[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12286-12288]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             NATIONAL DEBT

  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I think it is obvious to the world 
around us that the atmosphere here is hardly one of comfort or 
satisfaction. The public does not see the agony of the debate that is 
taking place, as we watch how dysfunctional the discussion about the 
national debt has been.
  We feel the threat to America's world financial leadership that is 
lurking around here, and it is not very satisfying to those people 
whose homes are close to foreclosure or the people who

[[Page 12287]]

need to be assured that health care is going to be there for them or 
that their child who can learn can get an education without mortgaging 
their future or cannot even get a mortgage on that.
  So we look around and we watch and we listen and we see that the 
Republicans in the House and the Republicans in the Senate are in a 
search for political gain regardless of the cost to our society and our 
Nation.
  I do not make this statement casually. But after months of watching 
and listening to the targeted goal of politics over the pain that could 
follow a default, no other conclusion may be drawn. We want to consider 
the evidence. By way of example, Vice President Biden convened a 
bipartisan working group to find solutions to get the national debt 
problem over with, get it resolved, and let us go on to our normal and 
needed debate and business. After that, Republicans walked out. Walked 
out.
  Next, President Obama offered Republicans what he called a ``grand 
deal'' that would reduce the deficit by $4 trillion. Republicans ran 
away. Now our majority leader, Harry Reid, has proposed a plan that 
includes more than $2 trillion in spending cuts, $1 in cuts for every 
dollar the debt limit is increased--and not even insisting on a dollar 
of revenues, which has been suggested several times.
  But there is no way of getting through the obstinacy on the other 
side. Republicans turn their back time after time. Democrats in this 
Senate and in the White House have offered the Republicans compromise 
after compromise. But they do not see their target. Their target is to 
do damage to the Obama administration so that it hurts sufficiently to 
discount the progress that has been made for our society under 
President Obama.
  Time and time again the Republicans have changed their demands to 
find reasons to say no. Are we asking the Republicans to do something 
radical, something that has never been done before? That is certainly 
not the case. Over the past half century, the debt ceiling has been 
raised 75 times, almost two-thirds of those occasions under Republican 
Presidents. In fact, the debt ceiling was increased 18 times under 
President Reagan, and 7 times under President George W. Bush.
  Our country has never defaulted. So the question that must be raised 
is: What is different about today? Why, at a time when we already face 
a real jobs crisis in this country, would Republicans plan for another 
economic crisis? Why would they do that? Will destroying the economy 
help Republicans win seats next year when people across our country are 
already expressing their dissatisfaction with the deadlock they see 
being displayed?
  We heard the minority leader say his No. 1 priority is stopping the 
President from winning another term. What a goal that is. He is our 
President, elected by the people of the country. He has a term of 4 
years and will be up for reelection. We hope and we pray that he 
continues to be the President of our country. What good does it do to 
target the system?
  Make known what it is they stand for. So far we have seen that they 
stand for nothing that is helpful to the average American. So what we 
need is a chance to have an honest discussion. Insecurity reigns as 
people grow more and more conscious about their inability to afford the 
basics of life, jobs, health care, education. They see prices being 
raised around them as their purchasing power shrinks. Look at the price 
of gasoline. You see a perfect example of what is happening. We had one 
Republican Presidential candidate who was asked: ``Does it strike you 
that as the unemployment rate goes up your chances of winning office 
also go up?''
  Do you know what her answer was? She said, ``I hope so.'' Hope so. 
What an outrageous thing to say from the halls of government, the high 
halls of government. I hope so. I hope that unemployment goes up, says 
she, so she might have a chance to win office. How cruel that statement 
is.
  Make no mistake, if the United States Treasury runs out of cash next 
week, the principal burden will fall on middle-class families. But the 
effects on our total economy will be devastating as well. We may not be 
able to send out Social Security checks to seniors, benefit checks to 
veterans, the people who serve the country. Let's stop paying them? Or 
paychecks to the men and women who now bear our country's uniform in 
Afghanistan and Iraq. Sorry, we cannot pay you. Is that what we are 
going to say?
  Interest rates could rise almost immediately, greatly increasing the 
cost of mortgages, car loans, student loans, credit cards, you name it. 
If middle-class Americans think their 401(k) plan suffered during the 
Wall Street crisis a few years ago, imagine what will happen to the 
markets if the U.S. Government cannot pay its bills, or redeem bonds 
that are ordinarily turned in for cash.
  A default will lead to increased job losses at a time when we are 
still emerging from a recession and 14 million people are now out of 
work. And those are the relatively short-term impacts. A default crisis 
will damage our reputation, our credit standing around the world. It 
will call into question America's credibility, stability, financial 
leadership. It will make our bonds and our currency less attractive to 
investors, and we may never recover the exalted status of our financial 
instrument.
  But in response to this looming crisis, our friends, the Republicans, 
are digging their trenches deeper and offering little but circuitous 
routes to avoid a more serious plan to resolve this situation. Their 
latest trick is to propose a short-term debt limit. That increase will 
leave us in the exact same position 6 months from now so they will have 
another opportunity to make political mischief.
  Imagine. Imagine. All types of tricks, all kinds of devices to try 
and cut short something that can be dealt with and left behind. Let's 
continue trying to solve the serious problems that our country has.
  The Boehner plan poses the same grave risk to our economy as default. 
CNN reported that the Boehner plan would probably still lead to a 
downgrade of the United States credit rating. Christian Cooper, head of 
U.S. dollar derivatives trading at Jefferies and Company, said--he is 
an authority:

       From the markets' point of view, a two-stage plan is a non-
     starter. . . . There is significant risk of a downgrade with 
     a deal that ties further cuts to another vote only a few 
     months down the road.

  It is time for the Republicans to remember that all of our citizens 
are entitled to be heard, not just the wealthy ones, not just the 
millionaires, the billionaires, the tea partiers and the powerful, 
because they have positions that get attention when they make phone 
calls here.
  Inherent in our responsibilities is our obligation to preserve our 
strength as a democratic society. It is time to get serious. No more 
sleight of hand. Honest discourse is essential. The other day we were 
reminded--I describe my own reaction. Shock. They had a picture of 
lovely looking young people walking away from daddy's airplane that 
they had--whether it is a charter or owned I do not know--to go to 
camp. I did well in business. I ran a big company. I got there because 
I got the GI bill to help me. The GI bill helped me start a company 
with two other fellows that now has 45,000 employees--45,000 jobs--
because I was able to get an education under the GI bill. It was 
fantastic. So when I see what is being prized as a front-page picture 
in the New York Times of this child, looked like a lovely child walking 
to camp from daddy's airplane--and to me, I do not object to that. If 
they make their money the legal, responsible way, they can spend it any 
way they want. But why in the devil would they not want to contribute 
something to the underpinnings of this country? I do not understand it. 
Why is there resistance from those who have made so much that they can 
have yachts and airplanes and this and that? It is said sometimes here 
class warfare is what we are witnessing. Class warfare.
  The warfare comes from the top down, because average citizens, those 
who work for a living, those whose jobs right now are often insecure, 
those who

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watch their 401(k), their precious savings maybe dwindling as a result 
of a negative change in the marketplace--saying to young people and 
their families, sons and daughters who have the capacity to learn: I 
wish that I could afford--says dad or mom--to send you to the right 
kind of a school that your ability suggests you can handle, but we 
cannot afford it--we do a disservice to that family. We do a disservice 
to country when those things happen. So I do not understand why those 
who have so much, made not by their own ingenuity exclusively but made 
by the fact that we have a foundation in this society of people who 
want to go to work every day and do the right thing. That is what holds 
up this facility of ours. I am not talking about the building, I am 
talking about the facility this country has.
  You cannot build a house from the ceiling down, from the chimney 
down, and you cannot build a society from the top down. You need the 
underpinnings. You need those people who bring their skills daily to 
work and hold out hope for their children to succeed. That is what we 
need. We need a regeneration of the spirit in this country of ours.
  But it is not going to happen when the Republicans' dominant view is: 
No, let's get Obama. That is what we have to do. Foul play. It is 
almost like desertion. I wore the country's uniform proudly, and that 
is what we are talking about, loyalty to country. It says we need 
everybody to participate. We are not going to get it with the foul 
schemes that are being proposed.
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sanders.) The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum 
call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. I am about to yield the floor to my distinguished 
senior Senator Jack Reed. I ask unanimous consent at the conclusion of 
his remarks I be granted recognition.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island is recognized.

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