Chris Coons: “in just 3 days, barring some action by Congress, the Treasury Department of the United States will run out of options…”

“in just 3 days, barring some action by Congress, the Treasury Department of the United States will run out of options for preventing default on this Nation's debts for the first time in our history, setting off a chain of economic events that will be felt around the world and by every family and business and State and community in our country. We have heard a great deal on this floor the last few days about how we arrived at this point and who is to blame. There is a lot of concern and consternation about exactly who owns this and how we got here. I am not going to spend time today on that. I am going to skip the politics and the drama for now and just talk about the facts and the policy. I just want to talk to Delawareans about what would happen if we actually go over this impending cliff, if we do default, and which of the options for addressing this are viable. First, let's be clear about what we are talking about. What is the debt ceiling? Defaulting on our debt by failing to raise the debt ceiling is not the same as cutting up America's credit cards. It is not the same as denying the President the right to sign more checks into the future. Raising the debt ceiling does not give Congress or the President a blank check to spend more money. It allows the United States to borrow more money, yes, but only to pay bills for goods and services already incurred, to meet pledges already made.…”