[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12268-12269]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              DEBT CEILING

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, we have 5 days remaining until a few 
extremist Republicans--and note I say ``a few''--drive our economy off 
a cliff because they are too radical and inexperienced to compromise. 
Financial experts are begging Congress to come to an agreement that 
averts a first-ever default on this Nation's financial obligations.
  This is what one financial analyst said yesterday about the need to 
avert a default crisis which would spark a global economic depression.
  The market is saying we need a deal. Default is starting to seep into 
the marketplace.
  It will not be long, they say, before our financial markets severely 
react to continued stubbornness by the tea party Republicans, tanking 
our economy. Wall Street had a very bad day yesterday--its worst in 
months--largely based on the news that Congress still has not found a 
path forward.
  That does not only affect big investment banks or wealthy investors; 
all around the country, ordinary Americans with 401(k)s and college 
savings accounts lost money yesterday. Their life savings took a hit 
because a small group of radical Republicans who do not represent 
mainstream Americans have refused to move even 1 inch toward 
compromise.
  Yesterday's bad economic news should be a sign to those Republicans 
who deny reality. Default will rock our financial system to its core. 
Many reasonable Republicans realize time is running out. They have 
urged their colleagues to compromise.
  Yesterday on the Senate floor, John McCain, the Republican senior 
Senator from Arizona and President Obama's opponent in the last 
Presidential election, asked his own party to return to reality. It 
``is not fair to the American people to hold out and say we won't agree 
to raising the debt limit. . . . ''
  He called the radical Republican approach--saying up is down and 
denying the sky is blue--``unfair'' and ``bizarro.'' Those are quotes 
from John McCain. He further said:

       It's time we listened to the markets. It's time we listened 
     to the American people and sit down and seriously negotiate.

  He was talking to his fellow Republicans and, in particular, to a tea 
party that does not seem to realize Republicans control only one-half 
of one branch of government. That faction of the Republican Party is 
holding our economy hostage. That is an understatement.
  My counterpart, Senator McConnell, also urged a return to reason.

       We cannot get a perfect solution, from my point of view, 
     controlling only the House of Representatives. So I'm 
     prepared to accept something less than perfect because 
     perfect is not achievable.

  That is from Senator Mitch McConnell. Both sides know neither side 
will get everything it wants. That does not mean we should not come 
together to find a compromise that gives each side something it needs. 
Republicans have drawn the line at ending wasteful tax breaks for 
corporate jet owners and oil companies making record profits. They have 
vowed to protect corporate welfare at taxpayer expense. Democrats have 
vowed to protect senior citizens who rely on Social Security and 
Medicare benefits. We will not allow them to suffer while Republicans 
protect tax breaks for billionaires.
  The compromise plan we are considering in the Senate protects both of 
these priorities--both parties' priorities. Whether one agrees with the 
priorities, the legislation I have on the

[[Page 12269]]

floor in the form of an amendment protects those priorities--Democratic 
priorities and Republican priorities.
  Unfortunately, in a concession to Republicans, we did not ask 
millionaires and billionaires to contribute their fair share. We would 
have loved to have done it. But the line has been drawn by the 
Republicans and we followed that. But it does protect seniors who 
Republicans insist should feel the pain.
  It would also avert a default crisis while cutting $2.5 trillion from 
the deficit. That is twice as much as the Boehner plan. Yet House 
Republicans refuse to support the Senate compromise. I am happy to talk 
to any of my Republican colleagues--I have talked to several of them, I 
am happy to continue that--to listen to reasonable suggestions to make 
the Senate compromise legislation even better. That would require tea 
party Republicans to admit ``compromise'' is not a bad word.
  Legislation is the art of compromise, and they need to learn that. A 
significant number of House Republicans said their party would rather 
see this Nation default on its financial obligations than cooperate 
with Democrats. That says it all. It is hard to comprehend that, but 
there has been a spate of these Members of the House of Representatives 
who have said they would rather see the Nation default on its financial 
obligations than cooperate.
  This kind of thinking has been roundly rejected by the American 
people. Nearly three-quarters of Americans want Congress to compromise, 
even if neither side gets everything it wants. The American people know 
we cannot get everything we want.
  This thinking has also been rejected by reasonable Republicans. I had 
the good fortune of serving with the very famous American, Fred 
Thompson from Tennessee. He was famous before he got here. He is a 
movie actor. He served in the Senate admirably and went back to do his 
acting. Former Senator Fred Thompson--by the way, he is a Republican--
urged members of his own party in an open letter to the House GOP to 
recognize a good deal when they see it. That is what he said. ``I 
respectfully suggest that you rake in your chips, stuff them in your 
pockets, and go home.''
  The proposal on the table would cut the deficit by $2.5 trillion. If 
their goal is to rein in spending, they already won. That is what Fred 
Thompson said: ``If their goal is to rein in spending, they've already 
won.'' Declare victory and leave. Republicans should know--this is Fred 
Thompson--``when to take their chips and walk away.''
  American writer Elbert Hubbard said, ``It is easy to get everything 
you want, provided you first learn to do without the things you cannot 
get.'' That is what this is all about. ``It is easy to get everything 
you want, provided you first learn to do without the things you cannot 
get.''
  There are things that either side cannot get. Accept that and move 
on. Republicans cannot get the short-term Band-Aid they will vote on in 
the House today. It will not get one Democratic vote in the Senate. All 
53 members of the Senate Democratic caucus wrote to the Speaker last 
night--the letter was hand-delivered to him--to tell him why we will 
not vote for it.
  The economy needs more certainty than the Speaker's proposal would 
provide. We must not be back in 6 weeks doing the same thing I have 
been involved in for 7 or 8 months. We do not need to do that. 
Washington has been locked down with this debt crisis debate. The White 
House is not doing all they need to do. We are not doing the things we 
need to do. We cannot come back to this in just a few short weeks. That 
is what would happen.
  We must not be back here in 6 weeks or 6 months debating whether to 
allow our Nation to default on its financial obligations for the 
Republican rightwing that seems to be controlling so much of what they 
are doing in the House.
  It would be easy for Republicans to get nearly everything they want 
if only they embraced the Senate's true compromise plan and stop, as 
Senator McCain put it, deceiving the American people--his words not 
mine.
  The question remains, will my Republican colleagues be wise enough to 
end this stalemate?

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