[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11674]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


                              DEBT CEILING

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SHUSTER. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
  The time for talk is over. The time for action has come. We are in a 
spending-driven debt crisis. Washington is spending money it doesn't 
have, and it's leaving the American people, our children and our 
grandchildren, with the tab. The national debt now stands at $14 
trillion, which is equal to 95 percent of the economy of the United 
States.
  In his first 2 years in office, President Obama has added more to our 
national debt than was added between 1776 and 1992, totaling close to 
$4 trillion in new debt in less than 36 months. We are now borrowing 40 
cents on every dollar. I was a small business owner before I came to 
Congress, and if I borrowed 40 cents on every dollar, my business would 
have been out of business. American families know that if they're 
borrowing 40 cents on the dollar, it's not long before they're in 
crisis.
  President Obama inherited an economy in distress. There's no denying 
that. However, practically every decision he has made and every policy 
he has pursued has made matters worse. Between a failed trillion-dollar 
stimulus and a trillion-dollar government takeover of health care, this 
administration has spent without restraint and without regard to our 
financial health.
  If spending is the problem, then controlling Washington spending is 
the solution. My colleagues stand on the House floor and talk about 
increasing revenues by raising taxes, but history tells us a different 
story. We can raise revenues by lowering tax rates. President Kennedy 
did it in the sixties, President Reagan did it in the eighties, and 
even President Bush in 2000 when he lowered tax rates. What happened 
was not a decrease in revenues to the Federal Government but an 
increase. In fact, in 2000, after the 2001, '2 and '3 tax cuts, we had 
record revenues in the Federal Government.
  Our problem is spending. That's why I joined my colleagues in voting 
to pass Cut, Cap, and Balance. My passing this legislation, the House 
stepped in and filled the vacuum of leadership left by the President of 
the United States in the debt limit negotiations. We acted to cut 
spending by over $110 billion, cap the growth of spending, and force 
Congress to balance its books through a constitutional balanced budget 
amendment.
  No one wants the United States to default on its debt. The 
consequences would be dire, not only for our economy but for the world. 
However, we cannot continue down the path that has led us to this 
crisis. The House has acted. It's time for the President to step in and 
act as well.

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