Barbara Kennelly: “this House should enact a clean debt ceiling, and we should do it soon. The full faith and credit of the U.S. Government…”

“this House should enact a clean debt ceiling, and we should do it soon. The full faith and credit of the U.S. Government is not a political tool. It is one of the cornerstones of our economic stability. Its preservation is not a matter of politics; it is a matter of governance. It is one of the responsibilities that comes with being in the leadership in this House. Over the last months, Members of this House insisted that Government shut down to force agreement on a balanced budget. We all saw the difficulties, inconveniences, waste, and other awful things that resulted. But the march of folly continues. Now there is talk of forcing default unless the majority's agenda is adopted. There is no justification for this. This is an issue we agree on in substance. The long-term extension of the debt ceiling was contained in the reconciliation bill, and it is also the same number asked by the administration, $5.5 trillion. We should not be at this time teetering on the brink of default. We should not be playing games with this issue. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support a clean debt ceiling. Let us do it quickly and not to things that should not happen.”