[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 131]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     HIPPOCRATIC OATH FOR CONGRESS

  (Mr. HONDA asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, if there were a Hippocratic oath of 
legislating, it would prescribe that we, above all else, should do no 
harm, but we have a habit of violating that foundational precept.
  We have allowed unemployment insurance to 1.3 million Americans to 
expire, and that will not help our economy and will cost 200,000 jobs.
  In 1 month we face the recurring hostage-taking ritual that has 
become raising the debt limit. These debt limit showdowns have a real 
cost to our economy.
  The Government Accountability Office found that delayed action in 
2011 resulted in $1.3 billion in higher borrowing costs. We can avoid 
that cost by enacting permanent reforms to the process like the ones 
employed in the recent debt limit adjustments.
  I introduced last year H.R. 233, which would permanently shift the 
role of Congress to disapproving debt ceiling increases instead of 
approving them and allows the debt limit to be raised unless a 
supermajority of Congress votes to block the increase.
  I encourage my colleagues to join me in pursuing these permanent and 
necessary reforms. Avoid the replay of the hostage-taking and 
brinksmanship of last year, and take the steps to avoid doing any more 
unnecessary harm to American families.

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