[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 89 (Thursday, May 25, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H2622]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          DEBT CEILING CRISIS

  (Mr. CASTEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. CASTEN. Madam Speaker, my Republican colleagues are presently 
fiddling while Rome burns, but I come to praise my Republican 
colleagues, not to bury them.
  I come to praise my friend Patrick McHenry for his wisdom just 6 
months ago when he said that he opposes Speaker McCarthy's plan to use 
the debt limit to cut spending; when he said that it is important that 
Congress raise the debt limit; when he said that Treasury markets are 
the lifeblood of the global economy; when he said it is an important 
function of the government for us to make good on the checks we cash.
  I come to praise the July 2019 version of Speaker McCarthy when he 
said that we should not leave here without doing something on the debt 
ceiling.
  Where are those brave, principled souls now?
  The answer, Madam Speaker, as you know, not here. Empty, inconsistent 
rhetoric does not pay the bills.
  The American people know that, and I hope the American people will 
remind my Republican colleagues of the work requirements of this job 
during their upcoming 11-day vacation.

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