Dan Coats: “I join the Senator from Massachusetts in saying also we don't have more time on this. We all want more time. Each of us…”

“I join the Senator from Massachusetts in saying also we don't have more time on this. We all want more time. Each of us would like to spend more time on this important issue, but we want to give everyone the chance to speak and this is why we have the limitation. I think it is important to put this whole issue in perspective. People are saying, Well, the clock is ticking and we are 12 hours or less away from having to shut the government down. Well, yes, the clock is ticking. But the clock that has been ticking year after year on the mounting debt and fiscal crisis that is going to take this country into bankruptcy if we don't do something about it. That clock is ticking a lot faster than the clock is ticking on this debate. Let's put this debate into the perspective of the larger picture. In the last 3 years we have added over $4 trillion to our debt--$4 trillion plus in the last 3 years. This country is on an unsustainable spending binge. People throughout the year in 2010 expressed their views about the egregious, reckless spending of this Congress, and they sent a new Congress here to do something about it. Because the other party that was in control in 2010 didn't pass a budget, didn't do anything about it when the time ran out on September 30 at the end of the fiscal year--we are at this point today because we have had to have these continuing extensions which we are trying to do something about, and I hope we can resolve this.…”