John Mica: “Here we are, folks, my colleagues, fellow Americans. In just a few days, the United States may not be able to pay its…”

“Here we are, folks, my colleagues, fellow Americans. In just a few days, the United States may not be able to pay its debts. That would be horrible for the country and for leadership as we know it. Mr. Speaker, how did we get here? The other side--and you are hearing from them--took control of the place. In 4 years, the spending went unchecked. The debt rose from $9 billion to now $17 trillion. They are asking for another trillion dollars to continue the spending unchecked to continue the indebtedness. We can and we should come together to resolve this; but at some point, you have to be responsible as a parent, as a Member of Congress, as citizens to hold the line, to stop the spending, and to put a check on indebtedness to the future. Barack Obama voted against raising the debt limit when he was a Senator and said that not addressing the debt was a lack of leadership. ____________________”