[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 15491-15492]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         TIME TO PAY THE PIPER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Mica) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, as the clock ticks, the country gets closer to 
a time when it will run out of money.
  People probably couldn't understand all of the debate leading up to 
the implementation of ObamaCare just a few days ago, and some of the 
questions and debate became blurred. That was one of the biggest 
government programs--largest spending programs--probably in the history 
of our Nation; but it did have consequences, because you are spending 
more trillions of dollars, and if we are going to provide health care, 
we want it right. There are many Americans who don't have health care, 
and we should assist them in a responsible fashion. The roll-out has 
been

[[Page 15492]]

a disaster. We are holding a hearing on that in the Oversight and 
Government Reform Committee.
  All that being said, it's about time to pay the piper here. I think 
the American people will understand, and can understand, that the 
country is close to default. The country is close to default because we 
have incurred an indebtedness that will soon exceed $17 trillion, an 
indebtedness which, again, will reach the current limit next week. They 
are asking for another $1 trillion or $900 billion to get us one more 
year. We are going to have to pay the piper.
  When you spend $1.5 trillion more a year in the first year with the 
Obama administration and, in each succeeding year, over $1 trillion 
more than you took in, you acquire an indebtedness. It was $9 trillion 
when President Bush left office, and it will soon be $18 trillion in 
some 6 years, the most indebtedness of any nation. We can't become a 
Greece. This is not that difficult to understand.
  When the government can't pay its bills, if folks think there is a 
temporary shutdown now, think of a permanent shutdown. Think of going 
to the bank and not being able to withdraw money or, as you've heard, 
not being able to obtain a mortgage. The full faith and credit of the 
United States of America will collapse. Just like when an individual 
spends more than he earns, he must pay the piper. Hopefully now, 
everyone can understand we are in that situation and that we must act 
responsibly.
  Republicans are not standing in the way. Republicans are trying to 
save the day because this is coming due. The bill is due. We must find 
a way to cut spending, reduce the amount of Federal spending and keep 
the debt down. It's that simple. If the President of the United States 
will not negotiate and if the Senate will not negotiate, you cannot 
achieve what we need to do to be responsible as stewards of the 
American people. We are one half of one-third of the government, so 
this isn't all our responsibility.
  We are trying to act responsibly, and we are asking people to come 
together and find a way to reduce spending in a responsible manner. If 
we have got problems with some programs like ObamaCare, let's fix them. 
Let's get this spending down. Again, this is the time we are going to 
have to pay for all of these government programs, for the spending that 
has gone on unchecked and for the indebtedness the United States has 
incurred.
  Just a final lesson: the Constitution and the Founders put all 
spending--the appropriations, the funding of programs--and also the 
responsibility for raising taxes with this body, the House of 
Representatives. They did so because we are closest to the people. We 
get elected every 2 years. They chose to have the Republicans in the 
majority in order to control the spending that went out of control and 
the government programs that went out of control.
  So that is what we are doing, what they sent us here to do; and we 
must do it in a responsible fashion. We are here. We were here before 
the shutdown. We have asked to negotiate. We will continue to do that. 
Our leaders are committed to doing that, to working in a responsible 
fashion. We have to get this right. We must pay the piper. The piper is 
calling our bills and our credit due, so let's join together and act 
responsibly.

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