[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 2]
[House]
[Pages 2851-2855]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF S. 540, PATRICIA CLARK BOSTON AIR ROUTE 
             TRAFFIC CONTROL CENTER, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

  Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I 
call up House Resolution 478 and ask for its immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                              H. Res. 478

       Resolved, That upon adoption of this resolution it shall be 
     in order to consider in the House the bill (S. 540), to 
     designate the air route traffic control center located in 
     Nashua, New Hampshire, as the ``Patricia Clark Boston Air 
     Route Traffic Control Center''. All points of order against 
     consideration of the bill are waived. An amendment in the 
     nature of a substitute consisting of the text of sections 1 
     through 3 of Rules Committee Print 113-37 shall be considered 
     as adopted. The bill, as amended, shall be considered as 
     read. All points of order against provisions in the bill, as 
     amended, are waived. The previous question shall be 
     considered as ordered on the bill, as amended, and on any 
     amendment thereto to final passage without intervening motion 
     except: (1) one hour of debate equally divided and controlled 
     by the Majority Leader and Minority Leader or their 
     respective designees; and (2) one motion to recommit with or 
     without instructions.
       Sec. 2.  House Resolution 475 is amended in section 2 by 
     striking ``February 13, 2014'' and inserting ``February 12, 
     2014''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Womack). The gentleman from Georgia is 
recognized for 1 hour.
  Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the 
customary 30 minutes to my friend from New York (Ms. Slaughter), 
pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During 
consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose 
of debate only.


                             General Leave

  Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Georgia?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 478 provides a closed rule for the 
consideration of S. 540.
  Now, if you heard the Clerk read S. 540, you might not have 
understood why we were here today. He read it exactly as it is drafted 
in the title, but we are here today to move a clean debt ceiling.
  Now, I won't tell you, Mr. Speaker, that I am excited about being 
down here today. I am excited to be carrying the rule, because I 
believe this is the way that regular order ought to operate. But I came 
here, as you did, Mr. Speaker, and as so many of my colleagues did on 
the other side of the aisle, to try to move the needle, to try to move 
the needle on Federal spending, to try to move the needle on the 
borrowing that is going on from our children and our grandchildren.
  We talk so often back home, Mr. Speaker, about raising taxes. In 
fact, so many folks in this Chamber have signed a pledge to say I will 
never raise taxes on the American people, and I admire that sentiment. 
But, Mr. Speaker, when we have a vote to raise the debt ceiling, debt 
that has to be paid, we are, in effect, raising taxes on the American 
taxpayer.
  Now, it is not a surprise to anyone in this Chamber. I sit on the 
Budget Committee. Anyone who has looked at the budget understands that 
we don't have enough revenue to pay our bills.
  In fact, Mr. Speaker, I have the great pleasure of being on the 
Republican Study Committee as chair of their Budget and Spending Task 
Force. I had an opportunity last year to offer the most conservative 
budget offered in this Chamber--the most conservative budget offered in 
this Chamber--and we had to continue borrowing money as far as the eye 
can see.
  When Rand Paul was elected to the United States Senate among much 
fanfare--lots of conservatives across the country looking to Rand Paul 
for guidance, and rightfully so--he dropped a budget in the United 
States Senate, the most conservative budget introduced at that time in 
Washington, D.C., balanced the budget in 3 years by abolishing agency 
after agency after agency, sentiments that I happen to agree with 
wholeheartedly but know that we don't have the votes to achieve, and 
even that budget required borrowing money from our children and our 
grandchildren for the next 3 years.
  So it is not a happy day that we are here, Mr. Speaker. The happy 
day, I would argue, was back in August of 2011. I was a young freshman 
Member, Mr. Speaker. I remember it because it was the kind of vote that 
you ran for Congress to take. We were here, and the news commentators 
were back and forth; is it the right deal? Is it the wrong deal? John 
Boehner and President Barack Obama engaged in debate at the White House 
night after night after night, and suddenly, a deal was reached.
  Now, as has been my experience in my 3 years in this Chamber, Mr. 
Speaker, the term ``a deal has been reached'' 100 percent of the time 
means what Rob Woodall wanted didn't happen. It is funny how that works 
out. I get one voice out of 435, and so when I have to send my Speaker 
down to the White House and negotiate with not just one President but 
100 more Senators, I don't get what I wanted.
  But what I did get in August of 2011, Mr. Speaker, was an agreement 
that, if we raised the debt ceiling, if we agreed to further encumber 
our children and our grandchildren, as everyone in this Chamber knows 
that the current laws of the books require us to do, we would take a 
step, a $2 trillion step to try to make sure that we didn't have to 
raise the debt ceiling again.
  It didn't contain what anybody thought was the 100 percent right 
plan, Mr. Speaker, but it was a proposal that we could come together 
around--not just we Republicans; not we, the House of Representatives; 
not we, Capitol Hill, with the Senate; but we, the elected 
representatives of the American people, from the White House to the 
U.S. House to the United States Senate.
  We have come 2\1/2\ years, Mr. Speaker, and we have done some amazing 
things. I created No Budget, No Pay last year, for example, Mr. 
Speaker, which attached an increase in the debt ceiling

[[Page 2852]]

to the requirement that we pass a budget out of this House and that 
they pass a budget out of the Senate, allowing us to come together to 
produce the first budget this institution has seen since I have been 
elected to the Congress, the first one. Not the first House-passed 
budget--we do that every year; it is our responsibility; of course we 
do--but the first one with which we found agreement with the Senate and 
received a Presidential signature.
  Mr. Speaker, the debt limit is a constant reminder of the imbalance 
of America's taxing and spending. We have a spending problem in this 
Nation. Everyone in this Chamber knows it. And the debt ceiling is an 
opportunity for us to come together and find solutions.
  And try as hard as he might, Mr. Speaker, when the Speaker of this 
United States House dug deep to try to find those answers, he could 
find none. Not that there were no answers out there--of course there 
are--but there were not answers out there that could receive the 
approval of this body, the approval of the Senate, and the signature of 
the President.
  I have to ask why, because there is not a man or woman who is going 
to come into this Chamber today who does not know that we need to take 
steps to address the problem. And dadgummit, Mr. Speaker, there is not 
a man or woman in this Chamber who doesn't know we have the ability to 
do it, because we have done it before--not 100 years ago, not 50 years 
ago, but just 3 years ago, with largely the same folks that are here 
today.
  That is not what this rule is bringing to the Floor today, but what 
it is bringing to the Floor is a clean debt ceiling resolution. This 
should be a day on which we are coming together around solutions to 
that longer-term spending problem, but we find ourselves here today 
simply trying to bring America back from an economic brink the likes of 
which not a single Member of this Chamber wants America to see.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me the 
customary 30 minutes and yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, just a few weeks ago it appeared as though the crises 
that had come to define this Congress maybe were coming to an end. In a 
rare show of bipartisanship, Democrats in the Senate and Republicans in 
the House passed a budget compromise that set the spending levels for 
the next 2 years. As was clear at the time of its passage, the 
bipartisan budget agreement authorized spending well beyond the current 
debt limit. Despite that fact, 166 members of the majority voted to 
authorize the spending and to increase the Nation's debt. At that time, 
a member of the majority declared that passing the legislation would be 
the responsible thing to do, and, indeed, it was.
  Now, today, we are going to find out whether that moment of 
responsibility was an aberration or a sign of things to come. The 
majority has a simple choice today. We understand they don't have the 
votes to pass this. And the Democrats, as they have been on so many 
other things we have tried to get to the floor, are more than willing 
to do our part for our country because that, Mr. Speaker, is why we 
were elected to come here.
  The majority has a choice today: act responsibly and pay the 
country's bills which they voted for, some of them, or trigger another 
economic panic by threatening default.
  For decades, up till about 2011, which was just held up as a landmark 
here, no matter which party was in charge, Congress always raised the 
debt ceiling without hesitation or pause. In the years that I have been 
here, there was never any notion of having to pay a ransom to get the 
side that you were not on to do what its duty called for. But in recent 
years, the majority doubts the seriousness of this responsibility and 
dared the global financial system to punish them for their malfeasance.
  Although we need no reminder, in 2011, the majority of this Chamber 
demanded ransom in exchange for an increase in the debt ceiling. The 
self-inflicted wound that followed sparked the most volatile week for 
the financial markets since 2008, when we had the financial crisis, and 
resulted in the credit rating agency Standard & Poor's downgrading our 
Nation's credit rating for the first time in history. And for what? 
Some notion that they didn't have to meet their responsibility.
  In the years since, the majority has continued to play this dangerous 
game of political hostage taking that hurts our economy, and even 
caused a 16-day government shutdown. And that shutdown, Mr. Speaker, 
let me remind the people of America, took $24 billion out of our 
economy for absolutely nothing.
  Even when it has been clear that there is only one way out of a self-
inflicted crisis such as the government shutdown, the majority pursued 
an approach that can be summarized as ``only when we have tied 
ourselves in legislative knots, only when we have thrown the economy 
into turmoil, only after we have frightened employers from hiring and 
given global investors pause, we will do the right thing,'' as we are 
doing today.

                              {time}  1600

  This irresponsible approach has particularly drawn the ire of the 
American people and dragged the approval ratings of the House of 
Representatives to historic lows. Today I urge the majority to follow 
the lead of the Democrat leadership, my colleagues, and me and do the 
right things first instead of last.
  I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on today's rule--and that, by 
itself, is wonderful for me to do; it feels good--and the underlying 
legislation so that we can honor the commitments this Congress has made 
and protect the full faith and credit of the United States. We are 
charged to do no less.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I would mention to my friend from New York 
that if she has no further requests for time, I am prepared to close.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  As I have said, the question before us today is a simple one: Are we 
going to pay the country's bills or will the United States become a 
deadbeat nation? This is not a question of increasing our Nation's 
spending. That question was answered when 166 Members of the majority 
voted to spend beyond the Nation's debt ceiling by passing the 
bipartisan budget agreement just a few weeks ago.
  Today is simply a matter of paying our bills when they come due, as 
real Americans do, and we should follow suit. So when this is coming 
due, we hope after today, we will be able to pay ours.
  For our part, my Democratic colleagues and I are ready to do the 
right thing--and have been for some time--by increasing our Nation's 
debt ceiling and protecting the full faith and credit of the United 
States of America. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on today's rule 
and the underlying legislation.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I am one of those Members the gentlelady from New York referenced, 
one of those Members who voted in favor of an appropriations bill that 
funds the government for this year. In fact, I have voted for the 
House-passed budget and the Republican Study Committee budget in each 
and every year that I have been in this institution. What is unique 
about those votes, Mr. Speaker, is they absolutely understand that we 
are going to have to spend money that we don't have, but they take 
steps to make the problem better instead of worse.
  I want to take issue with what my friend from New York said about a 
raising of the debt ceiling with absolutely no strings attached as 
being the responsible thing to do. It is absolutely not. It is the 
worst-case scenario.
  Now, I am going to have colleagues on the floor today, Mr. Speaker, 
who are petrified of what happens if we don't do this today. They are 
petrified that even though we know we can come together and find a 
solution forward, find a solution that makes the problem better instead 
of worse, they are petrified that they do not have a willing

[[Page 2853]]

partner in the President or with the Senate. So unless they vote to 
pass this bill today, America faces default, and that is an awful box, 
an awful box that my friends have painted.
  I want to read a few quotes, Mr. Speaker. I think words matter. This 
is from 2006, as a young Senator Barack Obama faced a debt limit 
increase in the United States Senate, and he said this--and I just want 
to point out, because my friend from New York talked about the 
obviousness of this vote, how clearly this is the right thing to do, 
just to raise the debt ceiling to whatever amount folks would like.
  Here is what Senator Barack Obama said in 2006. He said: The fact 
that we are even here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a 
sign of leadership failure. Leadership means the buck stops here. 
Instead, Washington is shifting the burdens of bad choices today onto 
the backs of our children and grandchildren.
  Then-Senator Barack Obama goes on, Mr. Speaker. He said: America has 
a debt problem and a failure of leadership. America deserves better. 
Therefore, I intend to oppose this effort to increase America's debt 
limit.
  I don't have to say it very often, Mr. Speaker, but when the 
President is right, he is right. This was an opportunity to come 
together and one that we searched for, searched for.
  There is not a man or woman in this town who wants to find a path 
forward more than our Speaker, John Boehner, does. There is no one who 
has sweated to find that opportunity more than our Speaker has. Yet 
without a willing partner in the White House or the Senate, it can't 
happen.
  The same here, Mr. Speaker, 2006. Then-Senator Joe Biden says this: 
The President's budget plans will bring our debt to $11.8 trillion at 
the end of the next 5 years. This is a record of utter disregard for 
our Nation's financial future.
  Mr. Speaker, $11.8 trillion is what Joe Biden was concerned about. 
That number reached $16 trillion within that same time period.
  He goes on: It is a record of indifference to the price our children 
and grandchildren will pay to redeem our debt when it comes due. 
History will not judge this record kindly. My vote against the debt 
limit increase cannot change the fact that we have incurred this debt 
already and will, no doubt, incur more. It is a statement that I refuse 
to be associated with, the policies that brought us to this point.
  Mr. Speaker, 2010, then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral 
Mike Mullen said this: Our national debt is our biggest national 
security threat. Not terrorism, not al Qaeda, not a rogue nation, but 
our debt.
  Mr. Speaker, it is hard to deal with our debt. If it was easy, we 
wouldn't have the debt to begin with. It is hard, but I have seen us 
come together to fix it before. A $2 trillion worth of difference we 
came together to make 3 years ago, not even. Yet today, we find 
ourselves unable to find that path.
  Mr. Speaker, with the indulgence of my friend from New York--I would 
very much appreciate it--I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas 
(Mr. Barton).
  I thank my friend from New York.
  Mr. BARTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank both my friend on the majority side 
and my friend on the minority side for allowing me this unusual 
procedure.
  I do rise in support of the rule. I am going to vote for the rule. 
But, Mr. Speaker, I am going to oppose the underlying bill on the debt 
ceiling.
  I have brought some materials that have been prepared by the 
Congressional Research Service with materials that were provided by the 
Office of Management and Budget that show in the fiscal year that we 
are now engaged, mandatory spending is 62 percent of the total budget, 
and interest on the debt is over 6 percent. Those two combined are two-
thirds of all total spending, mandatory spending and interest on the 
debt.
  It is not going to get any easier, Mr. Speaker, to solve this problem 
by passing so-called clean debt ceilings that don't address the 
underlying problem. I understand the problems governing on the majority 
side, and I understand the issues with the Presidency and the Senate 
being controlled by the Democrats. I understand that.
  But I couldn't walk into a bank in Ennis, Texas, today and say, I owe 
you $300,000 right now, but I want to borrow another $200,000. They 
would want to know what plan I had to repay the money I had already 
borrowed, and they would want to know how giving me another $200,000 
would actually be the appropriate thing to do.
  What we are doing on the underlying bill, Mr. Speaker, with this so-
called clean debt ceiling is simply saying, we want to borrow--I am not 
sure how much it is--probably 600 or $700 billion, where we already owe 
$17 trillion. We have no plan to repay the money we have already 
borrowed and certainly have no plan to repay the money we are going to 
borrow.
  So my comment today is, this Congress should be addressing this 
problem in a bipartisan fashion today. We will be back here in March of 
next year. We will have the same debate. So I will be voting ``no'' 
later this evening.
  I do thank my good friend from Georgia and my good friend from New 
York for allowing me to speak.

                                                                                        FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OUTLAYS SINCE FY1984, VARIOUS MEASURES
                                                                                              [Data from FY2014 OMB Public Budget Database]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       fy1984       fy1985       fy1986       fy1987       fy1988       fy1989       fy1990       fy1991       fy1992       fy1993       fy1994       fy1995       fy1996       fy1997
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gross Domestic Product ($billions)................       3844.4       4146.3       4403.9       4651.4       5008.5       5399.5       5734.5       5930.5         6242       6587.3       6976.6       7341.1       7718.3       8211.7
GDP Price Index...................................       0.5986        0.618       0.6323       0.6492         0.67        0.696       0.7216        0.749       0.7685       0.7854        0.802        0.819       0.8348       0.8502
Population........................................     2.36E+08     2.38E+08     2.40E+08     2.42E+08     2.45E+08     2.47E+08     2.50E+08     2.52E+08     2.55E+08     2.58E+08     2.60E+08     2.63E+08     2.65E+08     2.68E+08
Outlays, in $Billions:
    Discretionary Outlays.........................        379.5        415.8        438.5        444.2        464.4        488.9        500.6        533.3        533.8        539.7        541.4        544.8        532.8        547.1
    Defense (function 050)........................        228.1        253.1        273.8        282.6        290.9        304.1        300.2        319.7        302.6        292.4        282.3        273.6        266.0        271.7
    Non-Defense (all other).......................        151.4        162.7        164.7        161.6        173.5        184.8        200.4        213.6        231.2        247.3        259.1        271.2        266.8        275.4
    Mandatory.....................................        361.3        401.0        415.8        421.3        448.2        485.9        568.1        596.5        648.4        670.9        717.4        738.9        786.8        810.1
    Net interest..................................        111.1        129.5        136.0        138.6        151.8        168.9        184.4        194.4        199.3        198.7        203.0        232.2        241.0        244.0
      Total.......................................          852          046          990        1,004        1,064        1,144        1,253        1,324        1,382        1,409        1,462        1,516        1,561        1,601
Constant FY2013 dollars (billions, using CDP price
 index; FY2014 OMB projections):
    Discretionary Outlays.........................          750          796          820          809          820          831          821          842          822          813          799          787          755          761
    Defense (function 050)........................          451          485          512          515          514          517          492          505          466          440          416          395          377          378
    Non-Defense (all other).......................          299          311          308          295          306          314          329          337          356          373          382          392          378          383
    Mandatory.....................................          714          768          778          768          791          826          931          942          998        1,011        1,058        1,067        1,115        1,127
    Net Interest..................................          220          248          255          253          268          287          302          307          307          299          299          335          342          340
As % of GDP:
    Discretionary Outlays.........................         9.9%        10.0%        10.0%         9.5%         9.3%         9.1%         8.7%         9.0%         8.6%         8.2%         7.8%         7.4%         6.9%         6.7%
    Defense (function 050)........................         5.9%         6.1%         6.2%         6.1%         5.8%         5.6%         5.2%         5.4%         4.8%         4.4%         4.0%         3.7%         3.4%         3.3%
    Non-Defense (all other).......................         3.9%         3.9%         3.7%         3.5%         3.5%         3.4%         3.5%         3.6%         3.7%         3.8%         3.7%         3.7%         3.5%         3.4%
    International (fcn 150).......................         0.4%         0.4%         0.4%         0.3%         0.3%         0.3%         0.3%         0.3%         0.3%         0.3%         0.3%         0.3%         0.2%         0.2%
    Mandatory.....................................         9.4%         9.7%         9.4%         9.1%         8.9%         9.0%         9.9%        10.1%        10.4%        10.2%        10.3%        10.1%        10.2%         9.9%

[[Page 2854]]

 
    Net Interest..................................         2.9%         3.1%         3.1%         3.0%         3.0%         3.1%         3.2%         3.3%         3.2%         3.0%         2.9%         3.2%         3.1%         3.0%
As Share of Total Outlays:
    Discretionary Outlays.........................        44.5%        43.9%        44.3%        44.2%        43.6%        42.7%        40.0%        40.3%        38.6%        38.3%        37.0%        35.9%        34.1%        34.2%
    Defense (function 050)........................        26.8%        26.7%        27.6%        28.1%        27.3%        26.6%        24.0%        24.1%        21.9%        20.7%        19.3%        18.0%        17.0%        17.0%
    Non-Defense (all other).......................        17.8%        17.2%        16.6%        16.1%        16.3%        16.2%        16.0%        16.1%        16.7%        17.5%        17.7%        17.9%        17.1%        17.2%
    Mandatory.....................................        42.4%        42.4%        42.0%        42.0%        42.1%        42.5%        45.3%        45.0%        46.9%        47.6%        49.1%        48.7%        50.4%        50.6%
    Net Interest..................................        13.0%        13.7%        13.7%        13.8%        14.3%        14.8%        14.7%        14.7%        14.4%        14.1%        13.9%        15.3%        15.4%        15.2%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


 
                                      fy1998     fy1999     fy2000     fy2001     fy2002     fy2003     fy2004     fy2005     fy2006     fy2007     fy2008     fy2009     fy2010     fy2011     fy2012     fy2013     fy2014     fy2015
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gross Domestic Produce ($billions)       8663     9208.4       9821    10225.3    10543.9    10980.2      11676    12428.6    13206.5    13861.4    14334.4    13960.7    14348.8    14929.4    15547.4    16202.7    17011.4    17936.1
GDP Price Index...................      0.861     0.8724     0.8897     0.9106     0.9257     0.9446     0.9685          1      1.034     1.0646     1.0893     1.1033     1.1145     1.1379     1.1588      1.183     1.2054     1.2283
Population........................   2.70E+08   2.73E+08   2.82E+08   2.85E+08   2.88E+08   2.90E+08   2.93E+08   2.96E+08   2.98E+08   3.01E+08   3.04E+08   3.07E+08   3.09E+08   3.12E+08   3.14E+08   3.16E+08   3.19E+08   3.21E+08
Outlays, in $Billions:
    Discretionary Outlays.........      552.0      572.1      614.6      649.0      733.9      824.3      895.0      968.5    1,016.7    1,041.6    1,134.9    1,237.5    1,347.2    1,347.1    1,286.1    1,257.9    1,241.9    1,232.0
    Defense (function 050)........      270.2      275.5      294.9      306.0      348.9      405.0      454.0      493.6      520.0      547.8      612.5      656.7      688.9      699.4      670.5      651.5      618.3      603.6
    Non-Defense (all other).......      281.7      296.7      319.7      343.0      385.0      419.4      441.0      474.9      496.7      493.7      522.4      580.8      658.3      647.7      615.6      606.5      623.7      628.4
    Mandatory.....................      859.3      900.0      951.4    1,007.7    1,106.0    1,182.5    1,237.5    1,319.4    1,411.8    1,449.9    1,594.9    2,093.2    1,913.7    2,025.9    2,030.6    2,204.3    2,312.9    2,422.6
    Net Interest..................      241.2      229.8      222.9      206.2      170.9      153.0      160.3      183.9      226.6      237.1      252.7      186.9      196.2      230.0      220.4      222.7      223.0      253.6
      Total.......................      1,652      1,702      1,789      1,963      2,011      2,160      2,293      2,472      2,655      2,729      2,983      3,518      3,457      3,603      3,537      3,685      3,778      3,908
Constant FY2013 dollars (billions,
 using GDP price index; FY2014 OMB
 projections:
    Discretionary Outlays.........        758        776        817        843        938      1,032      1,093      1,146      1,163      1,157      1,233      1,327      1,430      1,400      1,313      1,258      1,219      1,187
    Defense (function 050)........        371        374        392        398        446        507        555        584        595        609        665        704        731        727        684        651        607        581
    Non-Defense (all other).......        387        402        425        446        492        525        539        562        568        549        567        623        699        673        628        606        612        605
    Mandatory.....................      1,181      1,220      1,265      1,309      1,413      1,481      1,512      1,561      1,615      1,611      1,732      2,244      2,031      2,106      2,073      2,204      2,270      2,333
    Net Interest..................        331        312        296        268        218        192        196        218        259        264        274        200        208        239        225        223        219        244
As % of GDP:
    Discretionary Outlays.........       6.4%       6.2%       6.3%       6.3%       7.0%       7.5%       7.7%       7.8%       7.7%       7.5%       7.9%       8.9%       9.4%       9.0%       8.3%       7.8%       7.3%       6.9%
    Defense (function 050)........       3.1%        3.0        3.0        3.0       3.3%       3.7%       3.9%       4.0%       3.9%       4.0%       4.3%       4,7%       4.8%       4.7%       4.3%       4.0%       3.6%       3.4%
    Non-Defense (all other).......       3.3%       3.2%       3.3%       3.4%       3.7%       3.8%       3.8%       3.8%       3.8%       3.6%       3.6%       4.2%       4.6%       4.3%       4.0%       3.7%       3.7%       3.5%
    International (fcn 150).......       0.2%       0.2%       0.2%       0.2%       0.2%       0.3%       0.3%       0.3%       0.3%       0.3%       0.3%       0.3%       0.3%       0.3%       0.3%       0.4%       0.3%       0.3%
    Mandatory.....................       9.9%       9.8%       9.7%       9.9%      10.5%      10.8%      10.6%      10.6%       10.7      10.5%      11.1%      15.0%      13.3%      13.6%      13.1%      13.6%      13.6%      13.5%
    Net Interest..................       2.8%       2.5%       2.3%       2.0%       1.6%       1.4%       1.4%       1.5%       1.7%       1.7%       1.8%       1.3%       1.4%       1.5%       1.4%       1.4%       1.3%       1.4%
As Share of Total Outlays:
    Discretionary Outlays.........      33.4%      33.6%      34.4%      34.8%      36.5%      38.2%      39.0%      39.2%      38.3%      38.2%      38.1%      35.2%      39.0%      37.4%      36.4%      34.1%      32.9%      31.5%
    Defense (function 050)........      16.4%      16.2%      16.5%      16.4%      17.4%      18.7%      19.8%      20.0%      19.6%      20.1%      20.5%      18.7%      19.9%      19.4%      19.0%      17.7%      16.4%      15.4%
    Non-Defense (all other).......      17.1%      17.4%      17.9%      18.4%      19.1%      19.4%      19.2%      19.2%      18.7%      18.1%      17.5%      16.5%      19.0%      18.0%      17.4%      16.5%      16.5%      16.1%
    Mandatory.....................      52.0%      52.9%      53.2%      54.1%      55.0%      54.7%      54.0%      53.4%      53.2%      53.1%      53.5%      59.5%      55.4%      56.2%      57.4%      59.8%      61.2%      62.0%
    Net Interest..................      14.6%      13.5%      12.5%      11.1%       8.5%       7.1%       7.0%       7.4%       8.5%       8.7%       8.5%       5.3%       5.7%       6.4%       6.2%       6.0%       5.9%       6.5%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: CRS calculations based on FY2014 budget submission data from OMB.

  Mr. WOODALL. I thank the gentleman. And again, I thank the gentlelady 
from New York as well.
  Mr. Speaker, we don't have these opportunities very often. I would 
posit to my colleagues that if really the right answer is to pass clean 
debt ceilings whenever the debt needs to be increased, I would wonder 
why it is we don't just repeal the debt ceiling altogether. If this 
isn't a moment for us to come together, if this isn't a moment for us 
to do those things that have to be done, if this isn't a moment that 
focuses like a laser the American people on what the consequences are 
of the decisions we make today, I don't know what would be. This is our 
best opportunity.
  I could not be more grateful to my friends on the other side of the 
aisle, Mr. Speaker, for coming together to make some of those things 
possible. In fact, that great day in August of 2011 that I talk about, 
that wasn't possible with Republican votes. Turning the dial on 
spending to the tune of $2 trillion, that wasn't possible with just 
Republican votes. That was a bipartisan effort. That was a 
collaborative effort that makes a difference for our children and our 
grandchildren, and it is one of which I hope we are both proud.
  The men and women who are going to come to the floor of the House 
today to cast their vote are all going to be men and women who are 
deeply concerned about the future of this country. Now, some of those 
men and women are going to look into their hearts, and they are going 
to look at what default would mean to the Nation. They are going to 
believe earnestly that because we cannot find a partner in the Senate 
or in the White House to negotiate on solving the problem, that the 
only step left to take is either to default or not, and with a heavy 
heart, they are going to vote to raise the debt ceiling.
  There are other men and women in this body, Mr. Speaker, who are 
going to come to the floor today for this vote, and they are going to 
say, Default is a terrible, terrible, terrible even threat to make, but 
if we do not find a way to curb the growth of Federal spending, default 
is not a question of if; it is a question of when. It is a question of 
when.
  There is not a budget in Washington, D.C., that stops the borrowing 
next year or 2 years from now or even 10 years from now. There is not 
one, and the most conservative budgets we have don't have enough votes 
to pass. If not today, when?
  Now, I think the votes have been counted. The decisions have been 
made, Mr. Speaker. Folks have been grappling with this issue in their 
hearts and with their constituents. Mr. Speaker, I plead with you to 
play that role in this debate so that when this decision confronts us 
again--not if, but when--we take advantage of that to do the hard 
things that must be done.
  I say to my friends on the other side of the aisle--and I know I 
speak for a large plurality of our Members on this side of the aisle--
challenge me to do those things that are hard. Give me that vote to 
take that so enrages the right flank that I get sent home in the next 
primary, but I had a chance to do something that mattered while I was 
here.

[[Page 2855]]

  Folks didn't leave their families to come and just cast a ballot to 
keep things going on the way they are going on, Mr. Speaker. They came 
from both sides of the aisle to make a difference. The path that we are 
on with spending and revenue is a path that is unsustainable to the 
tune of $17.3 trillion today and a path that is unsustainable to the 
tune of hundreds of trillions of dollars tomorrow.
  The economic demise of this country on that path is not if, but when, 
but we have the ability right here in this Chamber to make that 
difference. We have the ability right here in this Chamber to look our 
children and our grandchildren in the eye and say, When I had that 
voting card for that brief time, I did everything I did to make a 
difference.
  We have been on a streak here, Mr. Speaker, of coming together in 
surprising ways to achieve things that I thought could not be done. I 
hope we make deficit reduction in this next budget cycle that same 
bipartisan priority. I believe we can surprise even ourselves with the 
amount that can be accomplished.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I 
move the previous question on the resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the previous question is 
ordered.
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the resolution.
  The resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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