[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12182]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          REID VERSUS BOEHNER

  (Mr. SIRES asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. SIRES. Mr. Speaker, we have less than 1 week to prevent our 
Nation from defaulting on its loans. Rather than focusing on a 
compromise, the majority has come up with yet another irresponsible 
plan to raise the debt ceiling and slash funding from programs that 
matter most to seniors and the middle class.
  First, their budget tried to end Medicare and gut Medicaid, all the 
while protecting tax breaks for Big Oil and corporations that send jobs 
overseas. Then it was the so-called Cut, Cap, and Balance to achieve 
the same objectives.
  Now the Speaker has put forward another plan that seeks the same 
goals so they can impose cuts on Medicare and Medicaid as well as set 
their sights on Social Security. This plan will keep the crisis going 
with a temporary increase in the debt ceiling, leaving the cloud of 
uncertainty over our economy.
  We need to instead focus on the compromise plan that Majority Leader 
Reid has presented to extend the debt ceiling through 2012 to provide 
certainty to the markets without hurting the economic recovery, as well 
as protect Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security from cuts.
  Mr. Speaker, we must accept the compromise plan to raise the debt 
ceiling in order to prevent another recession and save jobs in America.

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