[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 93 (Wednesday, May 31, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S1814]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Debt Ceiling

  Mr. President, back in February, as Speaker McCarthy waited for 
President Biden at the negotiating table, the Democratic leader 
predicted the future:

       The side that's unified has an upper hand.

  Well, it is safe to say that our colleague from New York was exactly 
right. House Republicans stood united behind Speaker McCarthy. They 
lined up behind the only legislation that addressed the debt limit as 
well as out-of-control government deficits. They committed to the 
direct negotiations that I said repeatedly, going back to February, 
were the only way to avoid default, and they secured an outcome that 
confronts Washington Democrats' reckless spending in a serious way.
  Republicans stood united. They forced President Biden to do his job, 
and they reached an agreement that preserves the full faith and credit 
of the United States and starts getting its financial house in order.
  Along the way, the Speaker and his team notched important progress 
toward freeing American infrastructure from endless bureaucratic 
review. They put a dent in Washington Democrats' campaign to stand up a 
new army of IRS agents, and they slapped actual costs on the 
administration's regulatory overreach.
  But here is the bottom line: The Senate will have an opportunity very 
soon to pass legislation that reduces Federal Government spending by 
$1.5 trillion over the next decade. That is $1.5 trillion that won't be 
put on the American taxpayers' tab. It is a downpayment on more 
progress that is yet to come.
  House Republicans' unity gave them the upper hand, and they used it 
to secure a much needed step in the right direction. When this 
agreement reaches the Senate, I will be proud to support it without 
delay.