling to be 
law, the fact of the matter is that in our system of government the 
President does not have absolute power. And when the American people 
have sent divided government to Washington, as they did in the last 
election, then if you can't persuade the other side to see things your 
way, you have to negotiate. You have to compromise.
  President Biden understood this at one time. Back in 2011, here is 
what then-Vice President Biden had to say about lawmakers who didn't 
want to negotiate on a debt ceiling increase:

       How can you explain the fact that grown men and women are 
     unwilling to budge up till now, and still some of them are 
     still unwilling to budge, by taking an absolute position: 
     ``My way or no way.'' That's not governing. That's no way to 
     govern. You can't govern that way.

  That from President, then-Vice President, Biden back in 2011.
  Then-Vice President Biden was right, and I am very much hoping that 
he will remember those words now and not only sit down with Speaker 
McCarthy but actually commit to reaching a compromise.
  I was not encouraged by a reference from the Senate Democratic 
leader's office to sitting down with congressional leaders to discuss a 
``clean'' debt limit bill. That hardly displays an understanding of the 
fact that any debt ceiling legislation will require compromise between 
the White House and House Republicans.
  It is also the height of hypocrisy for the Democrat leader to talk 
about a ``clean'' debt limit bill when just a few years ago he was 
using the debt ceiling as leverage to negotiate with President Trump. 
But, apparently, ``one rule for me, another for thee'' are the 
Democrats' watchwords.
  Our Nation's debt situation is very serious. Our current national 
debt is over $31 trillion--yes, $31 trillion--and it is projected to 
grow to more than $50 trillion over the next decade, at least if the 
President's budget were to be adopted. That is an unfathomable amount 
of money, and more to the point, it is an entirely dangerous amount of 
money.
  Our national debt has already exceeded the size of our economy, which 
is a very dangerous marker to hit. Under our current trajectory, by 
2033, debt held by the public will be at the highest level relative to 
GDP--relative to the size of our economy--literally, in history, 
exceeding even post-World War II levels.
  In fact, according to the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible 
Federal Budget, 50 cents of every dollar our country borrows in the 
next 10 years will go just toward paying interest on our national debt.

[[Page S1448]]

  Debt at that level threatens economic growth. It sucks money away 
from essential government spending on things like Social Security and 
Medicare and our national defense, and it leaves us excessively 
dependent on other countries, sometimes hostile countries, that hold 
our Nation's debt. And for all of those reasons and more, it threatens 
our national security.
  House Republicans are absolutely right to take this opportunity to 
insist on some attempt to at least slow our rate of spending, and the 
American people would seem to agree. A recent poll found that 65 
percent of Americans--including--including 58 percent of Democrats, 
believe that the ``debt ceiling debate is a good time to force tough 
issues, like cutting future spending to reduce the deficit.'' That is 
the way the question was worded in the poll.
  Let me just repeat that.
  Sixty-five percent of Americans, including fifty-eight percent of 
Democrats, believe that the ``debt ceiling debate is a good time to 
force tough issues, like cutting future spending to reduce the 
deficit.'' Let's hope that Democrats are paying attention.
  The ball is in the President's court. House Republicans have been at 
the table for a while now. They have offered ideas. They have put 
forward and passed legislation. Now it is up to President Biden. He can 
either get serious about this fundamental responsibility, engage in 
real negotiations with Speaker McCarthy , and arrive at a genuine 
compromise on debt ceiling legislation or he can continue to refuse to 
meaningfully engage on this issue and ensure that his Presidency will 
be remembered not just for a massive inflation crisis but for a 
Democratic default on the debt. The choice is his.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Padilla). The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be able 
to complete my full statement prior to the vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.