Chris Van Hollen

We all love America. We all believe America is a unique and special place. We all believe in American exceptionalism.

We can--and we must--restore America's exceptional promise: ensuring all citizens are guaranteed the freedom to pursue their dreams.

Mr. Chairman, if I might, since the gentleman referred to a comment I had made. I would like to put in a record a transcript of a YouTube posting by Mr. Holtz-Eakin on what would happen in the event that we had a--we hit the debt limit…

I would just say... it would be useful, I think, to ask every individual who is on this bipartisan group whether they agree with the three specific bills.

Stopping us from making it worse is a good thing. I mean, it doesn't solve the problem, but it is a good thing.

I am just saying that, as I understand, you agree that it was an effective enhancement to the budget process in the past.

Putting process bills forward in the absence of an agreement on the underlying policy issues is putting the cart before the horse.

There is also a revenue component. Apparently our Republican colleagues do not recognize that component, at least not as part of the solution.

Just to go back to the overall point that the chairman raised where there is consensus is that we need to reduce our deficits, especially as they are projected to rise over the long term.

I just want to put in the record the so-called taxpayer pledge from Grover Norquist...

But it is a totally accurate statement, you just confirmed it.

That is a misstatement.

Well, I think the record will speak for itself.

I don't think that changes in the economy are things that we don't expect.

What we are seeing in Europe is an austerity-only approach taken by some countries that has led to double dip recessions.

If you put these bills into effect, the House passes it next week, let's just say the Senate goes off its rocker and passes it and the President signs it...

Those numbers change every year. They change every year, we have seen them change just in the last year.

I dare say that you would be hard pressed to get the individuals--all of the individuals who put their names on this to endorse these three bills.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Let me, again, thank all the witnesses for their testimony.

Unfortunately, our Republican colleagues continue to oppose that balanced approach.

There is no substitute for making the tough policy decisions to reduce the deficit in a balanced, credible way.

We all agree that we have a budget challenge, and a deficit and debt challenge--especially over the long term.

That would devastate the economy. And even talking about the United States for the first time in its history not meeting its obligations is a reckless approach to economic policy and jobs.

The Speaker's latest version of the mother of all sequesters, his threat that the United States would not meet its financial obligations.

In an era of divided government, we need to be able to make the difficult compromises necessary to get the job done.