Chuck Grassley: “the issue of the increase in the debt limit has come before the Senate as an agreement between the two leaders, and as…”

“the issue of the increase in the debt limit has come before the Senate as an agreement between the two leaders, and as the committee of jurisdiction, as chairman of the Finance Committee, I speak in support of House Joint Resolution 47, a bill that increases the Federal debt limit. I support this increase because it is necessary to preserve the full faith and credit of the Government. Without an increase in the debt limit, our Government will face a choice that we should not make and we would not want to make: a choice between breaking the law by exceeding the statutory debt limit or breaking faith with the public by defaulting on our debt. I hope everyone would agree that neither choice is acceptable. To understand why we are here today seeking to increase the debt limit, it is necessary to explain a few points about the Federal debt. Under current law, there is a statutory limit on the amount of debt that can be issued by the Federal Government. This limit, which now stands at $8.184 trillion, applies to virtually all the debt issued by the Government. There is only one debt limit, but there are, in fact, two types of debt within that figure: debt held by the public--meaning you and I as private citizens buying Government bonds, owning Treasury bills--and then, of course, on the other hand, the debt held by various Government trust funds.…”