[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 89 (Thursday, May 25, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H2615]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1145
                          DEBT CEILING IMPACT

  (Ms. WILD asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. WILD. Mr. Speaker, when I was running to serve in this place back 
in 2018, I distinctly remember a telephone call that I got from a 
sitting Member of Congress right before the July Fourth holiday. He 
said to me: ``Are you ready to take a job where holidays may not be 
holidays anymore?''
  I thought about it, and I said, ``Yes, I am.''
  Well, here we are. We are on the eve of Memorial Day weekend and let 
me just let the American public know that when we finished votes this 
morning, the Republicans rushed off the floor to fly home without 
getting this job done.
  The reasonable people are the ones who are still here, and they are 
all Democrats sitting on this side of the room.
  Where are the rest of the grownups?
  Many of my colleagues across the aisle seem unable to grasp the 
gravity of defaulting on our debt. Paying our bills is not something we 
should have to negotiate. It is a necessity of governing.
  A default will cause an economic catastrophe. For Pennsylvania's 
Seventh Congressional District, default means 7,600 jobs killed, 
105,000 families with Social Security payments in jeopardy, 282,000 
people with Medicare, Medicaid, or VA health coverage at risk.
  Mr. Speaker, it is time to stop playing games and protect working 
families from financial ruin.

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