Permitting Continued Financing Of Government Operations

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. BLUMENAUER. Madam Speaker, I voted for legislation increasing the debt ceiling that will get us two months into the next year. We are dealing with the sad consequence of Americans living beyond their means for the last eight years. Even though I have argued and voted against these expansions, such as an unfunded and ill-advised war, an unfunded expansion of Medicare, and tax cuts that were not sustainable, I nonetheless feel an obligation to increase the debt ceiling so that the federal government can continue to operate.

This vote allows the government to continue to pay Social Security benefits, Medicaid and Medicare support, and the salaries of those serving in our uniformed services.

At a time of continued challenge for the economy, we have higher demands for countercyclical programs like food stamps, unemployment benefits and support for state and local infrastructure projects. Unemployment and the economy would be much worse had we not made the recovery investment early this year, but even that has not been sufficient for the economy to fully rebound. It would be the height of irresponsibility for Congress to shut down the government, especially while we face these incredible challenges.

In the long run, Congress will have to address comprehensively the level of government service, the nature of our revenue system, and how we extract more value from federal investments. It is in this context that we can constructively address our economic challenges, including our investments in job creation and reducing the federal deficit. This has been my top priority in this Congress as in previous sessions and should be at the top of the congressional agenda as we move forward. In the meantime, raising the debt ceiling is a critical factor to keep the economy recovering and the government functioning.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source