[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 75 (Wednesday, May 3, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1472-S1473]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Debt Ceiling

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, months of inaction by President Biden 
have left our Nation drifting toward economic disaster. His own 
administration says our Nation is only weeks away from a debt crisis, 
but there has been a total absence of Presidential

[[Page S1473]]

leadership. President Biden has simply been MIA.
  First, the President said he would not negotiate unless Speaker 
McCarthy and House Republicans passed their own bill. So they did. Our 
Republican colleagues in the House passed a responsible bill. It is the 
only legislation currently in existence that can pass even one Chamber 
of Congress, let alone both.
  Let that sink in.
  This is where we are. Senate Democrats and Leader Schumer can give 
all the angry speeches they want, but they have no bill. Leader Schumer 
has no plan that can earn 60 votes here in the Senate. He has no 
solution that can even pass his Chamber, let alone the House. Speaker 
McCarthy and House Republicans are the only people in Washington who 
have actually passed legislation to avoid default.
  The Senate majority offers plenty of angry noises but zero plan. The 
only solution is Presidential leadership. President Biden has been 
sleepwalking toward this crisis.
  It is time to wake up--time to wake up.
  The President has two options. He can endorse the responsible bill 
the House Republicans have already passed and instruct Senate 
Republicans not to block it in this Chamber or he can finally sit down 
with Speaker McCarthy and reach an agreement. The Speaker of the House 
has been sitting at the grownup's table for months waiting for 
President Biden to act like a leader.
  Whatever President Biden and Speaker McCarthy can both agree to will 
pass the Senate easily. Any bill that doesn't meet that description 
appears to have no chance.
  So I am glad President Biden has begun backing down and finally 
advised the Speaker to begin negotiating. I accept his invitation to 
join the meeting myself, but I will continue to lend my support to the 
Speaker.