[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 89 (Thursday, May 25, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E496]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               DEBT LIMIT

                                 ______
                                 

                      HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR.

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 25, 2023

  Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, one of the cardinal rules of 
negotiation is never to negotiate when you have a gun pointed at your 
head. The rationale is self-evident. One of the parties--namely, the 
party which is staring down the barrel of the gun--is more than likely 
going to either get the short end of the deal or, worse, end up dead.
  In the case of the debt limit negotiations currently underway between 
President Biden and Speaker McCarthy, the risk isn't just that one of 
the parties will be unhappy with an agreement. If the United States 
defaults on the federal debt for the first time in the nation's 
history, it will risk a devastating wound to financial markets at home 
and around the world, push our country into a recession, erase 7.8 
million jobs, and wipe out as much as $10 trillion in household wealth.
  The crisis, of course, is a manufactured one. The national debt has 
increased under every presidential administration since Herbert Hoover. 
According to the U.S. Department of Treasury, Congress has acted 78 
separate times to permanently raise, temporarily extend, or revise the 
definition of the debt limit--49 times under Republican presidents and 
29 times under Democratic presidents.
  Republicans aren't interested in getting our fiscal house in order. 
They don't want to address entitlement programs, which are the big 
drivers of projected spending growth. They don't want to touch raising 
revenues or cuts to military spending.
  Instead, Republicans are aiming their weapon at nondefense 
discretionary spending. They want to slash funding for our nation's 
schools, our national parks, our farmers, and our police officers. 
Nondefense discretionary spending only accounts for 15 percent of the 
$6.3 trillion the government is expected to spend this year.
  Republicans even want to take money away from health care for our 
nation's veterans. Their Default on America Act would underfund 
programs that help our veterans exposed to bum pits by $20 billion.
  America must pay its bills as it has always done. At a time when 
America is facing many challenges at home and abroad--from inflation to 
competition with China to the ongoing war in Ukraine--we must ensure 
that our word is trusted. In the end, we must do what is right and 
raise the debt ceiling without any conditions and especially without a 
gun pointed at our heads.

                          ____________________