Raising and Extending the Debt Ceiling 78 Times

Floor Speech

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Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, since 1960, Congress has raised and extended the debt limit 78 times over a 63-year period.

Let's put this in perspective: 49 times under Republican administrations, 29 times under Democratic Presidents. Sixty-three years we have raised the debt ceiling 78 times.

We are one of only two democratic nations with a statutory debt ceiling and the only one, because of the magnificent extent of our country, the U.S. dollar being the common currency of the world that can threaten a global economic crisis--think about that--by playing around with the debt ceiling.

The debt ceiling has no impact on government spending. Why? Because it only commences to pay the bills that we have already committed ourselves to. Both Republicans and Democrats have passed legislation that has created debt, that requires us to pay Social Security, that requires us to pay other mandatory programs in which there has been bipartisan support for.

Instead, this debt ceiling restricts the Treasury, if, in fact, we do not lift the debt ceiling, from paying those bills. That is why for over 63 years, 78 times, the Congress has chosen to raise the debt ceiling. Why? Because we don't want to put the liability of the world's economy, let alone the U.S. economy, at risk.

We don't want to be deadbeats, right? I think most Americans feel they ought to pay their bills. My colleagues on the other side want to hold the debt ceiling hostage, leaving Social Security recipients and veterans potentially without their pensions or benefits.

Does that make any sense? If we default on our debt, over 6 million jobs could be diminished. Seniors may not get their benefits for a period of time. Costs will skyrocket. Some economists indicate we could put $12 trillion of American savings at risk if it were extended in this gamesmanship, this attempt to stare each other down, on whether or not we lift the debt ceiling.

That makes no sense. That is risky business. We ought to raise our debt ceiling and pay our bills, and I think there is common agreement that we ought to get our debt under control.

As a Blue Dog, our focus and purpose of being is in the area of fiscal responsibility. As a matter of fact, the last American President that balanced the budget was President Bill Clinton. That was a while ago.

I think that there is common bipartisan agreement to focus on waste, on fraud, and abuse. I mean, those are the buzzwords, right? If we could only focus on waste, fraud, and abuse. But no one wants to highlight, well, how will that impact Social Security? How will that impact other mandatory spending that we have all committed to on a bipartisan basis?

The way to do this is for Republicans and Democrats to come together, separate from raising the debt ceiling, and agree to focus on two things that cause debt--expenditures and revenues.

If we can get an agreement on what we think the Nation's responsibility to be on our priorities for expenditures and the necessary revenues to pay for them, then, only then, would we get our deficit under control, which is what, by the way, President Bill Clinton was able to do a while ago on a bipartisan basis.

So let's get real. Let's not hold the American people hostage, our economy, or the global economy as we play fast and loose with this talk and notion of whether or not to lift the debt ceiling. We must lift the debt ceiling because it is the responsible thing to do.

I ask my colleagues on the other side: Let's come together, let's work on fiscal responsibility in a bipartisan fashion because we should. It is obviously an important, critical issue as we move forward. Let's not play fast and loose with whether or not we are going to be deadbeats and whether or not we are going to pay our bills. That is putting the American economy at risk. It is something we should not do.

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