Al Franken: “I rise today to discuss the urgent need to raise the debt limit. I wish to take this opportunity to remind my colleagues…”

“I rise today to discuss the urgent need to raise the debt limit. I wish to take this opportunity to remind my colleagues of our obligation to represent our constituents' best interests and those of our great Nation, for at this late hour, with the deadline for an agreement fast approaching, the consequences of inaction are clear. They have been made clear by economists, they have been made clear by credit rating agencies, they have been made clear by the Federal Reserve and by our Treasury Secretary, and they have been made clear by respected leaders of each side of the aisle. And soon, if we do not act, they will be made clear by the market itself. I keep hearing from some Members talking about the August 2 deadline as if it is no big deal. They say they have their own theories about when the real deadline is. That leaves me dumbfounded. I, for one, am going to take the Treasury Secretary and virtually every economist at their word. We need a solution before August 2 or we risk economic catastrophe. There are some Members who are essentially saying the Treasury can prioritize payments to avoid default, but getting Social Security checks out should not be a problem. I heard a Republican Member of the House Budget Committee on Public Radio this past weekend say the money for Social Security checks is in the trust fund. Well, yes, we have $2.6 trillion in assets in the trust fund, but they are all in Treasury securities, not cash.…”