[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 75 (Wednesday, May 3, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1471-S1472]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Debt Ceiling
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, decades ago, President Reagan warned that
debt ceiling brinksmanship ``threatens the holders of government bonds
and those who rely on social security and veterans benefit . . . [and]
the United States,'' he said, ``has a special responsibility to itself
and to the world to meet its obligations.
If President Reagan were around today, he might well be exiled by a
modern Republican Party that in many ways seems dead set--dead set--on
abandoning that special responsibility never to default.
We have less than a month to go until we hit June 1. Every day wasted
is another day closer to catastrophe. At stake is the well-being of
families, retirees, veterans, kids, and the very stability of our
economy.
But by ramming the ``Default on America Act'' through the House--
totally partisan, knowing full well this bill can never become law--
Speaker McCarthy and the hard right have made the odds of default go
up. By handing his gavel over to the hard right, the Speaker is giving
the American people two terrible options: either default on the debt
or default
[[Page S1472]]
on the country, with steep cuts to law enforcement, first responders,
veterans, seniors, and even cancer research. Just think how radical
such an ultimatum truly is. It is a dramatic break from how both
parties have approached default in the past.
On one hand, a Republican default would crash the economy, increase
costs, and kill American jobs. Unemployment would rise to at least 8
percent. Mortgage and car payments would all go up by a lot, while the
value of pensions and 401(k)s would come crashing down. That is the
future that Speaker McCarthy and the House Freedom Caucus have made
more likely by passing the ``Default on America Act.''
But the alternative is also a nightmare scenario. If the Republicans'
``Default on America Act'' became law, 1 million seniors--1 million
seniors--would lose access to Meals on Wheels. These are seniors who
literally can't get food on their own much of the time and rely on
others bringing it to them. They would be on the chopping block if the
GOP has its way. Deprive seniors who can't leave their homes of food--
what is that all about?--so that some very wealthy, wealthy
multibillionaires don't have to pay any taxes? It is outrageous.
Here is another one. The Republican ``Default on America Act'' would
eliminate 30,000 law enforcement jobs across the country. Do you know
what that means? Gun violence will get even worse. Our neighborhoods
will become less safe. Border security would be deprived of billions in
crucial resources. The war on opioids would decline, and more
addictions, crimes, and others from opioid use would go up. What is
that all about?
Once again, the hard right--totally enthralled by the very wealthy,
wealthy few who are so greedy, they don't want to pay any taxes--say
cut things like this. Cut law enforcement. Cut Meals on Wheels.
The ``Default on America Act'' would shamefully attack our Nation's
veterans, purging 80,000 VA jobs, leaving our Nation's heroes without
the care they have earned throughout a lifetime of service.
These are just three of many. Eliminate Meals on Wheels; greatly hurt
our efforts at law enforcement and safety by dramatically cutting,
defunding police; greatly--greatly--tying the hands of the VA so that
veterans would get worse healthcare and they would have to wait even
longer--this is what the Republicans' ``Default on America'' bill does.
That is why it is dead on arrival--not for some political ideological
reason, but it would do such harm.
When you wonder about the motivation of the Republicans, it
ultimately is this, these rightwing Republicans. Listen to the greedy
few, the powerful greedy few who don't want to pay any taxes and want
to have taxes reduced. Some of them even called for even eliminating
the income tax.
Finally, the ``Default on America Act'' is chock-full of totally
irrelevant, hard-right goodies that would deregulate fossil fuel,
reward corporate greed, shower the ultrarich with tax giveaways, and
impose cruel and unpopular work requirements on vulnerable families.
Whether it is kicking seniors to the curb, cutting law enforcement
jobs, or abandoning our veterans, everything about the ``Default on
America Act'' wreaks of MAGA extremism. So it is no wonder the
Republicans did it in secret. It is no wonder that they didn't want to
do what they promised to do: have hearings, have witnesses, have
bipartisan discussions and amendments.
But if Republicans won't level with the American people about their
terrible bill, Senate Democrats are going to do it for them. Tomorrow,
the Senate Budget Committee will hold a hearing on how the ``Default on
America Act'' would weaken the economy and slash hundreds of thousands
of jobs. I want to thank Chairman Whitehouse and all the members of the
committee for doing the important work of bringing this bill to the
public eye because the American people deserve better.
Incredibly--incredibly--tomorrow's hearing will be the very first
hearing in either House that actually looks at what the ``Default on
America Act'' does. Amazing. This huge bill that affects almost every
aspect of American life--they haven't had one hearing on the issues
they are doing. But we are going to start doing it, and that hearing
will be the first, but there will be many others.
As Democrats shine a light on how unserious and extreme the
Republican ``Default on American Act'' is, our view about the path
forward remains the same: can't choose the ``Default on America Act'';
must avoid the horrors of default; pass a clean bipartisan bill to
avert default.