[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Page 11593]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         CUT, CAP, AND BALANCE

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, first, let me get this off my chest. Coming 
in today, I just heard the announcement that the House of 
Representatives is taking the weekend off. I have reached out to the 
Speaker. I have not had an opportunity to speak to him. But I want 
everyone who can hear my voice to understand that time is of the 
essence. We are running out of time.
  Procedurally, things cannot move very quickly through the Senate 
under the best of circumstances, and when there are people who want to 
cause problems, it takes a long time to get things done. There are 
people who serve in the Senate who say they do not believe--and they 
will fight to make sure we do not--we should raise the debt ceiling. In 
fact, they are saying: Let's default on our debt.
  I think this is a very bad picture for our country, to have the House 
of Representatives out this weekend when we have to likely wait for 
them to send us something because I understand that the negotiations 
taking place deal with revenues, which constitutionally have to start 
in the House of Representatives. So I think it is just untoward--that 
is the kindest word I can say--to have the House of Representatives out 
this weekend. What a bad picture that shows the country. We have 12 
days before our Nation does the unthinkable, forever undermining the 
full faith and credit of our great country.
  Members of Congress come from 50 different States, but we all serve 
one Nation. The American people deserve better than leaders who each 
stake out their own positions--sometimes radical positions--forsaking 
the good of the Nation. The American people expect us to find common 
ground no matter how difficult it may seem.
  Every reasonable voice in America has warned us that a default on 
this Nation's financial obligations would not only be a blight on our 
reputation but would precipitate a global economic crisis that we have 
never, ever seen. These warnings have come from the banking industry 
and the business community; they have come from our finest economists 
and shrewdest investors; they have come from former legislators, past 
policymakers, both Democrats and Republicans; and they have come from 
reasonable people here in our Congress.
  It is clear to me that we have to increase the debt ceiling. That is 
what John Boehner, the Republican Speaker of the House, said this 
spring. But it is now summer. He also said this: Not raising the debt 
limit would have a serious implication for the worldwide economy and 
jobs here in America.
  That is the Speaker of the House of Representatives. His deputy, Eric 
Cantor, agrees. Last week, Cantor said:

       We want to make sure that we avoid default. We want to make 
     sure that we avoid going past August 2nd without raising the 
     debt ceiling.

  And my Republican counterpart here in the Senate, the senior Senator 
from Kentucky, said he would support the debt limit as long as Congress 
used the opportunity to do ``something really important'' about the 
national debt.
  Democrats are willing to join with our colleagues on the other side 
of the aisle to do, as my Republican counterpart said, ``something 
really important.'' We have already shown our willingness to make tough 
decisions for the sake of finding common ground even if it means 
drawing the ire of our own political party. Unfortunately, the loudest, 
shrillest voices from the Republican Party are not reasonable leaders 
but tea party extremists.
  Congress has days, not weeks, to reassure the markets that when this 
great Nation issues an IOU, we stand by it, we do not turn into 
deadbeats when the bills come due. If you want to know how important 
this issue is, ask Ronald Reagan. Here is what he said about the 
importance of averting this kind of default:

       The United States has a special responsibility to itself 
     and the world to meet its obligations. It means we have a 
     well-earned reputation for reliability and credibility, two 
     things that set us apart from much of the world.

  President Reagan took the threat of default seriously. I will repeat 
what he said:

       The United States has a special responsibility to itself 
     and the world to meet its obligations. It means we have a 
     well-earned reputation of reliability and credibility, two 
     things that set us apart from much of the world.

  President Reagan took the threat of default seriously. So do 
reasonable Members of Congress today. And this is reasonable Republican 
Members of Congress. Yet I fear the closer we get to disaster, the 
further we get from making the arrangement needed to raise the debt and 
stop a default.
  Democrats have shown they are willing to work with Republicans on any 
serious, reasonable plan that averts default and cuts the deficit in a 
balanced way. Now it is time for House Republicans to show they are 
also willing to get serious. A plan to decimate Social Security, 
Medicare, and every other Federal benefit plan, while protecting 
hundreds of billions of dollars in special interest tax breaks, is not 
a serious plan. The Republicans so-called cut, cap, and balance plan 
does not have one chance in a million of passing the Senate.
  The moment for partisan games has long since passed. It is time for 
patriots on both sides of the aisle to join hands and actually govern. 
So I ask, Will reasonable Republicans join us in forging a compromise 
for the good of our country?

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