[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12401-12403]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              DEBT CEILING

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, although the House of Representatives has 
not yet voted on Speaker Boehner's plan, that plan is flawed. That is 
why they have struggled for days to pass this inadequate legislation 
without a single Democrat even being involved in the process. They have 
plowed forward looking only to Republicans.
  But as the battle to pass the continuing resolution went forward to 
keep our government open for business just a few months ago, the 
Republican leadership realized they were unable to get the necessary 
votes for the CR and they reached out to Democrats. Speaker Boehner had 
to look to Democrats; he did not have enough votes. Obviously he should 
have looked to the Democrats again.
  That is the way we need to move forward on something that is 
bipartisan. That is how it is supposed to work, Democrats and 
Republicans working together for our country. The bandaid approach to 
the world crisis--and it is an embarrassment--to Congress, frankly to 
the country and to the world--is a sad commentary.
  United Senate Democrats, all 53 of us, have informed the Speaker that 
his legislation was doomed in the Senate because we would not vote for 
a short-term extension of the debt ceiling. It would put our great 
Nation on a path to another default extravaganza as we have experienced 
in the last few weeks.
  Frankly, that new extravaganza would start in a matter of weeks 
again. Virtually every expert--economist, rating agency, market 
analyst--has said the kind of short-term plan the Speaker has proposed 
is no answer to the crisis. Republicans created the crisis, and what 
they want to do is no answer to it.
  If we are really trying to avert the kind of financial calamity 
default would bring, the Republicans' plan is not a solution. I had a 
very sobering conversation a half hour ago with Secretary Geithner. 
Right now, businesses cannot borrow--big businesses, what they use to 
survive, moving money for bonds and other things; that is how the world 
economy works--they cannot borrow more money than overnight because no 
one knows what the interest rate will be tomorrow. So the Republican 
plan is not a solution. As the experts say, all too soon we would be 
back in the midst of partisan wrangling with our economy once again 
held prisoner by extremists in the Republican party lead by the tea 
party.
  Our economy cannot bear this kind of uncertainty any longer. Congress 
and the White House are on lockdown, and the business of the country is 
not being conducted. I say no, not again, will we fight another battle 
such as the one in which we are now engaged. We cannot do that. That is 
why a short-term extension is not what we need. It is not what this 
Congress will do.
  But default is not an option either. We cannot wait for the House any 
longer. It is time for Republicans to stop the political games and 
embrace compromise. No matter how long Republicans delay, the deadline 
will not move. We have hours--I repeat hours--to act. That is why by 
the end of today I must take action on the Senate's compromise 
legislation.
  The legislation in point would cut $2.5 trillion from our deficit 
over the next decade and avert default on our national debt. It would 
protect Social Security and Medicare without raising a penny of 
revenue. The question is: Will today's Republicans break away from the 
shrill voice of the tea party and return to the Republican Party of 
Ronald Reagan?
  This is likely our last chance to save this Nation from a default. I 
have invited Senator McConnell to sit down with me and to negotiate in 
good faith, knowing that the clock is running down. I hope he will 
accept my offer. I cannot do this alone. There are only 53 of us, and 
under the rules that Republicans put in place--it used to be used 
sparingly but is used all of the time now--we will need to get 60 
votes; a majority is not good enough.

[[Page 12402]]

  I know the Senate compromise bill the Democrats have offered is not 
perfect in the eyes of the Republicans. It is not certainly perfect in 
the eyes of the Democrats. But together we must make it work for all of 
us, because it is the only option. The settlement on the table will 
never give either party everything it wants, but it already meets the 
Republicans' demands. John McCain, the Republican senior Senator from 
Arizona, President Obama's opponent in the Presidential election, has 
asked his party to compromise. He did it here on the Senate floor.
  He said, it ``is not fair for the American people to hold out and say 
we won't agree to raising the debt limit.'' He called the radical 
Republican approach ``unfair'' and ``bizarro.'' It is time we listen to 
the markets, he said. It is time we listen to the American people and 
sit down and seriously negotiate.
  Former Senator Fred Thompson, whom I served with here in this body, a 
Republican, asked Members of his own party to come to their senses. ``I 
respectfully suggest that you rake in your chips and stuff them in your 
pockets.'' That was his quote. He believes they have already won--all 
discretionary spending, no revenue.
  I hope my friend, Senator McConnell, will come to me by the end of 
the day and indicate what constructive ideas he has to move the process 
along. My door is open. I will listen to any ideas to get this done in 
a way that prevents a default and a dangerous downgrade to our 
country's credit rating.
  Time is short. That is an understatement. Too much is at stake to 
waste even one more minute. The last train is leaving the station. This 
is our last chance to avert a default. The vote on this compromise will 
determine whether we enter the frightening world of default. A vote for 
the Senate compromise will be a vote on the financial obligations of 
this great Nation to pay the bills.
  I would ask my friends, my Republican friends, break away from this 
thing going on in the House of Representatives. They were going to vote 
at 4:30 yesterday, 6:30, 7:30, 8:30, 9:30--10:30 they finally quit. 
Rumors flying around. Rumors flying around. The Wall Street Journal 
said they put too much money in for Pell grants. They were going to 
take that out. Rumors flying around they need a balanced budget 
amendment added. Rumors that the Speaker was seen in my office--which 
he did not come. All these rumors made no sense.
  The scariest thing is, late last night, Leader Cantor said from the 
House: You have three choices: Boehner, cut, cap and balance, or 
default. That is the second ranking Member in the Republican leadership 
who said that.
  We need to honor the financial obligations we have with the country. 
So a vote against the compromise I have talked about--now listen to 
what my compromise is: No revenue. The Congressional Budget Office has 
scored it more than $2.4 trillion, which will take us to probably--not 
probably, it will take us to March of 2013. We can do the country's 
business. There is a joint committee that will be set up to see if we 
can do some good work on a more long-term approach and to get back to 
work doing our country's business.
  I repeat: CBO and OMB have scored our bill for more than $2.4 
trillion--not billion, trillion dollars. That is dollar for dollar, as 
the Speaker said he wants to reduce the debt. So a vote against this 
compromise will be a vote to default on the full faith and credit of 
the United States.
  I repeat to everyone within the sound of my voice: We have the 
framework of a bill. We are going to change it. I have some ideas that 
we need to change. I want to discuss them with the Republican leader. 
If anyone has any other ideas, come to me. But the time has come to 
make a decision. The time factors are very clear. Why am I filing 
tonight on my bill? Why? There is no more time. I have to do it 
tonight. Would I like to wait until tomorrow to see if there is some 
good will that comes from the Republican side? Of course I would. But I 
would suggest to my friends on the other side of the aisle, this is a 
pretty good deal. They, in effect, as Fred Thompson said, have gotten 
everything they want and should put those chips in their pockets and 
walk away and declare victory.
  There will be no time left to vote on another bill or consider 
another option in the Senate. This is our last, best chance to preserve 
the character and credit of our great Nation.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Will my colleague, the majority leader, yield for a 
question?
  Mr. REID. I am happy to.
  Mr. SCHUMER. I thank our leader.
  Mr. President, the leader outlined it well. The House, for all its 
machinations, delays, and struggles, is pursuing a path to nowhere 
because their bill will not pass, will not become law. Fifty-three of 
the fifty-three Democrats have signed a letter saying they will not 
vote for it, and the President has said he will veto it--all for a 
simple reason: because if we do this short term, we don't calm the 
markets and, at the same time, we start all over in a few weeks going 
through this again.
  As the leader said--and it is true--the bill he will put on the floor 
is our only chance, and the reason it is our last chance is very 
simple: After tonight, anything put on the floor--is this true, Mr. 
Leader, that after tonight, if we were to put anything on the floor, 
given the rules of the Senate, nothing could be voted on before default 
would occur?
  Mr. REID. I say to my friend from New York, under the rules we have 
in the Senate, if I move tonight, we cannot have the final vote until 
Tuesday morning. The country defaults at 12 o'clock on Tuesday on its 
debt.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Will the leader continue to yield?
  Mr. REID. Sure.
  Mr. SCHUMER. That means this bill the leader will put on the floor 
tonight is the last train out of the station, and it also means, given 
the rules of the Senate, that only with bipartisan cooperation can we 
do it.
  So we are hoping and praying that our colleagues from the other side 
of the aisle, led by their leader--and 15 signed a letter talking about 
a bipartisan compromise as part of the Gang of 6, or Gang of 8--that 
that group could come forward and make suggestions, not simply say the 
Boehner bill because that will not pass, but make suggestions on 
modifications to the Reid plan. That is our only hope of avoiding 
default, and we must act now. Is that a correct depiction of the status 
on the floor and of where we are headed?
  Mr. REID. That is absolutely true.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I will ask one more question. If we are 
unable to come to a compromise on the leader's bill, there is virtually 
no time, no matter what the House does, for the Senate to do anything 
before default is over. That means our Republican colleagues have the 
ball in their hands in terms of default; is that correct?
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have been told personally by some 
Republicans in the Senate they will do everything they can to stop 
legislation from proceeding. That is not a majority; it is a handful of 
people on the Republican side of the aisle.
  That is why I said in my remarks that I hope the Republican Party 
will turn back to the party of Ronald Reagan. He raised the debt 
ceiling 19 times during the time he was President. He was a man who 
compromised. That was who he was. He hated communism. Who was the man 
who brought down the Iron Curtain? Ronald Reagan. He was willing to 
compromise even with somebody he spoke of in the worst terms. He knew 
how to compromise, and even though he was elected as the most anti-
Communist President in the history of the country, the day he was 
elected he sent his embassy personnel to the Soviet Union so they could 
work with them. That led to the great decision by our countries to 
bring down the Iron Curtain.
  Mr. SCHUMER. I see that the minority leader is here, and I thank the 
majority leader for yielding.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, if the minority leader doesn't mind, I 
would like to ask the majority leader a question.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Illinois.
  Mr. DURBIN. During the period of time we were waiting yesterday for a

[[Page 12403]]

decision by the House of Representatives, which they still didn't come 
to--during that period of time, we had an opportunity to have many 
personal conversations among Senators--Democrats and Republicans--and I 
would say that unanimously, to a person, Democratic and Republican 
Senators agreed that a default would be an economic disaster for the 
United States of America.
  The majority leader has been briefed this morning by the Treasury 
Secretary about some of the prospects of default. We have heard only 
one that I know of--a Republican Senator--come to the floor and say 
that a default on our debt could be managed very easily.
  I want to ask, since I have heard from business leaders in Illinois 
of closings that were literally canceled this week for multimillion-
dollar investments in the city of Chicago in the State of Illinois 
because of what is happening in the House of Representatives, can the 
majority leader please tell us, as much as he can at this moment, what 
the prospects are if we do reach the point of default on this national 
debt?
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I am familiar with the situation in Illinois 
where a $146 million construction project was turned down at the last 
minute because they were so afraid of the credit.
  Mr. DURBIN. I have one further question. In terms of the impact on 
our Nation, as the Secretary of the Treasury has told the leader, can 
he give us, for the record, an idea of what we face if the Republicans 
in the House continue to delay and hold to a strategy that has no hope 
of passage?
  Mr. REID. Secretary Geithner said it has already started. The 
international community is extremely worried they could only get 
overnight loans. It is extremely precarious for our country.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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