[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 93 (Wednesday, May 31, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S1813]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Debt Ceiling

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, later this afternoon, the House of 
Representatives will vote on a bipartisan agreement that will protect 
the U.S. economy and eliminate the risk of a disastrous default. Once 
this bill reaches the Senate, I will move to bring it to the floor as 
soon as possible. Although the House still has more work to do, 
Senators should be prepared to move on this bill quickly once it is the 
Senate's turn to act.
  I cannot stress enough that we have no margin--no margin--for error. 
Either we proceed quickly and send this bipartisan agreement to the 
President's desk or the Federal Government will default for the first 
time ever.
  It is imperative that we avoid a default. The consequences of 
slipping past the deadline would reverberate across the world and take 
years to recover from. Remember, a default would almost certainly 
trigger another recession, send costs soaring, kill millions and 
millions of jobs--hard-working people thrown out of work through no 
fault of their own. That would be a catastrophic nightmare for our 
economy and millions--millions--of American families.
  So any needless delay, any last-minute brinksmanship at this point 
would be an unacceptable risk. Moving quickly and working together to 
avoid default is the responsible and necessary thing to do.
  Nobody on either side thinks this agreement is perfect, that is for 
sure. Nobody got everything they wanted. But this agreement still 
accomplishes two major goals: It spares the American people from the 
catastrophe of default, and it preserves the most important investments 
we have passed over the past few years, many of them on a bipartisan 
basis. So moving forward on this agreement is the sensible, 
responsible, and very necessary thing to do.
  We are getting close to finally putting the threat of default behind 
us, but there is more work to do. I hope that the House does its job 
when it takes up the bill later today. I urge my colleagues in this 
Chamber to be prepared to move quickly when the time comes.