[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 7870-7871]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        AMERICANS DESERVE BETTER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Reed) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. REED. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join my colleagues this 
morning to deliver a simple message, and that message can be summed up 
by reading a quote from our President when he was a former Senator 
dealing with the issue that we will face in the upcoming months when it 
comes to raising our debt ceiling. As then-Senator Barack Obama stated 
on the floor of the Senate: ``Leadership means that the buck stops 
here. Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today 
onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt 
problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.''
  Mr. Speaker, I stand firmly here today to tell you that I do believe 
over the next 90 days that this will be the critical moment of this 
Congress, that this will be the critical moment in our Nation's history 
when we either succeed or we fail. And I will heed Senator Obama's 
words because the buck will stop here in this Chamber.
  Mr. Speaker, the question we face with raising the debt ceiling is a 
very serious question. We cannot kick the can down the road any longer. 
We do not have any more road to kick it to.
  So what I ask of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle is let 
us set aside politics. Let us not worry about a reelection campaign. 
Let us not worry about our own personal interests. Let us come together 
as one Nation and deal with this problem because it is a serious threat 
and a clear and present danger to our very existence as a country.
  Let me also be very clear that what we need to do with handling this 
debt

[[Page 7871]]

is to send a message that we have answered the call and send a message 
to the world and to all the markets that America is strong; America is 
the place that you can invest in again. And by that investment, we will 
put people back to work. We will provide for families for generations, 
not only now but for generations we do not even see. This is about 
putting people back to work and being the voice that leads this Nation 
to greatness once again.
  I have no doubt we will succeed in this effort, but it will take true 
leadership. There is no doubt in my mind that I join my colleagues on 
this side of the aisle and say no more of the petty political 
bickering. It is time to stand and lead, and we shall.

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