[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16490]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              DEBT CEILING

  (Mr. LOWENTHAL asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. LOWENTHAL. Mr. Speaker, on November 3, our Treasury Department 
has informed us that we are going to begin to default on payment 
obligations that the United States Government has already entered into.
  So let's be clear. We are talking about obligations that this House 
made, the President has signed, and that we have obligated ourselves to 
pay.
  This default would be the first time ever. It is going to damage our 
credit. It is going to increase our borrowing cost. It is going to 
damage our economy. It is really going to damage the welfare of 
millions of our constituents.
  These are financial obligations that the Congress has already entered 
into and agreed to pay. We put the name of the United States behind 
these commitments. These are our bills. We need to pay them.
  We should not be playing political brinksmanship with the future of 
the United States economy, but this is where some in the majority have 
brought us to once again.

                          ____________________