On the recordJuly 12, 2011
Madam Speaker, we have a lot of Americans who engage in very reckless behavior; but generally, that reckless behavior only affects them or maybe their friends or neighbors. The Republican majority in this Congress is reckless enough that they want to endanger 310 million Americans; reckless enough that they will refuse to pay our debts no matter what kind of a deal is worked out; reckless enough to make us default on the full faith and credit of the United States; reckless enough to raise interest rates on not only our debt, thereby making the deficit worse, but on every American who has a credit card or an adjustable rate mortgage or is borrowing any money; and reckless enough, according to a bipartisan panel that came to this body last week, to take away 10 percent of GDP, costing this country hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of jobs in the month of August alone. We have a responsibility to the American people to perform for the interests of their lives and this country. And reckless behavior-- refusing to raise the debt limit of the United States is about as reckless as you can get. We need to act responsibly. ____________________





