On the recordOctober 23, 2015
Mr. Speaker, on November 3, our Treasury Department has informed us that we are going to begin to default on payment obligations that the United States Government has already entered into. So let's be clear. We are talking about obligations that this House made, the President has signed, and that we have obligated ourselves to pay. This default would be the first time ever. It is going to damage our credit. It is going to increase our borrowing cost. It is going to damage our economy. It is really going to damage the welfare of millions of our constituents. These are financial obligations that the Congress has already entered into and agreed to pay. We put the name of the United States behind these commitments. These are our bills. We need to pay them. We should not be playing political brinksmanship with the future of the United States economy, but this is where some in the majority have brought us to once again. ____________________
