[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 79 (Wednesday, May 10, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1577-S1578]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Debt Ceiling

  Mr. President, now, on default, yesterday afternoon, I met with 
President Biden, Speaker McCarthy, Leader McConnell, and Leader 
Jeffries at the White House to discuss how we can take default off the 
table while making separate progress on an annual budget.
  There was bad news and good news coming out of yesterday's White 
House meeting. The bad news: Speaker McCarthy refused--absolutely 
refused--to take default off the table. He was the only holdout during 
yesterday's meeting.
  President Biden said that, no matter what, default should be taken 
off the table. Leader Jeffries said default is off the table. I 
committed to taking default off the table. Even Leader McConnell said 
unequivocally that, no matter what, the United States will not default.
  But Speaker McCarthy--Speaker McCarthy alone--refused to take the 
threat of catastrophic default off the table. I asked him pointedly if 
he would join us, but, during yesterday's meeting, he was the sole 
holdout.
  Instead of taking default off the table, Speaker McCarthy is taking 
default hostage. If anyone wonders what the biggest problem for 
avoiding default right now is, it is Speaker McCarthy insisting he will 
exploit default to push a hard-right agenda. Speaker McCarthy realizes 
his hard-right agenda would never become law on its own because the 
American people are so opposed. So, instead, he is holding the country 
hostage to default. It is dangerous. It is reckless.
  Avoiding default should not be contingent on passing the GOP's hard-

[[Page S1578]]

right, partisan agenda, and the American people overwhelmingly agree. A 
recent Washington Post-ABC poll found that when Americans were asked if 
debt limit and Federal spending should be handled separately or 
together, 58 percent of Americans believe they should be handled 
separately, just as we are saying, just as President Biden is saying. 
Only 26 percent of Americans say they should be linked, as Speaker 
McCarthy is proposing to do.
  Even 46 percent of Republicans said it should be handled separately. 
A plurality of Republicans, 46 to 40, is against what McCarthy is doing 
by tying the two together. They realize--Americans realize--how 
dangerous this is.
  So, again, avoiding default should not be contingent on passing the 
GOP's hard-right agenda--certainly, not one that will make drastic cuts 
to veterans, to healthcare services, run a buzz saw through Federal law 
enforcement, and abandon our seniors and working families.
  What is more, the GOP's extremist bill is riddled with unrelated 
hard-right policies. It would gut rules for corporations, hollow out 
environmental law, and cut healthcare for millions of our Nation's most 
vulnerable.
  The cherry on top--not much of a cherry, a sour cherry--MAGA 
Republicans want to undo Democrats' marquee legislation to invest in 
America, advance energy security, and reduce the deficit. That is the 
agenda Speaker McCarthy believes is worth threatening default.
  Now the good news: The good news is that President Biden has asked 
the four leaders and our teams to sit down and begin talking about 
where we can agree on budget and appropriations. Our staffs will be 
having conversations beginning today that are part of the regular 
appropriations process.
  Now, Speaker McCarthy will have plenty of say over the budget in the 
appropriations process. That is the proper place to have these debates, 
not during conversations about the full faith and credit of the United 
States.
  When President Trump was in office and I was minority leader, I hated 
the Trump tax cuts on the rich and what it did to my State and my 
country. I could have easily said: I am holding default hostage unless 
we repeal the Trump tax cuts, unless we undo the Republicans' signature 
issue.
  But, of course, I didn't do that because I knew the consequences of 
default would be too severe.
  But Speaker McCarthy is doing the same thing. He is taking our 
signature issue--one of the leading ones, the IRA--and holding it 
hostage, saying he is tying it to default.
  So, again, Speaker McCarthy must commit to taking default off the 
table, and we will continue to have a separate conversation with 
Republicans about the budget. And, as I said and as everyone knows, the 
Speaker has plenty of say over the appropriations process. He won't be 
left out.
  And if the Speaker wants to be honest, by the way, about the drivers 
of debt, he should take a cold, hard look at the damage caused by 
Republican tax cuts.
  Next week, the Senate Budget Committee, led by Chairman Whitehouse, 
will hold a hearing focused precisely on how GOP cuts have been 
primarily responsible for increasing the debt-to-GDP ratio. I thank 
Chairman Whitehouse and members of the committee for their continued 
work on exposing the GOP's destructive policies. The committee will 
make it clear that much of the debt came at the insistence of a 
Republican President, the Republican Senators, the Republican House 
Members, but only now, with a Democratic President, does McCarthy do 
this awful, awful, dangerous gambit of holding default hostage.

  I urge the Speaker and my Republican colleagues to come to their 
senses about avoiding default.
  Mr. Speaker, you are standing alone in that meeting. Take the 
needless, reckless threat of default off the table. Time is of the 
essence, and there is nothing stopping us from coming together in a 
bipartisan way, as we regularly have, to ensure that America can 
continue to pay its bills.