[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 76 (Thursday, May 4, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1521-S1522]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Debt Ceiling

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, last week, House Republicans rammed 
through a nakedly partisan bill to default on America, without taking 
even a moment to explain how their bill would wreak havoc on our 
country. That, of course, was by design.
  Republicans have known for years that their agenda is horribly 
unpopular with the American people. So the MAGA part of the GOP has 
used this default crisis to sneak their radical proposals through the 
back door.
  Since MAGA Republicans--and House Republicans, in general--have 
refused to level with the American people, Senate Democrats have been 
doing their work for them: exposing how ``Default on America'' will 
crash the economy, raise costs, and kill millions of good-paying jobs.
  Yesterday, at an Appropriations subcommittee hearing with 
Administrator Regan, Chair Murray and Subcommittee Chair Merkley showed 
how ``Default on America'' would devastate clean water and cut programs 
that protect kids from harmful PFAS chemicals.

[[Page S1522]]

  Chair Murray and Senator Heinrich also met with Deputy Secretary Turk 
and showed how ``Default on America'' would slash scientific research 
and cripple American competitiveness, just as both parties passed CHIPS 
and Science.
  Here we have finally passed good, strong bipartisan legislation that 
will help us compete against the Chinese Government. And what do the 
House Republicans, led by the MAGA group, do? They cut so much of that 
out. The American people don't want that. And they don't even want the 
American people to know what they are doing.
  Today, the Senate Budget Committee is hearing from experts like Mark 
Zandi of Moody's Analytics--hardly a liberal stalwart--to show how 
``Default on America'' would lead to hundreds of thousands of job cuts 
and diminish economic prosperity. And ``Default on America,'' as you 
know, is the Republican plan. That is what we are calling it, and that 
is what America knows.
  And we won't stop there. Senate committees will continue, next week, 
showing how the MAGA Republican ``Default on America'' plan utterly 
wreaks of MAGA Republican extremism. And it is not a plan at all. It is 
just a rightwing wish list thrown together in the House. The stench is 
foul.
  Just look at the way the Republican bill treats our seniors. One 
million seniors will lose access to Meals on Wheels if Republicans' 
``Default on America'' becomes law. These are seniors who often can't 
leave their homes by themselves to get groceries and need a hand from 
others.
  It is incredible--tell seniors who are homebound they can't get meals 
so that some rightwing billionaires don't have to pay taxes?
  That is the way these MAGA Republicans think, and that seems to be 
where House Republicans are following.
  Or look at the way ``Default on America'' turns its back on our 
Nation's veterans. If Republicans get their way and ``Default on 
America'' becomes law, up to 80,000 jobs at the Veterans Health 
Administration would be cut.
  Our Nation's veterans have dedicated their lives to keeping our 
country safe. There is no greater shame than intentionally depriving 
them of the resources to stay healthy, but that is precisely what the 
House Republican bill does.
  And if anyone wonders whether or not House Republicans truly care 
about law enforcement and public safety, ``Default on America'' would 
cut 30,000 law enforcement jobs--30,000.
  Let me emphasize that again because it is a stunning revelation.
  If ``Default on America'' becomes law, 30,000 law enforcement jobs 
would be cut. Our Border Patrol would be left hanging to dry. Our 
communities that are fighting the opioid crisis, drugs, and guns would 
be less safe.
  This party, which is railing against ``those outside of this room who 
have said defund the police,'' are defunding the police.
  Cuts to seniors, cuts to veterans' health, cuts to Federal law 
enforcement--these are just some of the consequences of the ``Default 
on America'' wish list that has been proposed by the MAGA Republicans 
and the Republican leadership in the House.
  But the horrors don't end there. ``Default on America'' is loaded 
with poison pills that have nothing to do with averting default and 
everything to do with the hard-right agenda. ``Default on America'' 
would deregulate fossil fuels and empower Big Oil, make life easier for 
wealthy tax cheats, and impose unpopular work requirements on 
vulnerable families.
  There is no way the American people will accept legislation as 
flawed, as cruel, as hard right as the Republican ``Default on America 
Act.'' ``Default on America'' cannot credibly be called any sort of 
plan from Speaker McCarthy to avoid default. It reads much more like a 
House Freedom Caucus manifesto.
  The solution here is staring Republicans in the face: Do what we have 
already done under President Trump and President Biden, under both 
Democratic and Republican majorities. We should pass a clean bill to 
avoid default--no brinksmanship, no hostage-taking. If we do that, 
there will be no default on the national debt.