Rich Neal: “I include in the Record a letter from Mr. Pascrell. Congress of the United States, House of Representatives, Washington…”

“I include in the Record a letter from Mr. Pascrell. Congress of the United States, House of Representatives, Washington, DC, March 8, 2023. Hon. Kevin McCarthy. Speaker of the House, Washington, DC. Dear Speaker McCarthy: Our most basic duty as Members of Congress is to protect the well-being and security of our constituents. If Republicans block America from paying our bills, it would be a gross betrayal of our governing responsibility and invite cataclysmic damage to our economy. Therefore, I call on the House to advance legislation to raise our debt limit and prevent a second Great Depression. It has been 48 days since the United States reached its current statutory limit and the Treasury Department began taking extraordinary measures to prevent a default. On February 15, the Congressional Budget Office raised the specter of a default as soon as July without urgent congressional action. Congress has acted to raise or suspend the debt ceiling 49 times under Republican presidents and 29 times under Democratic presidents. This is a bipartisan responsibility. According to the Council of Economic Advisors (CEA), if the debt ceiling is not raised, Social Security checks will come to a halt and seniors will be without means to eat or turn on the heat. Medicare reimbursements will freeze, leaving tens of millions of Americans unable to pay for essential medical care. Our veterans will see their health care cut off. It gets worse.…”