Raising the Debt Ceiling

Floor Speech

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, we are now 1 week away from the unthinkable prospect of the United States of America defaulting on its loans for the first time in our history and not making good on promises we have made to families, veterans, senior citizens across the country.

I am deeply disappointed we have gotten to this point. If we cannot come to an agreement by August 2, the consequences for our Nation and our economic recovery will be dire. A few weeks ago, the Bipartisan Policy Center put out a report that was actually authored by a former Bush Treasury official about what would happen if Congress failed to act and if the administration was forced to make desperate spending decisions in August. The scenarios were very grim.

Potentially at risk were the benefits and health care we owe our veterans, loans for struggling small businesses, food stamps for people who are struggling to buy groceries, Social Security checks for our seniors, unemployment benefits for millions of workers who are desperately looking for jobs today, and even Active-Duty pay for our military.

If the debt ceiling is not raised, we also face the very real and frightening possibility of our economy falling back into another deep recession, interest rates going up for our families and consumers, millions of workers losing their jobs, and small businesses being forced to close their doors. These risks are unacceptable. People are still recovering in this tough economy and they cannot afford to have the rug pulled out from under them.

Many families from my home State of Washington have reached out to my office throughout this debate, trying to figure out what they would do if the support they depend upon to stay in their homes, to put food on their tables is suddenly cut off. They have a pretty simple message: Get it done, compromise, and put American families first.

One letter came from Anne Phillips from Tacoma, WA, who after 18 years of work was laid off during the recession. Anne told me about how she felt she was doing the responsible thing by getting herself up, dusting herself off, going back to college. But now she is worried sick because of the fact that the interest rate she pays on her student loans, which she relies on to pay for school, would shoot up if we default.

In her letter, Anne made clear who the real victims of default would be. She said: ``Ultimately people like me, my husband, my family, and all the people I know who are doing their best every day to make the contribution to society will pay the expense.''

Anne is not alone in her concern. I have heard from veterans such as Kenneth Huff, a retired master sergeant from Olympia, WA. He spent 28 years serving our country. He told me how through a life in the military he learned the value of compromise and how he is tired of the way the peoples' work is not being done.

He wrote:

I agree. We can cut back on spending. I know we can do a better job. But not on the backs of the very poor, the middle class, veterans and our seniors who are on Social Security and Medicare.

I have also heard from Social Security recipients such as Alisa Terry from Bellingham, WA, who told me how important that monthly check is to her and what it would mean if she did not get it next month. She says:

Social Security is my lifeline. It stands between me and homelessness.

These families and seniors deserve to have the certainty of a Federal Government that stands ready to pay its debt. They do not deserve to turn on the news every day and read about the political games House Republicans are playing with their lives and economic future. Democrats have been at the table. We have been ready and willing to compromise for months and months. We know we need to get this done. We have offered compromise after compromise. We have come to the middle and beyond. We have offered serious and deep cuts in Federal spending--very hard for some of us to do.

We have put it on the table and then we offered even more. But again and again, the House Republicans have said no. They refuse to compromise, and they refuse to come to the middle. Time and time again, they seem to be more interested in satisfying the most extreme elements of their base than on finding real solutions for the people of this country.

The House Republicans even sent us a bill they called cut, cap and balance that was not only widely understood to be a political gimmick but it had no chance of becoming law, and not only would it have been absolutely devastating for families and seniors across this country but it managed to waste precious time in Congress at a point when that resource is getting scarcer and scarcer.

So we are down to the wire. Political games need to end. They need to stop finding ways to say no and start figuring out what they can say yes to. The bill we introduced last night is a compromise. I do not believe it is perfect, but it gets us where we need to get to protect families and small businesses across America from market uncertainty, not just for a month or two. That is not what American families need. They need to know they have that economic certainty and that we will not be back in this ball game in just a few short months, going through the same process, with people worried about their Social Security checks and veterans worried again and with the markets uncertain.

The legislation that was introduced last night does make deep and serious cuts in government spending, savings that have either been discussed and agreed on in previous negotiations with Republicans or that Republicans have actually used in the budgets they recently passed themselves.

It does protect Medicare and Social Security that was promised to our seniors. It does not increase revenue, something many of us have argued time and time again needs to be a part of a balanced approach to a conclusion. But we understand compromise is important. So it does not increase revenue and that appears to be something my Republican colleagues have almost single-mindedly focused on in this process. So we have given in on that.

It puts our country on a more sustainable fiscal track, and it allows us to continue the important work to reduce the debt and deficit without the threat of economic calamity hanging over our heads such as the current House proposal does.

On this side, Democrats have bent over backward to get this done. We compromised. We compromised again and then again. The bill that was introduced last night on our side is the fruit of many compromises. We did this not because we think this is the ideal way to tackle this issue--Democrats do want a larger and a more balanced package that we believe will address our problems in a responsible way for years to come--but we put this forward because we know the American people want results, not rhetoric, and we know the consequences of inaction are far too high.

I call on our Republican colleagues to support this legislation, stop playing politics with the American economy, and work with us to solve this problem for the American people.

I yield the floor and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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