[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 8549-8550]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        AMERICA'S CREDIT RATING

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, this week the United 
States House sent a clear message to the White House that it's time to 
address our Nation's growing debt crisis and get serious with real 
budgetary reforms so that America can meet its budget and credit 
obligations at home and around the world. There's good reason why the 
dollar is still the world's gold standard when it comes to credit 
ratings and that the U.S. is seen as a wise investment around the 
world.
  A first-rate credit rating, which the United States currently has, 
means there is nothing for lenders to worry about. It lets investors 
know how likely a borrower can pay back a loan, and that they will 
receive a good return on their investment. That's why I can't emphasize 
enough the importance of our Nation's credit rating. A downgraded 
credit rating would erode confidence in our economy and reduce 
certainty for businesses, investors at home, and abroad. We must work 
to ensure that this never happens by reforming spending and fixing our 
debt problem. Make it so that there is not one doubt when it comes to 
the creditworthiness of the United States.
  In April, Standard & Poor's lowered the outlook on the United States' 
credit to negative. S&P's rationale: the U.S. has a large debt and 
deficit compared with other highly rated nations, and unlike with those 
other nations, ``the path to addressing the debt and the deficit is not 
clear to us.''
  To be clear, this warning from the S&P was not over the debt limit 
debate, but because Washington has no plan to tackle its massive debt. 
Since 1975, there have been at least nine examples when clean debt 
limit bills have failed to pass in either the House or the Senate. And 
remember, in 2006 then- U.S. Senator Obama voted against a clean 
increase of $781 billion. In each case, days, weeks, or months later a 
debt limit was ultimately enacted.
  So again, it's not about the debate. We've seen this discussion many 
times over the last several decades. But it is about world markets 
losing confidence in our ability to implement those needed reforms and 
address our growing $14 trillion debt.
  Over the past 2 years, we have seen the largest budget deficits in 
the history of the United States. This, along with our structural 
deficits due to insolvent entitlement programs and the rising cost of 
health care, is the reason we face serious issues regarding the 
confidence in our ability to make good on our commitments. In April, 
the United States kept its AAA rating. Unfortunately, as S&P warned, if 
we fail to act on these reforms, this could happen.
  Raising the debt ceiling without significant structural spending 
reforms would send a signal to the world that America lacks the 
political will to restore fiscal sanity and meet our obligations. 
Unfortunately, many of our Democratic colleagues have continued to ask 
for a clean up-or-down vote on raising the debt limit, including most 
recently when more than 100 Democrats sent a letter to House leadership 
requesting an up-or-down vote on the issue. Earlier this week, that 
request was granted, and the legislation's failure demonstrates that 
any plan to raise the debt limit without dramatic steps to reduce 
spending and reform the budget process is unacceptable to the American 
people.
  With any hope, we sent a clear message that it's time to stop with 
the political pandering and get serious about

[[Page 8550]]

bringing about real budgetary reforms. It's unfortunate, however, Mr. 
Speaker. The problem has been identified. While tough decisions must be 
made, the solution is in our reach. What we lack is the political will 
to lead and take action.
  Mr. Speaker, if we don't act boldly now, the markets will act for us 
very soon. The world is watching, and we can no longer afford to kick 
this can down the road. Our Nation's debt crisis offers us the 
political will to act, for the greatest threat to our economy and our 
children's future is doing nothing.

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