[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]




                          DEBT CEILING CRISIS

  (Mr. SORENSEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SORENSEN. Mr. Speaker, nearly 6,000 people participated in a 
telephone townhall of mine on Tuesday night. It allows me to understand 
what is most important to the people of my district today. One issue 
came up over and over.
  Cheryl from Moline asked about access to food stamps and what will 
happen to Social Security payments if we default.
  Stacy from West Peoria was worried about what a default would mean 
for middle-class families. ``We are the forgotten ones,'' she told me.
  Gayle, a veteran from Morrison, told me that she hates that 
politicians are about to take away her VA healthcare, something she 
uses every day.
  Celeste in Bloomington wonders what this means for mental health 
care.
  These are real people in my district who are scared, and rightly so. 
We can either choose to pay our bills or we can put the lives of 
working families and seniors at risk.
  Real people told me what the right answer is. It is not scoring 
political points, and it sure as hell isn't driving our country's 
economy off a cliff.
  Mr. Speaker, I call on the Republicans to come back to work.

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