[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 89 (Thursday, May 25, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H2609-H2610]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          DEBT CEILING CRISIS

  (Mr. LaMALFA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LaMALFA. Madam Speaker, we are 1 week away from Secretary 
Yellen's hard default date, the June 1 deadline.
  House Republicans have been calling on our colleagues on the other 
side of the aisle and the President to be negotiating on this debt 
since January. It is now May 25. In the past 140 days, we have been 
hearing a lot of name-calling and little bipartisan negotiation.
  While this impasse has dragged on, House Republicans passed 
legislation, the Limit, Save, Grow Act, that averts a default and 
reduces wasteful spending. Let's negotiate from that point.
  We have a plan to avert default and are eager to work with the 
President to work out a suitable compromise, but we would rather hear a 
lot of stuff and name-calling, and keep on printing and spending more 
money. Indeed, it was pointed out that if our plan goes

[[Page H2610]]

through, it would mean a 20 percent cut in discretionary spending over 
just 5 months, so that must mean we increase spending by 20 percent in 
1 fiscal year of discretionary spending.
  Madam Speaker, how many years can you keep increasing spending by 20 
percent? Not 1, 2, 3, or 5, but a 20 percent increase. How do we afford 
that going forward?
  It is incredibly amazing we think that should be the route we should 
go and keep adding to our debt.

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