Barbara Kennelly: “I would like to end up by saying something about where we are. Since November 15 we should have raised the debt ceiling.…”

“I would like to end up by saying something about where we are. Since November 15 we should have raised the debt ceiling. We have not done it. As a result, and this is another thing that just kind of boggles my mind, we have not done it, so as a result, the Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Rubin, has had to use legal ways of paying the bills of the United States of America, without going beyond the debt limit. Then we hear, oh, my heavens, he is doing something that is not correct because we in the Legislature, we, the House of Representatives, we have the purse strings, and therefore he should not be trying to pay the bills. But we are the ones that can vote to raise the debt limit. It is another interesting thing that has happened here. Mr. Rubin has such an excellent reputation because he was in fact a financier, a very successful one. He gave of his time and has come to Washington to help us by being a public servant, and he has come to Washington and he is trying to do his job. He has taken an oath not to allow the Government of the United States ever to default, and he has done some things he would rather not have done, but they are perfectly legal, to make sure we pay our bills. Then we have some saying he should not do that. And another word I do not like to use, 'impeach.' Yet the same people are saying he should be impeached, will not allow him to do what he should be doing. Then it gets even stranger and weirder.…”