[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Page 10231]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            THE DEBT CEILING

  Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I rise for a moment during this time of 
morning business to talk about what everybody is talking about--the 
crisis with our debt ceiling, the approaching deadline, and what we 
should do. Last night, as I thought about what I would say this 
morning, I thought back to that horrible month of September and October 
of 2008, when the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression 
hit the United States. I was a Member of the Senate, and I was here the 
night the TARP vote came before us to try to salvage and save the 
financial system of the United States. That was probably the toughest 
vote I ever took. It was the right vote, because we stabilized the 
financial system. At that time, we were reacting to a crisis we were 
not in control of.
  Today, we have a crisis we are totally in control of. It is ironic to 
me that 30 or 35 days before the deadline of August 2, we are fiddling 
around arguing with each other, when we should be talking to each 
other, looking at those things we can do to avert a crisis and move 
forward. I see that our leader has come to the floor. I will shorten my 
remarks so he can have his full time. This is a crisis of which we are 
in control, unlike 2008. We can make a difference.
  The balanced budget amendment proposed by the Republican conference 
of the Senate is the straitjacket and the discipline we all need. When 
I was a State legislator for 17 years, we had a program on drug abuse 
that said ``just say no.'' We taught kids not to use drugs. We need a 
way for Congress to ``just say no'' to spending, and have the 
discipline to have a constitutional restriction on our ability to have 
runaway spending without any accountability. It is the kind of 
discipline almost every State imposes upon itself.
  In Georgia, we cannot deficit spend because our constitution won't 
let us. We cannot borrow more than 10 percent of our entire budget 
because the constitution will not let us. Those are the types of 
disciplines the Congress needs.
  Before I yield to the leader, I will end the way I began. When the 
financial crisis hit in September 2008, we were dealing with issues 
over which we had no control. Today, we are dealing with an issue upon 
which we have total control. It is time to put on the straitjacket--the 
procedure and process to balance the budget and run our country as 
every American family has to run its budget.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The minority leader is recognized.

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