Xavier Becerra: “I thank the gentleman from Michigan for yielding. 1.4 million troops, 4 million disabled veterans, more than 30 million…”

“I thank the gentleman from Michigan for yielding. 1.4 million troops, 4 million disabled veterans, more than 30 million children who participate on a daily basis in school lunch programs, and small businesses all over the country are some of the Americans who will pay the price if Republicans refuse to authorize our government to pay all its bills. {time} 1515 There are only 8 legislative days left for Congress to avoid defaulting on paying America's financial bills. Yet, our House Republican colleagues show no signs of putting serious business first and trying to work with their Democratic colleagues to pay our Nation's bills on time and in full. This bill isn't a solution. It is a sham. First, it instructs our government to pay foreign creditors ahead of paying our troops or paying our veterans, who have honorably served our country and have earned their benefits. Second, our Republican colleagues propose under this bill to borrow new money to pay for previously borrowed money and to say that the previously borrowed money won't count on the books. Borrowing money off the books to cover debt sounds a lot like a Ponzi scheme. This is simply default by another name, bringing our economy closer to the brink. Maybe some people in this Chamber have forgotten 2011. When the Republicans brought us to the brink of default in 2011, the stock market plunged and the S&P downgraded our credit rating for the first time in our Nation's history.…”