Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I think most of the people watching this debate, studying how Congress works and how the Federal Government works, know there is a statutory limit on the amount of debt that can be issued by the Federal Government. If the public does not know this, they are constantly reminded of it because, from time to time, we pass legislation that does what this legislation does, increase the borrowing capacity of the Federal Government. Right now this legal limit stands at $12.394 trillion, and it applies to money borrowed from Federal investors such as banks and pension funds, as well as money borrowed from government programs such as Social Security and Medicare. Yes, we ought to admit that a lot of the Federal debt is owned by various foreign governments as well. I think the latest I saw, in the case of China maybe investing and holding about 8 percent of all the Federal debt and then you have other countries as well. This determination is made when the Secretary of Treasury goes to the market and says: We want to borrow X number of dollars, and people bid on it. Obviously, we take it for the lowest interest rate we can get, whatever individuals or pension fund or foreign entity might want to take our debt for that interest. That happens throughout the year. The decision to increase the debt limit is never an easy one. In recent years, I have reluctantly supported increases in the debt limit on the grounds that Congress must pay its bills. That is quite obvious.…”