Concurrent Resolution On The Budget, Fiscal Year 2016 -- Continued

Floor Speech

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Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, deciding whether to increase the debt limit is like putting purchases on your credit card and then deciding whether to pay the bill. Increasing the debt limit is not a license to take on more debt, it simply makes it possible to pay the bills we have already incurred.

Recent history shows that leaving this to the last minute, and even coming close to hitting the debt limit, is extremely dangerous for our country and, in fact, the entire world.

Even the remote possibility of default by the U.S. Government is enough to throw markets into turmoil and has resulted in credit rating agencies downgrading our credit worthiness.

Unfortunately, in recent years some of my Republican colleagues have used raising the debt limit as a way to extract policy concessions that invariably include draconian cuts to programs that are important to working families and the middle class. This amendment continues that trend by making it even harder to raise the debt limit and thus easier----

The PRESIDING OFFICER. All time has expired.

Mr. SANDERS.--to cause an international panic.

I urge colleagues to oppose this amendment.

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