[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 88 (Wednesday, May 24, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H2555-H2556]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               DEBT CEILING, BUDGET, AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to warn of the risk of U.S. 
default. Its ripple effects will hurt countless people across our 
Nation and the Buckeye State.
  Default will reverse the Biden recovery and historic job growth, 
heading our Nation into deep recession. Default will make it almost 
impossible to pay down the bills America owes, as economic growth will 
be stalled out.
  Extremists in Congress don't seem to care. Their dawdling and 
irresponsible threats to not pay America's bills risk throwing a wrench 
in the heart of the U.S. economy. Stock market crashes and the 
unemployment they trigger hurt everyone.
  Extremists heedlessness will trigger a recession, tank our stock 
market, kill off businesses, lead to mass layoffs, and reduce earnings 
on everything from retirement funds to new investments.
  Extremist recklessness will cause America's economy great harm. We 
cannot allow this to happen. Only a growing economy can generate the 
momentum to pay our bills.
  Following the worst pandemic in modern history and the market 
collapse of 2008, our Nation has just begun to stabilize our 
institutions, create record economic and job growth, and build forward 
again to pay our bills. More economic turmoil drives America backward.
  Let me remind folks, America's debt, which has to be paid, didn't 
begin to accumulate in the last 2 years. The last time our Nation 
balanced a budget was during the Clinton Presidency. That was largely 
possible because of budgetary defense savings made possible by the 
peace dividend following the fall of the Soviet Union.
  Since then, our Nation has fought an extended war on terrorism at a 
cost of $8 trillion and 900,000 lost lives. Further, our communities 
are still digging out of the horrible Wall Street-induced housing crash 
of 2008. We have been turning the corner on recovery from the massive 
pandemic that killed over 1 million of our friends and family members, 
and our health system is still struggling to recover from that.
  In this hand, I hold up the President's budget, a 132-page document 
given to us over 2 months ago. This document outlines a real plan to 
continue to grow our economy from the bottom up and middle out in order 
to pay our bills.
  The chart I brought to the floor today shows the rising debt of our 
country as a percent of GDP, which is how you have to measure it, and 
from

[[Page H2556]]

the Biden administration the first time that we begin to move that line 
down.

                              {time}  1100

  On the other hand, we have extremists backpedaling, which aims to 
take a flamethrower to the programs that help Americans nationwide by 
making 22 percent cuts to all nondefense spending. This would hurt 
working families, stifle job growth, and impact millions of Americans 
who need care in our hospitals and depend on secure retirement income.
  Our Nation is now in the midst of historic job growth, with nearly 13 
million jobs added under President Biden in just 28 months. Think about 
it and think about those who would hold our economy hostage.
  They would reverse economic growth. Our economy would shrink, 
eliminating millions of jobs, while reducing retirement earnings or 
tanking their accounts altogether.
  Default would lead to a huge decline in consumer spending that would 
cripple economic growth, forcing cuts in critical Federal programs that 
put oxygen into the economy: Meals on Wheels, which bring food and 
company to homebound seniors and those in need.
  Cuts will impact programs like LIHEAP that help people pay monthly 
bills for home energy costs. Extremist cuts will raise costs of 
childcare, pre-K and kindergarten spots for millions of children 
nationwide, forcing working parents to choose between expensive 
childcare costs or staying home and losing wages, deflating economic 
growth.
  Balancing the budget requires economic growth not economic reversal. 
Our Nation came out of the pandemic as the strongest economy in the 
world. Let's build on this success, not take a wrecking ball to it.
  Here is an idea to balance the budget. What if megacorporations and 
billionaires begin to pay their fair share of taxes?
  Some pay nothing and because of their tax lawyers, many get a tax 
refund. Everybody has to help pull this boat called America.
  So extremists in this Chamber want America to default on our 
obligations and stifle our economy. Responsible Americans know growing 
our economy will achieve new revenues necessary to pay the bills.
  We need steady economic growth, economic progress, not default. I 
will choose economic progress every time.

                          ____________________