[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 88 (Wednesday, May 24, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H2554-H2555]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          BIDEN'S DEBT DEFAULT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Rose) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ROSE. Mr. Speaker, House Republicans are the only ones that have 
done their job to pass legislation that raises the debt ceiling in a 
reasonable, responsible, and sensible way.
  Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen tells us that the United States may 
run out of funds to pay our bills in just 8 days. Yet, the Democratic-
controlled Senate has yet to put forward a proposal or even hold a 
single vote.
  Unfortunately, the President has wasted valuable time refusing to 
negotiate. In fact, it has taken more than 100 days for him to even 
come to the negotiating table, despite Speaker McCarthy's repeated 
calls to the White House to just have a meeting--President Biden 
declined at each and every turn until recently--inching our Nation 
toward a Democrat-induced default.
  With only 8 days left until our Nation potentially drives off the 
fiscal cliff, thanks to Democrats' wasteful and out-of-control 
spending, you would expect the President would be at the negotiating 
table each and every day, around the clock, until we get a deal done to 
avoid the disastrous default. Instead, he spent the weekend traveling 
overseas.
  To me and many of the Tennesseans I represent, the President seems to 
be neglecting his duties during these most critical moments. 
Republicans have done everything we can to avoid this scenario. Like I 
mentioned, the House is the only body to pass legislation that 
responsibly raises the debt ceiling and does so while also saving 
American taxpayers trillions of dollars.
  President Biden's actions remind me of a child who doesn't get their 
way. Unfortunately, the President's temper tantrum will have much more 
dire consequences than that of a toddler.
  There is an easy solution to this problem. If the President were 
serious about avoiding default, he could instruct his counterparts in 
the Senate to pass our bill, the House-passed Limit, Save, Grow Act, 
which raises the debt ceiling in a reasonable, responsible, and 
sensible manner.
  Sure, maybe the President and Senate Democrats didn't get their 
homework done by the due date, but they are more than welcome to copy 
ours and turn it in for full credit.
  Mr. Speaker, if a Democrat President delays negotiations, and if a 
Democrat-controlled Senate doesn't pass anything, what do you get? You 
get the United States' first-ever default that will lie squarely on 
Democrats' shoulders--a Democrat default.
  It is a shame that after all of these years the President spent in 
the Senate, a body known for its bipartisanship and ability to 
compromise, the President has brought us this close to default.

[[Page H2555]]

  Mr. Speaker, make no mistake, the Democrats' default will have 
catastrophic impacts on the U.S. economy. Let's hope it doesn't come to 
that and that we can come together to save our country from fiscal 
insanity by limiting Washington's out-of-control spending.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from 
engaging in personalities toward the President.

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