On the recordJuly 19, 2011
The one surefire way that we're going to send interest rates up in this country and add to the cost of living for every American is if the United States doesn't pay its bills--bills for obligations that we've already taken on, which is what this is about. Some people, again, think it's a sacrifice to pay bills for actions and decisions that they've already supported and voted for. I would also point out that the Republican budget that passed the House and that would be put into this bill would require us to raise the debt ceiling by $8 trillion between now and 2022. So let's not play this game with respect to paying our Nation's bills. We have to do two things: We have to pay our Nation's bills--every family knows they have to pay their bills--and we have to come up with a deficit reduction plan. The reality is the President has put a plan on the table. The reality is our Republican colleagues don't happen to like it because, as I said, for every $3 in spending cuts, it would ask us to have $1 in revenue from closing these special interest tax loopholes. Again, they want to manipulate the Constitution of the United States to protect those loopholes, to make it hard to get rid of them. With that, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Andrews). (Mr. ANDREWS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.) {time} 1550
