Luke Messer: “I thank my colleague from Texas (Mr. Marchant) for his great work on this important bill, a bill that seeks to make the…”

“I thank my colleague from Texas (Mr. Marchant) for his great work on this important bill, a bill that seeks to make the administration accountable for the out-of-control national debt which others have said just hit a staggering $19 trillion. Mr. Chairman, like the underlying legislation, the amendment I am offering today holds this administration and future administrations accountable, too. Many don't realize the enormous power Congress has given to the Treasury Department to use so-called extraordinary measures when we are about to hit the debt ceiling. To pay our bills and delay hitting the debt limit, Treasury has the authority to take more than $350 billion out of government accounts, including government worker pension and retirement accounts. This is an incredible power, shifting around hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars and dodging the limit Congress has placed on borrowing. Our Constitution says that Congress, not the administration, has the power of the purse. So these extraordinary measures, which in effect enable the Department to run up bills or IOUs beyond the debt limit, should be transparent. Congress and the American people have the right to know what Treasury is doing with our money. At present, it is astonishing how little transparency the Department is statutorily obligated to provide. Very simply, my amendment requires the Treasury to report on what extraordinary measures it intends to use if the debt limit is not lifted.…”