Political Quotes

“From the very origins of this country, the very beginnings, this country has always made good on its sovereign debt. Let me be clear what this bill does. It ensures that the United States shall never default on its sovereign debt. What does it not do? It's not a solution to the debt problem. We have a serious long-term liability problem in this country and a failure by our colleagues on the other side to recognize that we have to deal with this. Simply raising taxes ad nauseam is not a solution. We need to come to a real solution so that seniors are not left behind on their Medicare benefits and Social Security is taken care of. What does it not do? It's not a pay China first bill. China's holdings are less than 8 percent, and the ranking member's figures were wrong because he failed to account for the Social Security trust fund in that calculation. What we have used are the accurate figures from the U.S. Department of the Treasury. What does it not do? It does not authorize new spending and new debt. This bill just simply says the United States shall always make good on its sovereign debt. It doesn't provide a solution to the long-term problem. We've got to solve those problems. We need to come together and come up with solutions for the longer-term liability with Medicare and all the other spending programs that are bankrupting this country. It's been said that the national debt of the United States is a threat to our national security in the long run.…”