[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Pages 11846-11847]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          BUDGET NEGOTIATIONS

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I would like to say a few words now 
about the ongoing debt ceiling discussions.
  I think the American people can be excused for being a little 
confused at this point as to what is going on here in Washington and a 
little bit frustrated. I am too, frankly.
  There is no reason in the world that the American people should have 
had to wake up this morning unsure of whether Washington was going to 
resolve this problem.
  Candidly, as of Saturday afternoon, I had no doubt that a solution 
was at hand.
  That is just what we did. We came together in good faith and decided 
to do the right thing. Everyone agrees default wasn't an option, so we 
put together a responsible proposal that prevented default while 
reducing Washington spending.
  Republicans and, yes, some Democrats, have been clear for months that 
tax hikes couldn't be part of the package. We have also been clear that 
serious cuts would have to be part of any package.
  So taking all this into consideration, the responsible path forward 
was clear to everyone: a plan that avoided default and required 
additional savings before any further increase in the debt ceiling.
  Leaders from both parties in both Houses agreed this was the right 
path forward legislatively. The only thing to do at that point was to 
present this bipartisan solution to the President.
  What was the President's response? Unfortunately, to demand the 
largest single debt increase in history, $\1/2\ trillion more than the 
previous biggest increase Democrats approved 2 years ago when they 
controlled both Congress and the White House.
  This was the President's justification, as he put it on Friday:

       The only bottom line I have is that we have to extend the 
     debt ceiling through the next election, into 2013.

  That is a direct quote from the President of the United States. There 
is absolutely no economic justification for insisting on a debt limit 
increase that brings us through the next election. It is not the 
beginning of a fiscal year. It is not the beginning of a calendar year. 
Based on his own words, it is hard to conclude that this request has to 
do with anything, in fact, other than the President's reelection.
  Look, Congress has raised the Federal debt limit 62 times since 1972. 
The average length of an increase over that period is just over 7 
months. But now the President says it has to be nearly 2 years. Why? So 
he can continue to spend as he pleases.
  This weekend, we offered the President a bipartisan proposal to avoid 
default so we could have the time we need to put together a serious 
plan for getting our house in order, and he rejected it out of hand--
not for economic reasons, understand, but, as he put it, ``to extend 
this debt ceiling through the next election.''
  Time is running out. With all due respect to the President, we have 
more important issues to worry about than getting through the next 
election.
  A bipartisan plan to resolve this crisis was literally within our 
reach this weekend. The President has to know this approach is the 
responsible path forward, and we ought to put it back on the table.
  Congressional leaders of both parties have shown they are willing to 
work in

[[Page 11847]]

good faith. I suggest the President reconsider their offer rather than 
veto the country into default.
  I yield the floor.

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