[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Page 12627]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           BUDGET COMPROMISE

  Mr. REID. Madam President, for the last few weeks Congress has been 
locked in partisan gridlock. Today, I am relieved to say leaders from 
both parties have come together for the sake of our economy to reach a 
historic, bipartisan compromise that ends this dangerous standoff.
  The compromise we have agreed to is remarkable for a number of 
reasons, not only because of what it does but because of what it 
prevents: a first ever default on the full faith and credit of the 
United States.
  Sometimes it seems our two sides disagree on almost everything, but 
in the end reasonable people were able to agree: the United States 
could not take the chance of defaulting on our debt, risking a United 
States financial collapse and a worldwide depression.
  America and the world have been watching our democracy expectantly. 
My message to the world tonight is that this Nation and this Congress 
are moving forward, and we are moving forward together.
  Reaching a long-term accord that would give our economy the certainty 
it needs was not easy. But our work is not done. Leaders from both 
parties and in both Chambers will present this agreement to our 
caucuses tomorrow. Senate Democrats will meet at 11 a.m.
  To pass this settlement, we will need the support of Democrats and 
Republicans in both the House and the Senate. There is no way either 
party--either Chamber--can do this alone.
  As President Lyndon Johnson said:

       There are no problems we cannot solve together, and very 
     few that we can solve by ourselves.

  Democrats and Republicans have rarely needed to come together more 
than today. I know this agreement will not make every Republican happy. 
It certainly will not make every Democrat happy either. But both 
parties gave more ground than they wanted to, and neither side got as 
much as it had hoped. But that is the essence of compromise, of 
consensus building. And the American people demanded compromise this 
week, and they got it.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Republican leader.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, this is an important moment for our 
country. I appreciate the majority leader's comments and want to say a 
few words to our colleagues who have been so patient over the past 
several days and whose ideas and encouragement have been so helpful in 
getting us to this point.
  First of all, let me reiterate that before any agreement is reached, 
Republicans will meet to discuss the framework that the White House and 
congressional leaders in both parties think would meet our stated 
efforts to cut spending more than the President's requested debt 
ceiling increase, prevent a national default, and protect the economy 
from tax increases.
  To that end, I would like to say to my Republican colleagues that we 
will be holding a conference meeting in the morning to discuss the 
framework and to give everyone a chance to weigh in. But at this point 
I think I can say with a high degree of confidence that there is now a 
framework to review that will ensure significant cuts in Washington 
spending. And we can assure the American people tonight that the United 
States of America will not for the first time in our history default on 
its obligations.

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